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Considering Convection – Three Racks of Cookies a Breeze

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In a conventional oven, baking three racks of cookies is an invitation for trouble. The bottom row burns and the top is undercooked. In a convection oven, the circulating air makes baking cookies easier, because it eliminates hot and cool spots and differences in cooking times.

Do they work only for baking? Not so.

Convection ovens are capable of being all-purpose kitchen mainstays, turning out evenly cooked cookies; juicy, well-browned poultry and meats; and vegetables packed with caramelized flavor.

[Shown: Jenn-Air JJW9430DDS 30″ Double Electric Wall Oven with Two-Mode Convection in Upper Oven and CustomClean Self Cleaning Oven: Stainless Steel ]

Gas or electric, the ovens use a fan that circulates hot air around food. This moving blast of air speeds up the heat transfer that occurs when two temperatures converge. [See Second Law of Thermodynamics]

Think the opposite of wind chill. When cold air blows, you feel colder more quickly than on a windless day.

Some tips:

  • Not all convection ovens are “true convection.” The true, or best, ovens blow heated air into the oven cavity. This means they have a third heating element near the fan in the back of the oven, in addition to the usual top and bottom elements.
  • Food cooked in a convection oven usually is done about 25 percent faster, so foods retain more nutrients and lose less moisture.
  • In a conventional oven, baking three racks of cookies is an invitation for trouble. Chances are the bottom row will burn and the top will be undercooked. Not so in a convection oven. The circulating air makes baking cookies easier, because it eliminates hot and cool spots and differences in cooking times.
  • To reap the benefits of the circulating air, you must use the appropriate pan. The whole point of convection is to have air circulating around the food, so casserole lids and high-sided cooking pans do not work. Use the conventional oven when cooking with these pans. Convections work best with cookie sheets and shallow pans. When cooking beef, pork or poultry, place them on a rack to allow air to circulate beneath.
  • Bake pizza, tartlet shells and breads.
  • Do not bake delicate desserts, such as ladyfingers, souffles or meringues on the convection setting.
  • Several dishes can be cooked at the same time without flavors transferring from one dish to another.

More to look at:
Frigidaire FEB27T7FC 27 Frigidaire FEB27T7FC 27″ Electric Double Wall Oven with Self-Cleaning Oven and SpeedBake Convection System

Delonghi DEFSGG36DE 36 Delonghi DEFSGG36DE 36″ Freestanding Gas Double Oven Range with 5 Sealed Burners & Convection in Both Ovens: Black

900 Watt .9 cu. ft. Double Grill White Convection Microwave Oven 900 Watt .9 cu. ft. Double Grill White Convection Microwave Oven

Recall: Thermador Built-in Ovens – Fire Hazard

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Thermador® Brand Built-In Ovens

Units: About 42,000

Manufacturer: BSH Home Appliances Corp., of Huntington Beach, Calif.

Hazard: The oven can have gaps in the insulation where overheating can occur and when used in the self-cleaning mode it can cause nearby cabinets to overheat. This can pose a fire hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: BSH Home Appliances has received ten reports of incidents including one which resulted in a fire that caused extensive property damage. No injuries have been reported.

Description: This recall involves Thermador® Brand built-in single ovens and combination models which have a conventional oven and a microwave. The model numbers of the single ovens are C271B, C301B, SEC271B and SEC301B. The model numbers of the combination models are SEM272B, SEM302B, SEMW272B and SEMW302B. The ovens have date codes between FD8403 and FD8701. The model number and date code can be found on the underside of the control panel.

Sold at: Appliance and specialty stores nationwide from November 2004 through May 2007 for between $2,400 and $3,900.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the oven’s self-cleaning mode and contact BSH Home Appliances immediately to schedule an inspection and free repair, if necessary.

Consumer Contact: BSH Home Appliances at (800) 701-5230 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET Monday through Friday. For more information, visit the firm’s Web site at www.thermador.com

SuperSize Me – Kitchen appliances to do a hummer proud

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I was visiting a friend a few weeks ago who has recently finished a home remodel in West Los Angeles. He and his wife turned their 1500 square foot bungalow into a 4000 square foot family home. I stood in their kitchen looking at their double wide refrigerator (literally, double wide.) It’s two fridges side by side with the doors mounted to open to the outside creating about 72 inches of cold storage. The hummer of refrigerators.

