What else can I cook in the oven whilst....

Pink.

Hi kitty,

Did you find any of the ideas useful? What did you make in the end?

I've added your thread to a previous one on the same subject to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

Primrose

The problem with cooking caseroles in an oven is that generally they need a much lower temperature setting than other items such as pastry, crumbles, roast potatoes or other roast vegetables.
I've solved this problem by not using the oven for cooking casroles. I now use my Le Creuset pot on my gas hob but not directly on the flame. I've got one of these metal simmer plates which you put over your gas or electric job and then put your caserole pan on the metal simmer plate, so effectively you turn your hob setting down to its lowest point and use very little power. I'm very pleased with it and find there is far less liquid evaporation using this method. We bought ours from Lakeland and you can use any type of caserole dish on it as long as it is heatproof. It's called an Aris Simmer Mat. You can find out more about it on http://www.simmermat.com/what-is-simmermat.html

mandco

not sure if this is the right place so apologies if not

trying really hard to get used to cooking with elec takes ages to heat up then over cooks plus really makes dent in the electric so wanna try and get the most out if it while its on.

If I'm cooking a roast or stew ect thought maybe I could bake up a few batches of munchies to get the most value out of it.
I assume its ok to open the oven while cooking these sort of meals?

anyone do this and what sort of things can i bake that can go near the top of the oven and cook with out burning?

any other tips on cooking with elec appreciated

Pink.

Hi mandco,

Welcome to Old Style.

This thread may help:

What else can I cook in the oven whilst....

Pink

Penelope_Penguin

I just stumbled across this thread - Baking 2 things at once in the oven

stiltwalker

Hi there,

There are lots of things that can go in the oven while you are cooking other stuff, I too have an electric oven and try to get as much in as possible. The only things that you ned to be careful of opening the oven door with are things that are going to rise like sponge cakes, yorkshire puds, bread (for the first 20 mins til the crust forms) etc. If you have spare corners then you can always tuck in a few spuds for baked spuds (these can be frozen and nuked for quick meals). My oven in a fan one and mot thing can go in most positions in the oven but if yours is not then anything which needs a shorter hotter cooking time will be fine in the top of the oven.

HTH

RAS

stiltwalker wrote: »

My oven in a fan one and most thing can go in most positions in the oven but if yours is not then anything which needs a shorter hotter cooking time will be fine in the top of the oven.

HTH

And most things that need a lower temperature can go towards the bottom of the conventional oven when you are cooking a roast.

You can always make a casserole for later in the week, oven cook the ingredients for soup etc.

adelight

I'd use/buy a slow cooker for stews and things that take a long time to cook and keep the oven usage minimal.
When doing a roast I put potatoes/parsnips at the top, chicken in the middle, stuffing/yorkies and pudding at the bottom. I also leave the kitchen door open so it heats the upstairs a bit The good thing about electric hobs is that they hold the heat after you turn them off, when cooking pasta I can turn the heat off for the last 3-4 minutes!

lapis_lazuli

Hello everyone,

My brother has just given me a pizza stone for my birthday! :j However I see that it has to be preheated in the oven from cold for about 45 minutes to prevent thermal shock. :eek: My shared flat has a gas oven, so obviously heating an empty oven with only a pizza stone inside for that long isn't terribly efficient or kind on our finances. What else can I bung in with it? My concern is that pizza requires a very hot oven (probably around the 250 -260 mark) and I don't want to burn anything. Could I get away with baking a quiche? It's not fan-assisted, which means the lower levels are cooler, but even so, at 250 degrees I doubt it will be so different by the time that 45 minutes is up.

pumpkinlife

Is it a stoneware pizza stone or a piece of marble/granite/other rock? I have a stoneware one that can go into a hot oven without the need for preheating and it is brilliant. Anything you would normally bake on a sheet will do brilliantly on a stone, once your pizza is finished. We got ours for christmas and it stops the bottom of bread and biscuits burning on the bottom in our shoddy oven! You could also bake potatoes, and sliced veg drizzled with a little oil.

You could roast veg and even meat at high temperature whilst the pizza is in to serve cold in salads and sandwiches. Loaves of bread need a high temp too. Pastry is usually cooked at a lower temperature, but you could put it in as the oven cools. The oven would be on for a little longer, but you would be using the heat you have already generated more efficiently.