26
Using the Ovens
Hints for slow cooking
ALWAYS ensure that frozen foods
- especially meat and poultry - are
thoroughly thawed before cook-
ing.
Cover all dishes with a close fitting
lid or foil to keep foods moist and
to prevent the transfer of flavours.
Casseroles and stews - prepare as
usual on the hotplate and bring to
simmering (not boiling) point, then
immediately put into a preheated
oven set for slow cooking.
For roasting joints of meat and
poultry, and for pot roasts, pre-
heat the oven to 190 conventional
/ 160˚C fanned, and cook for 30
minutes before adjusting the oven
control knob to 120˚C -
Conventional / 110˚C - Fanned
for the remainder of the cooking
time. Always cook for a min-
imum of 3 hours.
To brown meat and poultry,
uncover and adjust the oven con-
trol knob to 180˚C - Conventional
/ 140˚C - Fanned for the final 20
- 30 minutes of cooking.
Do not
cook joints of meat or poul-
try weighing more than 2kg (4
1
⁄2lb)
by the slow cooking method.
Do not
stuff poultry or rolled joints
when slow cooking, always cook
the stuffing separately.
When slow cooking, cut root veg-
etables into small pieces. Add a
few drops of vinegar or lemon
juice to prevent potatoes blacken-
ing.
Thickening agents may be added
either at the start or at the end of
the cooking period.
Full use may be made of the oven
by cooking several dishes at the
same time.
When slow cooking meringues,
fruit puddings and fruit, they
should be cooked below the cen-
tre of the oven if using the con-
ventional mode.
Sponge puddings should be cov-
ered with close fitting foil over the
basin and placed in a “bain
marie” (a dish containing suffi-
cient water to come halfway up
the side of the pudding basin).
Fruits for jams and preserves
should only be softened using the
slow setting. They will then
require boiling on the hotplate.
Important: Avoid opening the
oven door during slow cooking.
Opening the oven door regularly
can greatly increase the cooking
time, due to heat loss at low tem-
peratures.
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