Super size refrigerator — by Hummer?

Makes you wonder, how did anybody ever raise a family in the 1500 square foot house that was there before? Arrol Gelner of Inman News touches on the same question in this article from Upstate House a couple months ago:

Needless to say, bigness has hit housing in, well, a big way. Not only are American homes now nearly twice the size of their postwar counterparts, but they have more of everything: more bedrooms, more bathrooms, bigger windows, taller ceilings, more garage doors.

The things inside our homes are getting bigger too, as a trip to an appliance store will quickly confirm. Like those colossal baby carriages, appliances are being pumped up to SUV-like proportions.

Many washing machines and dryers, for example, are now raised up on huge pedestals for “convenience,” not to mention being slathered with enough fake chrome to shame a Lincoln Navigator owner.

I’m guilty too. We tore out 24 inch wall ovens and rebuilt our vintage kitchen around 30 inch double ovens, dropped in a huge fridge and a six burner range. We drive the biggest suburban on the market, and live in twice the house I grew up in. Personally, I just like elbow room and efficiency, and have a big family. But what about couples with 4000 square foot mini mansions crammed into lots of little look alike lots? Does the space inside make life seem more substantial? What’s the nexus between, big and shiny and important and successful?

What do you think?

Whirlpool does Right – wins the Helen Keller Accessibility award

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Superman said it best “Truth Justice and the American Way”. The American Way – the secret to our strength? well you can follow it back to the days of barn raising, and follow it forward to the deep response of American’s nationwide to the victims of Katrina. American’s look out for each other. We want our neighbors, our friends, and even strangers to have better lives.

One of America’s great companies has been honored for keeping it sights on how to help all of its customers have better lives, even those with disabilities. The American Foundation for the Blind awards annual recognition to a companies or individuals that have made significant contributions to people who are blind or visually impaired. This year they honored Whirlpool for their tremendous focus on making their products easy to use for those with visual impairments.

whirlpoollogo.gif

Whirlpool brand is the 14th annual recipient of the Helen Keller Achievement Award, recognizing individuals and organizations who have improved the quality of life for those who are visually impaired. The award is named for the world renowned advocate for the deaf and blind, Helen Keller.

Dangerous Ovens and Stoves That Tip Over

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stove tippingThose of us in earthquake and seismic-savvy Southern California realize that this is a serious concern, of which, I believe, most people are completely unaware. Of greater concern is the risk to  families with children young enough to use simple leverage.   A climbing toddler could easily become a crushed toddler.  My advice would be to bolt the oven to the wall right away, and remember to always keep an eye on kids in the kitchen – there is no substitute for adult supervision.

KHOU has a video and full article.

Greek philosopher Archimedes quipped: “Give me a place to stand on, and I can move the earth.”

Toppling a kitchen appliance is clearly demonstrated by KHOU to be a piece of cake.

On the subject of child safety in the kitchen, here’s a horrible reminder of the dangers of even the most common household appliances when kids are on the loose. http://www.snopes.com/horrors/parental/dishwasher.asp 

archimedes lever

Behind The Appliance Brands – Lifting the Mask

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appliance brand namesConsumer Reports tells us “the nameplate doesn’t always indicate who makes your fridge, oven, or washer”.

Our recent tests of refrigerators included more than 70 models from 20 brands.

That’s a lot of companies, until you play appliance detective and discover that the $20 billion annual market for refrigerators, ovens, washers, and other major home appliances isn’t such a vast place after all. That activity turns out to be a bit like playing Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, though instead of the well-connected actor popping up repeatedly, a few mammoth manufacturers and brands do.

Got pen and paper ready? We haven’t covered every manufacturer, but this rundown will give you a good idea about who actually makes all those appliances. It’s also worth noting that the manufacturing arrangements change all the time.

The Whirlpool Corporation, based in Benton Harbor, Mich., makes Whirlpool, KitchenAid, and Gladiator products. The company accounts for about 17 percent of major appliance sales in the U.S., following closely behind the General Electric brand (17.8 percent) and the Sears Kenmore brand (22.2 percent). Over the years, the Whirlpool company has gobbled up Admiral, Amana, Jenn-Air, Magic Chef, and Maytag, and makes appliances for Ikea (ovens, ranges, cooktops, microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, and dishwashers) and Kenmore (some of the brand’s refrigerators, dishwashers, washers, and dryers). Gladiator and KitchenAid are two “Whirlpool bred” brands.

