January 15, 2009 - 3:14pm
another oven question
I responded to a recent question about dealing with a small oven, and it got me thinking...
Is there any reason not to bake on two layers? I have two racks in my oven, and enough tiles to cover them both. Could I use both racks at once? My electric oven seems to heat from the bottom, so I don't think there's any risk in burning the tops of the upper layer.
Is this a bad idea, or is it fairly safe?
Thanks.
eric
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Eric, I sometimes use two racks in my full-size oven. For example, when I bake two sheets of bagels at once, I put one on each rack so the middle rack doesn't get too crowded and cut back the air flow. If you do bake on several racks, make sure you don't overcrowd the oven -- you want to make sure you still have a good flow of air. Also, rotate your loaves from one rack to another part way through the baking time, as different parts of the oven will be hotter than others.
...Always rotate unless you have one of those fancy new convection ovens and are handy with it.
If for example I'm baking a loaf on a stone I have one rack below it and one rack above it, the loaf goes on the center rack but it is only 2 inches above the lowest rack.
The top rack can be used as needed if the stone keeps its temperature.
The important thing is to monitor temps if you can, in the oven and with an instant probe if you have one, if you don't you need one.
I bake on two racks all the time, I just have to rotate halfway through for even browning. I lust after a convection oven, no rotating pans, baking on 3 racks at once, and shorter bake time.