Operating Rules
Before you start cooking in the oven, you must read the instructions that came with this model. Besides the fact that the oven can be gas or electric, it can have additional parameters that must be taken into account during operation, so that it lasts a long time and does not break.
Gas oven use rules:
- Before you start cooking, be sure to check the oven for the presence of kitchen utensils. Many housewives in order to save space prefer to put pots, pans, trays and other household items inside the oven. If you decide to use it, you must first remove all unnecessary from the inside, leaving only the grill.
- Gas oven assumes the presence of several levels, determine in advance which of them you need to prepare a dish, and set the grid or shelf on it. When the cabinet is already turned on, the selected level cannot be changed for safety reasons.
- Before using the gas oven, it is necessary to warm it up, for this usually ten minutes is enough. Select the desired mode, light the gas and adjust the desired temperature, and when the oven warms up, place the prepared dishes with a dish in it. In modern ovens, there is an audible alert that helps determine when the cooking process can begin.
- When the dish is installed inside the gas oven, do not open the door too often, it is fraught with the fact that some heat will go off, and the cooking process will take longer.
Rules for using an electric oven:
- Do not place dishes on the lower part of the oven during cooking, it is necessary to place the dish solely on the grid or shelf, which are located on level steps. Otherwise, the lower heater may be damaged.
- At the final stage of cooking, the electric stove door needs to be slightly opened, and if cooking lasted more than an hour, open fully.
- Bake and stew on the middle shelf, cook - on the bottom.
- Ceramic, cast iron or refractory clay dishes are suitable for the electric oven.
Otherwise, all the rules of operation of an electric oven are similar to a gas one. You must always keep them in your head, and in the first stages of mastering the oven, you can read the instructions before each cooking. This will save the oven and dish from unforeseen situations.
Many people choose electric ovens, as they are multifunctional and allow you to adjust any temperature.How to choose the level of
If you read the recipes of dishes baked in the oven, you can see that the authors almost never indicate at what level it is necessary to prepare certain products, and this parameter is very important, especially for beginners. There are certain patterns that need to be considered before starting cooking, then the dish will turn out to be prepared without complaints.
Universal is considered to be the middle level, at which the dish is evenly baked from all sides, the upper and lower heating is turned on. If you need to make a ruddy crust, in the final stages of cooking, you can move the dishes with the dish to a higher level. If it is necessary that the bottom of the dish is baked better and the top is not burnt, for example, when cooking pizza, you need to move the dishes to the lower level.
Recently, many believe that food that is cooked for a long time, preserves the texture of products and their beneficial substances, so some housewives prefer to cook on weak modes. In this case, the dish is better prepared, if you put it on a lower level under the condition of low heat.
How to choose the mode
Universal mode, which achieves uniform heating from the top and bottom, can be used to cook almost any dish, but in some cases you need to use another option. Universal mode is suitable for baking, roasting fish or meat and other similar products in an open dish.
In many modern ovens there is a choice of several modes, one of which is the strong heating of the lower heating element and the standard heating of the upper one. In this case, the preparation of the dish will be faster than with the universal mode. Usually this option is used when it is necessary to achieve a golden crust at the bottom of the dish or to cook something in a dish that does not conduct heat well. This may be glass or aluminum utensils, as well as pots for roasts.
In the ovens of the middle and high price category there is usually a fan on the back wall, it is used for uniform heating of the dish. As a rule, uniform heating of the upper and lower heating elements together with the fan is used. This mode is suitable for baking whole pieces of meat or fish, as well as for large amounts of baking.
Lower heating mode is used to prepare dishes topped with fruit or cheese, so that they do not burn. In addition, the mode can be used for canning, heating of ready-made products or creating a golden crust at the bottom of the dish, but this process must be constantly monitored.
Separate top heating is suitable for the preparation of those dishes that should be juicy inside and covered with a golden crust on top. In addition, this mode is suitable for cooking in forms such as julienne, casseroles or lasagna. The ideal option would be if, in addition to the top heating, it would be possible to turn on the fan, then the products would be better baked.
In some ovens there is a weak heat, at which both heating elements are switched on, but they are heated to a low temperature. This allows you to defrost food without losing its taste and useful substances, as well as to dry products, such as mushrooms, fruits, vegetables or berries.
Modern ovens provide a grill mode, in which the dish is prepared in such a way that the taste is obtained as close as possible to that cooked on the fire or in the coals. In this mode, it is best to cook meat dishes - kupaty, meat rolls, kebabs, steaks, etc.
Oven capabilities
If your oven does not have a “Grill” mode, you can achieve a no less tasty result using regular universal heating. If you are baking large chunks of meat, poultry or fish, you must be constantly in the kitchen, so that from time to time, in the process of cooking, water the pieces with the juice that is extracted from above. This allows you to achieve a uniform crisp and juiciness of the finished dish. However, this method is not suitable for small sizes of initial products, it will make them excessively dry.
In addition to the traditional way, you can bake products in the oven using an artificial shell - foil or bag. In the first case, you can cook meat, fish, poultry or vegetables, cooking time and temperature will depend on the size of the pieces. When using foil, there is one important rule to follow: the shiny side should face the dish, and the matte side should face out. Using the baking bag, you can prepare the main course together with a side dish; previously, several holes are made in the package walls with a fork or toothpick so that it does not burst during cooking. Baking in an artificial casing allows for juiciness and softness of the dish, so many housewives choose this method.
Not all housewives know that in the oven you can cook porridge or soup, as a result of which their taste will be richer, as when cooking in a traditional oven. All ingredients will be similar to the standard recipe for soup or porridge, but the cooking time will be increased, resulting in a dish will get the taste of languor.
