Cooking with a fan oven
If you are used to cooking with a
conventional oven, you will find a
number of difference to cooking with a
fan oven, which will require a different
approach:
There are no zones of heat in a
fan oven, the convection fan at the
back of the oven ensures an even
temperature throughout the oven; this
makes it ideal for batch baking - eg;
when planning a party or stocking the
freezer, as all item will be cooked
within the same length of time.
Cooking times will generally be shorter
- by between 5 - 10 minutes per hour -
than those times given in recipe books
for conventional cooking.
We recommend preheating the oven
for frozen of chilled food, and also for
soufflés, batter mixtures and yeast
mixtures. Preheat the oven until the
indicator light switches off for the first
time, this will take between 5 to 15
minutes depending on the temperature
selected.
There is no flavour transference in a
fan oven, which means you can cook
strong smelling foods such as fish, at
the same time as mild foods - eg; milk
puddings.
Foods are cooked at a lower
temperature (between 10˚C and
20˚C lower) than a conventional oven,
so conventional recipe temperatures
may have to be reduced.
Defrosting and cooling
To
defrost
frozen foods, turn the
oven control to the defrost position,
place the food in the centre of the oven
and close the door.
To
cool
foods after cooking, prior to
refrigerating or freezing, turn the oven
control to the defrost position, and
open the door.
Be safe
Do not
defrost stuffed poultry using this
method.
Do not
defrost larger joints of
meat and poultry over 2kg / 4lb using
this method.
N e v e r
place uncooked food for
defrosting next to cooked food which
is to be cooled, as this can lead to
cross contamination.
Defrosting meat, poultry and fish can
be accelerated using this method, but
make sure they are completely thawed
before cooking thoroughly.
Place meat and poultry on a grid in a
meat tin.
Defrosting times
Small or thin pieces of frozen fish or
meat - eg; fish fillets, prawns and mince,
will take approximately 1 - 2 hours.
Placing the food in a single layer will
reduce the thawing time.
A medium sized casserole or stew will
take approximately 3 - 4 hours.
A 1
1
⁄
2
kg / 3lb oven ready chicken will
take approximately 5 hours - remove
the giblets as soon as possible.
10
Using the Main Oven
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