Oh pshaw, on Sat 14 Oct 2006 10:24:20p, Bob (this one) meant to say...

> I've had commercial convection ovens in my restaurants and
> now I just have a Farber conv. oven at home since I'm not
> cooking vast quantities any longer. It's about as simple a
> unit as there is. Heat element, fan, cabinet.

As a professional, I find it interesting that you chose a Farber convection
oven. If the various convections I've had, the Farber was my favorite.

> Some other variables:
>
> 1) I bake in dark pans. When I've tried glass or
> light-colored ceramic ones, the results weren't as good.

I use dark metal cake pans, but use Pyrex pie plates.

> 2) I bake with the rack set to the lowest level and I leave
> the Farber sheet pan that came with the oven in the bottom
> all the time.

In the Farber I alays baked on the lowest level and also left the sheet pan
in the bottom

> 3) For crusty breads, I put hot water in the pan in the
> bottom and leave it there throughout the bake.

At the time when I owned the Farber, it never occurred to me to put hot
water in the pan. I was only just beginning to bake breads at that point.

> 4) I don't make two-crust pies; just tarts. Not that fond of
> crust. I trim it level with the top of the pan.

Aye, there's the rub. I bake tw-crust pies almost exclusively. In
convection, the top crust could bake almost to a crisp before the filling
was done, and the bottom crust semi-raw.

> 5) Cakes don't work as well in the convection and in the
> conventional, probably because of vibration. Having said
> that, it goes faster and if I'm making a dense cake, the
> convection works fine. For a genoise or angel food cake,
> it's the conventional oven.

My worst experience was with a pineapple upside down cake. The top of the
cake was dark brown, but the batter was still liquid.

> 6) Did a variation on tarte aux poires (recipe below) today
> that was wonderful. Crust top browned, fruit browned a bit,
> custard puffed and browned, all within acceptable limits.
> Baked at 375F rather than the 425F for conventional ovens. I
> used 3 green Bartlett pears, 3 red Bartlett and 3 Ginger
> Gold apples in a larger, rectangular tart pan than the
> recipe calls for. Doubled dough and custard. Luscious.
> 7) Are your criteria for browning maybe a bit light compared
> to what others might consider appropriate? Just asking.

I prefer a true golden brown for most baked goods, not too pale. I don't
much like surfaces to be dark brown.

> 8) In spite of the propaganda, I turn the food in the
> convection oven. I find it cooks unevenly otherwise.

Yes, I found that to be true, as well. The one exception I found was in
baking cookies. In the larger range ovens I had, I found that no matter
how many sheets of cookies I put in, they all came out evenly browned
without rearranging the sheets.

> 9) As you say, for meats, it's grand. I cook roasts at very
> low temps (depending on what kind of meat, as low as 205F,
> up to 250F), so I sacrifice the crust that high-temp
> roasting gives but get much more moist-finished meats as a
> result. Trade off. I cook beef and lamb to 120F, pork roasts
> to 145F, game to 150F, birds to 160F, pork to shred to 190F
> (shoulders only and cook at 205F from room temp meat).
> Breads to 208F. Cakes to different temps, depending on the
> type, most often 205F.
>
>> Having said that, the convection mode made absolutely the best roasted
>> meats and perfectly baked multiple sheets of cookies. Yeast breads
>> were of moderate success.
>
> Amazing our different experiences. Based on what you've said
> above, I can't really see what the differences might be
> attributable to. I'm at 1500 feet above sea level, FWIW. My
> kitchen temperature is fixed between 68 and 75 no matter
> what's happening. I keep our humidity between 45 and 55%.

The mean elevation in the Phoenix area is 1117 feet above sea level. My
kitchen temperature is in the same range as yours. We don't have a
humidifier, and our relative humidity is betwee 10-20%.

> Virtually all my equipment is heavy-duty professional
> quality, left over from the restaurants. I use
> remote-reading, tip-probe thermometers for everything cooked
> in an oven.

My equipment isn't professional grade, but is heavy and of good quality.

> Pastorio
>
> Tarte Aux Poires Alsacienne Alsatian Pear Tart
> 1 recipe rich egg pastry
> 6 pears, peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced across
> 4 egg yolks
> 1/3 cup sugar
> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
> 1 teaspoon cinnamon
> 3/4 cup heavy cream
> Heat conventional oven to 425F. Butter and flour a 10-in
> deep tart pan and line the tart pan with pastry. Arrange
> pear slices evenly over the pastry overlapping the slices
> slightly. Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the egg
> yolks, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and cream. Pour over the
> pears and bake for another 35 minutes, or until the pears
> are tender. Serve warm. Serves 6 to 8
>
> Rich Egg Pastry
> 2 cups flour
> 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
> 1/2 teaspoon salt
> 2 eggs, beaten
> 1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
> cold water
> Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and make a well in the
> center. Into the well put the eggs and butter, working the
> ingredients with fingertips, adding cold water by the
> tablespoon for a smooth, supple pastry. Let pastry stand for
> 30 minutes, covered and chilled. Roll out on lightly floured
> surface to just under 1/4 inch thickness. Line a buttered
> and floured pan, then chill for 30 minutes. Dock the bottom
> before filling. Good for 2 crust pies or French-style flans.
> Good with apples, plums, apricots.
>

The tart sounds delicious! I will try it with apricots.

--
Wayne Boatwright
__________________________________________________

We don't know who discovered water, but we're
pretty sure it wasn't a fish.