Help with cooking in an electric oven

cathy said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and a
half to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at
350. At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens and the noodle dish
separately. But my sister has only the one oven, and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not
sure what to do.

If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are finishing (last 45 minutes),
would it help if I used the convection setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of
time and temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything else I shoud be aware
of when cooking in an electric oven?

I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help.... Cathy

You're kidding right? 350 degrees in a gas oven is the same as 350 degrees in an electric one. Why
even waste the energy heating up two separate ovens? I myself would just ignore the convection
aspect and leave it off if you don't know how to use it, and continue on just as you would
otherwise, but using the one oven. Goomba

cathy said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and a half
to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.

The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop the temp from 25 to 50 degrees
and look to a shorter cook time.

The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read thermometer. Take the birds
out of the fridge about an hour before cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the birds
to 160F and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd estimate they'd be done in
less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.

The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole time.

Pastorio

Bob Pastorio <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

cathy said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and
a half to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes
at 350.

The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop the temp from 25 to 50
degrees and look to a shorter cook time.

The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read thermometer. Take the birds
out of the fridge about an hour before cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the
birds to 160F and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd estimate they'd be
done in less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.

The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole time.

Pastorio

Another "rule" is to roast the birds high in the roaster (well exposed/not covered, out in the wind
so to speak) so as the moving hot air can get at them. So put a rack under them or get one of those
vertical bird roasters. a quick read thermometer is almost a necessity as the birds will cook real
quick. Even better is one of those digital remote thermometers then...no opening the oven till stuff
is ready to come out.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 07:28:02 -0500, Goomba38 <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

cathy said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and a
half to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at
350. At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens and the noodle dish
separately. But my sister has only the one oven, and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not
sure what to do.

If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are finishing (last 45
minutes), would it help if I used the convection setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean,
what kind of time and temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything else I
shoud be aware of when cooking in an electric oven?

I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help.... Cathy

You're kidding right? 350 degrees in a gas oven is the same as 350 degrees in an electric one. Why
even waste the energy heating up two separate ovens? I myself would just ignore the convection
aspect and leave it off if you don't know how to use it, and continue on just as you would
otherwise, but using the one oven. Goomba

Er, no, really I"m not kidding. I have never cooked with an electric oven, and especially not a
convection one. I have to admit I'm so unfamiliar with electric that I don't even know if there
=are= any differences, let alone what those might be. Sorry!

And when I'm home, I use two ovens because I've found that if I put too many things in one oven they
all take a lot longer to cook and don't cook evenly. I'm just too used to my own stove, I guess! But
thanks for your advice re using/not using the convection oven.

Cathy

Bob Pastorio said:

cathy said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and
a half to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes
at 350.

The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop the temp from 25 to 50
degrees and look to a shorter cook time.

The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read thermometer. Take the birds
out of the fridge about an hour before cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the
birds to 160F and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd estimate they'd be
done in less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.

The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole time.

Pastorio

Thanks for the help, everyone! I feel like a dunce asking such simple questions. I really do NOT
like cooking on an electric stove. I've already overcooked eggs twice and keep forgetting not to put
the teakettle backon the burner it just came off of. Sigh. I miss my gas stove!

Cathy

"cathy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an electric convection oven. Now, I
have never cooked/baked in an electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about 350-375 for about two and a
half to three hours (two 5 pound chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at
350. At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens and the noodle dish
separately. But my sister has only the one oven, and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not
sure what to do.

If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are finishing (last 45 minutes),
would it help if I used the convection setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of
time and temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything else I shoud be aware
of when cooking in an electric oven?

I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help.... Cathy

Some electric convection ovens give you the option of using it without the convection feature. In
this case it works just like a gas oven - you would use the same temp and time. If you do use the
conection feature, the general rule is to cook at a slightly lower temp for a little less time. As a
starting point, if a recipe called for 350 for an hour in a regular oven try 325 for 45 minutes.
Remember you can tell when the chicken is done with a thermometer rather than relying on time and
temperature.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.