Author Topic: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven  (Read 8233 times)

Offline natmum

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advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« on: August 09, 2011, 01:22:49 am »
Have brought 1 of these yesterday as my MIL said they are great..but it has very limited instructions and as many of you on here are very talented I thought I would pose the question.
Was hoping cakes will work out great in it.
Thanks
Nat
Nat

Offline KarenH

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #1 on: August 09, 2011, 01:31:56 am »
Hi natmum,
Are you talking about a benchtop combined microwave / convection oven??  If so - we got one of those about 6 months ago to use when we were renovating our kitchen - despite many others saying that they are fantastic, I have had trouble doing cakes in them.  They dont seem to cook in the middle.  I can cook muffins, biscuits and slices, and it is great for going main meals like lasagne, curries, casseroles, roasts, but I have never managed to master a big cake in it.  Hope you have better success with yours.
Karen
Karen in Adelaide

Offline natmum

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #2 on: August 09, 2011, 02:49:09 am »
Thanks Karen
I will try cupcakes first then...I got it as our oven in this new house (brand new oven) is really really useless...temps seem all out and takes ages for a fanforced oven.
Nat

Offline KarenH

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2011, 02:54:28 am »
Here is a link to a thead that I started when I first got our convection oven

http://www.forumthermomix.com/index.php?topic=5282.0

Lots of good hints from other members here.

Good luck!
Karen in Adelaide

Offline maddy

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2011, 03:42:12 am »
I have had a Nuwave one for ages.
I must admit, I would never make cakes in it, but it does the BEST roast chook ever!  Usually 90 minutes for average chook, turning over halfway through cooking (start with breast side down).
Hamburgers, sausages and chops are great to cook in, as the fat all drips out.

If you like, PM your address to me and I can photocopy the cooking guide that came with mine, and I'll post it to you.
.........EAT CAKE!

Offline Deeau

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2011, 12:26:11 am »
I have a Microwave convection oven and it is ALL I use for cake/bread & biscuit  baking ( so it is on every day ) I have no problems with it, bakes better than my other two ovens ( wood and gas ) it is a brand name one I think it is a Panasonic
Deeau

Offline Penji

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2011, 09:15:35 am »
Don't get me started, bought a Sharp Microwave/Convection $680, started off fine, then after two months would undercook, or burn, after $30 worth of food being thrown out got in touch with Sharp,( bearing in mind I only had this for two months and wanted it to take over from my oven) I asked for a refund but they just wanted to repair it which I didn't want as if it broke after two months not worth the money.  Anyway still waiting for the Retailer to say yey or nay to a refund, but I would be interested if anyone else has had problems, and what Convection Oven they would recommend?

Offline andiesenji

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #7 on: September 13, 2011, 04:45:24 pm »
I've had the big Sharp convection/microwave oven for more than ten years and have never had a problem with it.

I also have a Cadco convection oven 1/2 sheet pan size -  they make a smaller 1/4 pan size.   I've had this one for several years and did much of my baking in it - now do all of my baking in it because I got rid of my big oven (a gas commercial unit made by Blodgett) as it was just too big and I rarely used it. 

If the temps are off in your regular oven you should get it calibrated.  Built-in ovens and ovens in kitchen ranges should be calibrated at least every three years or oftener with heavy use.
If the sensors in the oven come in contact with a metal vessel they can be affected.  Sometimes it is the control itself. 
The more "automatic" an oven is, the more often it will need to be calibrated by a service technician.  Otherwise the temps can be off as much as 100 degrees (F.) or  50 (C.), which can make from a disaster with most baking. 

Sharp with a loaf of bread pudding:
And grilling some steaks.

Baking in the Cadco: 

With an 11 inch skillet in the Cadco:

In the U.S. Cadco ovens are sold as "commercial" ovens but I know a lot of people who have them as secondary units because they can be moved around - I used to have mine on a rolling cart or "kitchen island" but now it has a permanent location.
It is very heavy, compared to a microwave oven, I can't budge it. 
I'm not OverWeight, I'm UnderTall!
My Blog: http://www.asenjigalblogs.com/

Offline Penji

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Re: advice on cooking in a benchtop convection oven
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2011, 12:07:49 am »
Thank you for that, well it does seem that I will be getting a refund and looking for something else.  Like you I wanted to use it for cooking rather than the large oven which is just two big for the two of us now.  I shall look out for this.