Old chef needs a hand

enfield

I stopped cooking for a living in 1978 and went my merry in the army, on the buildings, welding, making grease traps, training in engineering etc. Well I am now back at the cooking racket and the question is, what the heck are these fan assisted ovens? I do miracles with an ordinary one but the place I now work ( a Tús scheme) has two of these in the kitchen. From what I see it has an element in the top and is ok for grilling but then there are these different fan settings that are beyond me. Can someone please tell me how this system works. There is no instructions on how to use them ovens as its a new kitchen and they were in it when I was sent on this scheme.
Be tolerant with me folks. I can cook but I need someone to explain the rudiments of fan assisted ovens.
Thanking you in advance. Kind regards.
Tom.

Deki

I've only ever used a gas oven and never a forced air one, but here is a bit of a discussion that I thought might be of help.
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080919012921AAa4BEO

I think if you knew the brand of the manufactureer it might be helpful to see if they had an online presence. I'm sure they would have some info on how to use their ovens. Sorry could not be of more help. Best of wishes for your return adventure into professional cooking I'm sure you'll get the hang of these ovens quickly.

enfield

Thank you Deki.
Things, I notice, that have changed, we now have microwave cookers and blenders which are great. We no longer have the stock pot boiling on the stove for weeks with onion peels, egg shells, bones, and lots of other bits that make great sauces and soups. The best thing of all that I found on my return is the swivel peeler for carrots and spuds, I will never use a knife again, happy days, now i just have to convince the wife that they are better.
Merry Christmas to everyone and thanks again.
Kind regards.
Tom.

Intothesea

Hello there. The advantage of having fan (or convection) heating in an oven is that it eliminates hot spots. The forced air circulates heat more evenly than just simple baking and so food cooks more quickly.

It's a question of trial and sampling to get the timing right with one of these things. Here's a Wiki article giving a bit of an overview:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_oven

The Sweeper

enfield, on the dial for the oven there'll be a large number of settings. Depending on how complex the ovens are, they can have a combination of settings.

My old one had elements in the top and bottom of the oven, in the back, and in the two sides. There were a variety of combinations of elements that you could switch on together with the fan to cook.

These different settings have different foods in minds - roasts, pizzas, bread, cakes. You could also switch the fan off completely and have whatever elements you wanted on.

One thing I did find is that the temperature gauge on some fan ovens isn't accurate depending on the combination of fan and elements you have switched on, so invest in an oven thermometer that you can leave in there to tell you how hot it is. Mine cost a fiver and changed my use of the oven.

I tended to find the simplest way for me to get an 'all round' cooking with my old oven was fan: on and back element: on, with the others all off. Next off top and bottom elements with fan was great for pizza and naan breads and such like. Bread was best turned up to highest heat, all elements on, fan off.

But again you'll have to experiment with the model you have and figure it out. If you google your make and model on the oven you'll most probably be able to get an instruction manual online - most manufacturers' manuals are available as PDF files online these days.

enfield

Thank you Sweeper. The problem is what do the icons on the dials do? When I am back in work on Tuesday I will take a picture of the dial and post it here and beg your help yet again, if I may please.
Kind regards.
Tom.

Morag

Make a note of the name/make/model number of the oven often you can find the manuals online.

enfield

All I remember is its a Beko and as far as i can see it had only one element in view and that was on the top. There is a fan in the back, and if I left it alone it misted up and I wondered where the moisture was coming from. The dial has one click to the left and about five to the right some with fan icons others without. Does this help?
I looked it up on the net and its a Beko Built-In Oven OIF22100, same as this;
http://www.beko.co.uk/Item/OIF22100
Kind regards.
Tom.

enfield

Bingo!! maybe I just needed to think out loud. I think I am sorted.
http://www.york.ac.uk/media/colleges/goodricke/documents/OIF22100X_285440345.pdf

Many thanks for all your patient listening, it made all the difference.
Kind regards.
Tom.