Hello, My Name Is Launderess And I Have A Problem - Cusinart Convection Oven

[launderess]

Whirlcool!

Thanks for the link!

Actually found that site several weeks whilst thinking about pulling the trigger on this Cuisinart oven.

According to the owner's manual neither glass nor ceramic vessels are best for convection ovens, but they recommend aluminum or other types of metal as first choice.

There seems to be no real consenus on baking cakes in a convection oven. The site listed above gives confilicting information, with some links supporting the process, others recommending against or rather there not being much of a time savings or other improvement in baking dense cakes via a convection oven.

Most cakes do require "deep" pans, rather than the shallow ones best for convection ovens (to allow greater air flow around and over the food), and since convection ovens will bake a cake's outsides much faster than the insides, again it can be tricky at best. My go to reference for baking cakes "The Cake Bible" does not recommend using a convection oven for cakes either.

Considering this little guy pulls 1600watts of power, you can be sure it won't be used for anything that requires long cooking/baking times. Not at the current local electric rates. *LOL*

Being rather space challenged in the kitchen and elsewhere, liked the fact the entire unit can be packed up and put away when not in use. Whilst have oven nearly gone for a Farberware oven, really do not have the room to keep it set up all the time. Well if I didn't have the microwave, but all things considered that appliance gets the most use, even against a normal oven.

If things calm down before the holiday, may try baking a few pies to see how things go.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I don't think that there is any inherent advantage to baking cakes in the Farberware or Cuisinart convection oven versus a good full-sized oven, but needing a second oven for baking pound cakes as I did in the late 70s-early 80s, the Farber turned out absolutely beautiful cakes; not something easily achieved with run of the mill counter top ovens or some of the small convection ovens. The Wesinghouse roaster oven will bake very nice cakes also, but needs an extra rack like the cooking rack from an older Mirro or Presto pressure cooker to keep the bottom of a Bundt pan up off the floor of the oven. If space is a major consideration, your reasons for buying the Cuisinart oven are very valid.

 

[launderess]

Cake Bible book tells one shouldn't use most convection ovens for baking cakes, especially those round "counter-top" things where the fan blows downwards. You you, those sold under the "Galloping Gourmet" and other brands.

Then there is the fact some commercial convection ovens have quite powerful fans. Author tells of a time when she was working in the White House kitchens were a famous chef had a whole tray of pasteries blown off by the sheet by power of a Blodgett oven.

Have a small vintage Westbend "Ovenette" that actually works a treat for baking. Indeed the aforementioned book states one of the best ovens for baking cakes are small, probably because there is less air to heat/and temp does not vary much once reached.

Had a roaster (Nesco) that came with the rack insert you mentiond. Purchsed NIB from Goodwill, got it home only to discover the glass window in the cover was broken. Ended up moving it on to another thrift.

 

[whirlcool]

You have to know when to use convection and when to use normal baking. I have found that if you are baking something on a flat or low sided pan, use convection.
If you are using something where the sides of the pan used are taller than what you are baking, use normal baking without convection.
Biscuits come out great in a convection oven. The link below is to another website about when to use convection ovens.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/308161

 

[chachp]

I have one of those

And I used to use it all the time until I got a full sized convection oven. It's great for poultry (I don't eat much beef but good for that too). These do sear the meat and produce amazingly juicy foods. There will be splatter but both bowls will go in the dishwasher and clean up really well.

This unit is actually closer to what they call TRUE convection than most counter top units. This unit has the heating coil surrounding the fan which is the preferred setup.

I never hung it on the wall but I like the way it closes up and doesn't take as much room in the cupboard as a larger unit would.

Here is mine nicely tucked away.

Most things come out quite well except in my experience I don't care for pizza in the convection. I find the cheese cooks before crust does the way I like it.

 

[launderess]

Very Nice Unit You've Got There!

Glad to see am not the only one out there with this "gadget"! *LOL*

Tried this Cuisinart "Air Surge" oven before the holiday to make some pies (sweet potato), and wasn't that impressed. Took longer than if one had used my big oven, and the results weren't great. No one complained, and everything was eaten, but do like to make a great presentation.

Unit didn't emit that much heat, but then again it is winter and I do have most of the heating closed off, so would be hard to tell if the kitchen got warmer.

Pie seem to get browner on one side than the other, so in the end had to rotate just as one might have in the gas oven. Also since the thermostat has markings in 50 degree increments, adjusting my recipe was a pain. Usually bake my pies at 350F, because there isn't a 325 marked, had to go with the next level down, 300 and bake longer. In hindsight this is probably what lead to longer baking times, and one probably could have fooled around to find the proper temp, but it was getting on and had other things to do.

Chachp: Your unit looks like the two rack model, mine's has three so cannot fit all the racks plus the controls into the glass bowls for compact storage. Ended up just putting the control thing inside the bowls and wrapping up the racks in a small plastic bag on top.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The nice thing about the Farberware oven is that the heat is blown from the top down along the outside walls and drawn up in the middle for very even cooking and browning and, as I stated earlier, fabulous baking in Bundt or tube pans.

 

[launderess]

Well It Would Have To Wouldn't It? *LOL*

Have been doing some research on convection ovens lately, and contray to popular belief they do not blow hot air onto foods.

True convection ovens use their fans to draw air *in* from the oven cavity, where it is heated, then sent out normally via baffles directed into the chamber from the back. Since the Farberware oven has the fan/heating element mounted on top of the oven, it takes in air as you say by drawing air up, heating (if required), then blowing down the sides (via baffles). The air will then rise in a pattern and is drawn up into the fan so the whole cycle starts all over again.