Whirlpool’s certainly not the only Kenmore supplier. Frigidaire and LG also manufacture Kenmore refrigerators, Haier handles some of its compact fridges, and Danby makes some of its wine chillers, Bosch makes some of its dishwashers, and Electrolux and Sanyo build some of its freezers.

General Electric is well known for a vast array of products–lightbulbs, jet engines for military planes, and “The Today Show.” But this corporate colossus, based in Fairfield, Conn., also makes appliances under the GE, GE Monogram, GE Profile, and Hotpoint brands.

Across the Atlantic, BSH Home Appliances is a leading purveyor of high-end appliances. This German company brings you upscale kitchen and laundry appliances under the brand names Bosch, Gaggenau, Siemens, and Thermador.

BSH has other bedfellows, including KitchenAid, for which it will start making induction cooktops in the summer. Keeping it in the family, KitchenAid turns out a built-in side-by-side refrigerator for Thermador. Bosch’s relationships spread as far as Asia–South Korea’s Daewoo Electronics makes a Bosch side-by-side refrigerator.

Elsewhere in Europe, you might think of Electrolux as the onetime producer of those old, quirky-looking canister vacuums. But this Swedish manufacturer has also brought you refrigerators, freezers, washers, and more under its own nameplate and brands like Frigidaire, Gibson, Kelvinator, Tappan, and White Westinghouse. Proving the Kevin Bacon theory, Electrolux is also connected to Sears: It makes Kenmore dishwashers and high-end Kenmore Pro appliances.

Viking sounds Scandinavian, too, but the company, known for its pro-style ranges and built-in refrigerators, is actually based in Greenwood, Miss. It’s a small world after all: Sweden’s Asko company currently makes some of Viking’s dishwashers. Viking does manufacture its other appliances (and by the end of 2007 will make its own dishwashers), except for a freestanding refrigerator that’s made by Amana and undercounter fridges from Marvel. Got all that?

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Internet Enabled Wall Ovens- Now your Blackberry can make dinner

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Ah those were the days. Mom in the kitchen cooking dinner (chops, potatos, peas) while we all played tag outside for hours until she finally called as the sun came down “Dinner” and we slowly worked our way back home for a family dinner. But what happens if the boys are at little league, the girls are at karate, dad’s stuck on the freeway, and mom is on the way to pick everybody up as she swings home from court? Well if you want to justify having those two incomes check out this super hot (or super cold) integrated refrigerated double wall oven with internet controls. Just buy a premade meal from one of those almost home cooked shops and toss it in the oven before you leave in the morning. Afraid of salmonella? no problem. These ovens have built in refrigeration. Program it to stay cold all day. When you walk out of court, you can pull up the browser on your blackberry, hit the oven over the wireless net and tell it to start cooking.

Pick up the kids, meet dad on the driveway, and dinner is waiting as you walk in. The Jetsons never had it so good.

Check it out here: SuperSmart Internet Enabled Wall Ovens

TMIO announced an expanded Intelligent Oven product line based on the original Connect Io double wall oven of consistent accolades. The original Connect Io double offers remote control by Internet and telephone, and comes with built-in refrigeration to keep foods fresh before and after cooking. These advanced remote features allow homeowners to communicate with the oven to give cooking, warming, and refrigeration instructions so that “dinner is ready when you are.”

Internet controlled wall ovens from IMIO

Here’s a link to TMIO: to read more

How to ruin your electric wall oven for under a buck

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No matter how high tech our ovens, ranges and other appliances get, we’re sometimes still driven to try old fashioned fixes. I’m sure that you hate when your food overflows and spills on the bottom of the oven. You know its just gonna burn off and smoke up the joint before its gone. So you quickly try mom’s old trick of lining the bottom of the oven with foil. Maybe not such a great idea with today’s high powered, but delicately balanced ovens. I found this piece in a Missouri paper called the News Leader.

You want to keep your oven sparkling clean so you protect it by putting aluminum foil on racks, under food as it cooks, and down on the oven floor where food drops and burns to a crisp. But instead of helping, you’re hurting your oven.
Foil placed on the oven floor reflects and intensifies heat, which can cause the bake element to burn out prematurely.

