Help with Choosing a New Oven
Hi, everyone. I have been baking bread on and off, with great amounts of help from this amazing site, for about 5 years now. The number one challenge I have encountered is my oven, with its uneven heating, venting issues, ineffective door gasket, etc. I am finally about to start researching a newer model to be purchased in the near future, and I would really appreciate some guidance on this subject, along with your personal experiences, if any of you would be so kind as to weigh in.
The biggest hurtles in this endeavor to me are the fact that our home cannot accommodate a wall oven, and although I would much prefer an electric model with an induction cook top, the transition from gas to electric would be so difficult and costly that it's not realistic. This leaves me limited to a standard gas cooktop/oven combo unit.
Any advice on best brand(s), model(s), pros and cons, and anything else that might be helpful will be gratefully received. Thanks in advance for reading. Lisa :D
Hi lisa - firstly, if you're buying a free-standing unit, then an Induction top will be less hassle than getting a gas fitter out to replace a gas hob( you may have to replace your pans though, so factor that in) Secondly, if you're thinking a new domestic oven will solve all your woes, you may be disappointed, unless you're splashing out for a rofco, they're all general purpose appliances, not THAT much variance.
I've had as good results producing a couple of loaves from a 50cm/£50. Chinese fan oven (bit of faffing involved, 1" stone/ tray of lava rock or chain underneath), as I have from a £1000 Italian or German unit (the latter will usually heat faster, have a larger capacity etc, but still faffing involved for steam & baking stone/cloche)
Replacing a door seal is basic maintenance & needs doing a few times over the life of a decent oven, it will improve .things greatly if yours is stiff & no longer functioning properly. As far as even heat is concerned, do you use a stone, cloche or Dutch oven?
when things started expanding here, I bought the cheapest domestic oven I could get - Beko (make in Turkey). It cost me £190 and was a standard single-unit oven and it's been fantastic. I can bake 6 small or 4 medium (or 2 really large!) loaves in it at once.
There are units for separate gas hobs and electric ovens though, no need to have an all-in-one unit, but if changing the stove-top, definitely look at induction - although you may need a new electrical supply to feed them - some are 4.5Kw plus 2-4Kw for the oven..
good luck!
-Gordon
...but everyone including my husband's best friend, who is a general contractor, says that due to the age of our home and somewhat convoluted setup, making the transition from gas to electric would be very costly and require some reconstruction in the home. My husband is not a fan of either prospect, and I haven't come across any induction range options that don't require the switch, at least not in our price range.
I guess I may start by trying to replace the gasket, as suggested above. I haven't found the older model Maytag I have to necessarily fit the category of a 'decent' oven, but it couldn't hurt to try this while I'm in the process of choosing a replacement.
I have used baking stones, dutch ovens, cloches, etc., in the past, and done the steam thing with wet dishtowels in a loaf pan, but I find I can't manage to achieve just the right amount of steam, which seems to always result in a crust that's tough and leathery rather than crisp and 'shattery' for lack of a better description. When I use the stones I find that almost always the bottom of the crust is very hard and difficult to cut through both with a knife and with your teeth, regardless of whether baked on parchment paper or directly on the stone. Metal baking pans generally result in softened crust with unappetizing color, and in almost every case the crust color is uneven regardless of equipment.
Maybe I'm just being to picky for someone with a limited budget for household appliances.
In any case, thanks so much for your input!
I think what I found - more or less by accident was that the cheaper ones that had an A+ energy rating got that rating in-part by not having any vents to lose any heat... So all I have in mine is a tray in the bottom that I throw a cup of tap water into before I close the door. I bake in tins, on sheets and occasionally on pizza stones in it, all with good results without using a dutch oven thing. My favourite thing for non-tin loaves right now is silpain sheets - these are like perforated mesh silicone sheets - lets hot air get under them to bake the bottoms. Leaves a weird pattern though!
-Gordon
Silpat/pain are good, if you're on commercial kit, the Vogue ones are a lot cheaper tho ;) http://www.nisbets.co.uk/Vogue-Non-Stick-Baking-Mat-31.5x52cm/E842/ProductDetail.raction
They are expensive, but also perforated. I have some of those you linked to too (and a GN 1/1 size oven) and they don't bake bread nearly as good as the Silpain mats do. Good for macarons though!
These are what I have: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silpat-Silpain-Premium-Non-Stick-Silicon/dp/B005QBJYIC
-Gordon
Hi Lisa,
Noob error, you're in the US, both of us answering are UK based - so slightly different - apologies!
You should be able to find the gasket online, or find your local appliance refurbishment/repair shop (any decent sized town/city will have one, from my experience, you may need to take a drive aways, but the repair guy should have some good advice on models for you)
The Maytags are a decent beastie generally, but the main difference between any US cooker & a euro one, is the sheer size - your capacity (& therefore the amount of steam you need to generate) is likely to be considerably larger than we are dealing with (and WAY more than the tea towel will hold - I used a large roasting pan, with a stainless-steel (motorcycle security) chain coiled up in it, heating up with the oven - which I'd throw water over, when closing the door)
You mention a combo, just to make sure we are on the same page, you are talking about an electric oven/Gas hob combo? (if the oven is gas, your only option is the one below - or steam just gets blown out of the vent)
You could also reduce the size of your oven, by inverting a pre-heated roasting pan over the loaf (on the stone) for the first 15-20 minutes, you can even squirt a cheeky blast of water under, before dropping it down. (you'll need to have a good deep pan, but those are a whole lot more available in the US than in the UK), you'll remove the pan after this time & maybe turn the oven down, to complete the bake time... with a larger oven this may be your most effective option.
If loaves are browning on one side more than the other, this is fairly normal, just spin them round part way through the uncovered bake, bear in mind that (in an orthodox convection oven) the closer to the centre of the oven, the more even the bake will be .