This could also be why your mother's oven had so much problems with food bits and such being swept up into the fans and or perhaps sprayed onto the food.

Most convection ovens have some sort of filter, and or the fan assembly comes apart for cleaning. My Cuisinart's fan assembly can be partially taken apart for cleaning, and IIRC some parts are dishwasher safe.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Laundress, It was not my mother's oven that had problems with recirculated food particles. She never had a convection oven. That was mentioned in the article in your link as to why the ovens had a filter to prevent recirculation of grease and food particles. I just gave it a maniacal twist. Sorry for leading anyone astray. I think I maybe had to wash the filter in the Farber once or twice in all of the years I used it since it was only used for the cakes. I knew not to get any food soil on those walls with the continuous cleaing coating.

What I was responding to was the fact that your oven browned the pies more on one side, necessitating rotation. I expect that was probably caused by the radiant heat from the element around the fan being so close to the food as well as its location on the side of the oven. Even though there is a fan pulling air over the heating element, anything as hot as a heating element is going to give off radiant heat. That did not adversely effect cooking with the Farberware oven because of the element's location at the top.

Air impingement ovens, of the type used for pizza are the ovens that blast hot air onto food. In a well-made convection oven, the fan should enhance the evenness of the heat throughout the oven, not blast a stream of air at the food although some domestic gas convection ovens did more of the later than the former. Presto, I think, made some sort of pizza cooker that used a stream of hot air directed at a pizza on a slowly rotating turntable which was a domestic application of the air impingement technology. I do not know how successful it was.

 

[launderess]

Tom

No worries, sorry for mixing things up with your mom and so on.

As for uneven browning, from what one has been able to read/research on the *Net* regarding baking with convection ovens, it is not that uncommon for persons to rotate cakes/pies. As you say it probably has much to do with the design of the oven along with other factors.

Am sure if one "played" around further would obtain great results with the Cuisinart oven. Everyone agrees that using a convection oven is a learning curve, and in hindsight probably shouldn't have revved the thing up for Thanksgiving pies.

Actually the pie browned more on the side *away* from the convection fan/heating element, than close to. That is using the pictures above, the side closest to the front glass that reads *air surge*.

Did the same recipe for sweet potato pie yesterday, but baked it in my vintage Westbend "Ovenette", and everything went a treat. Even browning, nice crust, and so on. Won't cut the pie until tomorrow, so cannot say how it looks deep down.

 

[frigilux]

Launderess--- I have two Frigidaire convection ranges (one gas, one electric) and they both tend to over-brown the edges of food nearest the oven door; the electric more so than the gas.

I rarely use the convection feature---mostly for restaurant-type foods: breaded chicken cutlets, chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, etc. Breaded items emerge with an awesome deep-fried-like texture.

I also use convection when we do our communal Christmas baking, which allows us to use three racks in each oven. It is my job to rotate the pans for more even results---which is a bit like working in front of a blast furnace after a few hours, LOL.

 

[castle]

New model is not durable like old times

I think you are a person who uses it very well and keeping good.
Because oven would be very old.This oven that produced the new model is not durable like old times

 

[launderess]

Fired Up The Old Girl

For roast beef the other night, and while results were great (nice and juicy), cleaning up was a bit of a bother.

Fan cover was coated with oil/fat stains from inhaling enclosed "roast beef" air, and probably some direct contact with such in the form of splatters.

The two glass globes went into sudsy dish water (plain ole liquid washing up detergent with a splash of ammonia), while one took an "SOS" pad to the fan cover and then wiped up the residue with a dish cloth.

While watching the unit in action it seems the fan does not "blow" always on full speed.

When first started the fan barely moves, indeed it takes several minutes before it comes up to speed. However the heater is engaged and not sure if this has something to do with it (that is power is diverted to the heater at the expense of running the fan).

During operation the fan does seem to speed up and slow down, again not sure if this is a result of having to devote all 1600 watts the unit pulls to the heater, or something else.

Am sure if one used this oven for meats often, that fan would have to come out and be cleaned. The manual gives instrucitons for this, but am not keen on trying that out just yet. As parts are rare if any, don't want to loose or damage anything that cannot be replaced.

 

[tomturbomatic]

The fan motor migh have lubrication problems or stiff bushings that loosen when heated. The variations in fan speed are probably when the heat cycles on and off due to the high power draw on a 110 or 115 volt circuit. When the heating element comes on, it takes all of the energy it wants and the motor slows slightly. I could hear it with my Farberware also.

 

[whirlcool]

FWIW, our Maytag convection oven fan does not engage until the oven has come up to the selected temperature.

 

[pcasa]

cuisinart air surge oven

Happy to see someone else that loves these - found my first one - actually just the glass parts = at a Goodwill in Dallas many many years ago - that was before ebay days = and I searched forever for the convection heater unit - it wasn't until ebay came online that I was able to get the heating element - I've had 3 or 4 of these - but have broken the glass twice - so I have two intact ones and a couple of extra heaters - and as everyone agrees - cooking is sketchy - but the design is impeccable! love them

 

[pcasa]

MANUAL FOR CUISINART AIR SURGE OVEN

My original copy of the green manual for CUISINART AIR SURGE OVEN was lost in my house fire. If anyone has a manual, I would be happy to pay for a photocopy. thanks! paula /pcasa