The oven
14
Practical use
Never place aluminium foil, baking trays or oven
dishes directly on the bottom of the oven. Block-
ing heat from the bottom of the oven can damage
the enamel through overheating. The oven gets
hot when in use:
CHILDREN
NEARBY
MUST
BE
SUPERVISED
.
The baking tray may warp temporarily due to tempera-
ture fluctuations, or if the food, (pizza, etc.) is
unevenly distributed on its surface. The tray resumes
its shape when cool.
How does one know which oven functions to use in
different situations? See below for practical advice on
how to efficiently use the oven functions for various
ways of cooking:
Baking
Use a skewer to check whether sponge cakes are ready
when there are about 5 minutes left. You can then
shorten or lengthen the baking time. The material,
colour, shape and size of the baking tins as well as the
recipe can affect results.
TOP
/
BOTTOM
HEAT
gives an
even colour.
Cooking
TOP
/
BOTTOM
HEAT
is normally best when using an oven
shelf.
Roasting
Roasting is a practical and convenient method of
cooking. Joints of beef such as topside and sirloin
retain their natural juices best if roasted at 125°C, but
this does take longer than at a higher temperature.
Choose an ovenproof dish which is only just big
enough for the joint, to prevent the meat juices which
collect in the dish (e.g. for gravy) from evaporating.
Use a large roasting pan or ovenproof dish when roast-
ing a joint of ham as there is usually a lot of meat.
Using the roasting sensor
A meat thermometer should be inserted so that its tip
comes to the thickest part of the meat, where the heat
takes longest to reach. The entire thermometer should
preferably be inside the meat, because hot air in the
oven can affect its reading if the shaft is exposed. If the
thermometer is inserted into fat or touches bone, it can
give an unreliable temperature reading.
Preheat the oven first, then put the joint in the lower
part of the oven. Remove the joint when the thermom-