Foil placed under foods on the racks is bad because it traps heat in the bottom of the oven, keeping it from circulating and reaching the heat sensor near the top. Severe overheating is possible; besides damaging the bake element, that could also affect insulation in the oven wall and discolor or even crack oven-door glass.

By disrupting temperatures and air circulation, aluminum foil messes up cooking times, too.

A quickie clean just isn’t worth it.

Is Your Oven Giving You the Cold Shoulder?

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We had an oven repairman in our kitchen today to look over my Bosch double wall oven. We got got an oven thermometer over the holidays and the oven never seems to get within 40-50 degrees of the designated temperature.

Bosch has replaced the oven once, and this second oven is already having problems though its only been in the wall for a month. (but more on that in another post.- their responsiveness is great, their quality is questionable)

Chatting with the repairman, he mentioned that newer electric ovens all run colder than the displayed temperature, and should either be calibrated hotter (360 for a 350 degree setting) or you should just set your dial hotter. He also mentioned that an oven is considered on temperature as long as it is within 25 degrees of the desired temperature.

One of our favorite sites (RepairClinic.com) discusses the same subject in this nice little article on getting your oven to hit the right temperature.

Some Tips for Ensuring Ovens Hit the Right Temperature
Can Ovens Be Blamed for Cooking Disasters?

CANTON, Mich., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ — This month RepairClinic.com(R), the online source of home appliance parts and repair advice, is shining its virtual repair flashlight on ovens. Ovens are often easy to service by home DIYers. RepairClinic can supply appliance repair parts and free repair help online, as well as shiny new knobs, racks and drip pans to spruce up older ovens.
“If you’re wondering why your oven-baked culinary masterpieces don’t come out right every time, don’t blame the chef, blame the oven!” says Chris Hall, president of RepairClinic.com. “All too often, home chefs will find out that their oven is not reaching and maintaining the temperature they’ve set, which means their recipes simply won’t turn out right. Our website can help them diagnose and fix problems with ovens — and many other home appliances.”
Home chefs who suspect their oven is not playing by the rules and keeping the right temperature should first verify that the oven’s built-in thermostat is working properly. This is easily accomplished with a separate oven thermometer. Set the oven temperature and then compare the temperature of the thermometer with the set temperature. To get an accurate reading, let the oven cycle on and off at least three times, which takes at least 20 minutes.
“Over the years, we’ve learned that most inexpensive dial thermometers sold in grocery stores as oven thermometers are generally not very accurate. To get a good reading, we recommend a glass-bulb thermometer,” says Hall. “Also, don’t expect perfection. For example, if you’ve set your oven to 350 degrees, it is acceptable for the actual temperature to be 325-375 degrees. Most recipes provide a range of cook times with this in mind. And, don’t forget that altitude and humidity can affect cook time.”
Some other causes of incorrect oven temperatures that RepairClinic.com encounters include:
Door gaskets: he oven door has a gasket to keep heat inside the oven. Over time, these gaskets can become torn or deformed and this will allow heat to escape. Inspect gaskets to ensure they are in good condition and replace them as necessary.
Door hinges: If an oven door does not close properly, heat can escape. Make sure the door closes tightly and evenly. If it doesn’t, check for broken or bent door hinges or door springs, which should be replaced.
Timer settings: There’s a tricky timer issue that has confused even the best of cooks. Many mechanical clocks and timers on ovens (those without digital LED displays) have a setting called “cook and hold.” If the clock is accidentally set to this position, the oven may not work at all until it is set back to normal. Consult the instruction manual to set the clock or timer correctly.

RepairClinic.com provides step-by-step instructions on how to fix all these problems, and can supply the right part for any type of oven.

Whirlpool seeks new Maytag Repairman

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maytag repairman man men
Whirlpool Corp. is launching a nationwide search for someone to portray the Maytag Repairman — the lonely, iconic character that has represented Maytag for 40 years.

The Repairman has been under new ownership since Whirlpool purchased the Newton-based Maytag in March and announced that all Maytag’s Newton operations would close by the end of 2007.
The new Repairman could be a professional actor, an ordinary guy next door or even a real-life appliance repairman, Whirlpool officials said.