Cooking multiple things in the oven

Skibunny40

I keep reading the tip of cooking multiple things when the oven is on, but I have a couple of questions. How do you avoid the smells transferring to each food  if I was baking something like flapjacks and beef stew? Also, I've only ever make a recipe then put it straight into the oven - how does it work if you are making two things? Is it okay to prepare stuff to just before the "put in the oven" stage then prepare the next thing then put both in at the same time once the second thing is at the oven stage? 

Katiehound

smells don't transfer.

When my friend is using her oven it is jam packed. eg: roast, jacket potatoes, crumble, fairy cakes/flapjack, fruit cake. No spare inch is left unused. (other things that would work here are fruit pie, jam tarts, biscuits)
She has been doing this for many many years  so is used to juggling.

you don't want to leave things that contain a raising agent sitting around so if you were cooking a cake you would do that second or even third using the above as a guide. meat in first because that is going to take the longest time. crumble in, cake in. obviously you wouldn't be cooking something here that needs very specific timing like a souffle.

Skibunny40

That's reassuring about the smells Katiehound - thanks

I'll definitely give it a go, I'm a slow cook but hopefully I'll get faster as I do it more often

RAS

Look around for recipes that can be prepped and then left in the fridge, sloppy pasta traybakes, or roast veggies, with or without chicken bits or sausages.

Pastry and crumble are fine in the fridge, but only add the filling just before it goes in (or in the case of the crumble put it on top).

Also look at freezer or fridge biscuits, so prepare ahead and just slice before cooking.

Cynderella

Some things, I think need to go in the oven quickly - generally anything made with self raising flour. I like to put pies in quickly before the pastry goes soggy. But other things like stews, flapjacks, jacket potatoes etc can be prepped and put in the oven when there's a space.

I always preheat the oven before baking, but you can do things like toast nuts, dry breadcrumbs or warm croissants while the oven is heating up, and lots of things like roast veg and stews can go into a cold oven. When I first started cooking, I used to make a list and decide on an order depending on temps and timings.

Blue_Doggy

You do need to plan it first though, if you haven’t done it before. 

 

(A family member years ago used to do this, but since she never started the bread until the meat had gone in, and then did the cake while the bread was proving, the meat, potatoes, etc were often finished before the cake & bread were ready to go in. And the rice pudding, crumble or whatever were usually a bit ‘caught’ (never say burnt!). Her poor family were never allowed to do things on Sunday mornings because the dinner was always ‘nearly ready’.)

Katiehound

yes, forgot, pasta tray bakes like lasagne are good - they are forgiving!

maman

This is nothing new. I remember my nana always put a rice pudding or egg custard tart in with the roast on a Sunday. 

I'd agree if you're not used to it then write a list of the order things need to go in. I use the timer on my phone to remind me. 

Rosa_Damascena

Katiehound said:

smells don't transfer.

How can you be sure? I would be reluctant to put cake mixture in with garlic bread or onions, for example. And fatty meat smell particularly vile.

I barely cook so I genuinely don't know. 

theoretica

Rosa_Damascena said:

Katiehound said:

smells don't transfer.

How can you be sure? I would be reluctant to put cake mixture in with garlic bread or onions, for example. And fatty meat smell particularly vile.

I barely cook so I genuinely don't know. 

Well, I have been combining things in the oven all my life and transferring smells never occurred to me as a possible problem.  So I won't say it never happens, just I have done it a lot without this problem happening!  I do try to stop things splattering around the oven by choosing the right dish and using lids where appropriate, and to be fair don't use much garlic!

Something thing to look for are the pesky cakes which sulk and collapse if you open the oven part way through baking (to add something or take something out).