When using a fan oven, food cooks much faster than in a convetional oven. It can be burnt,if you use the temperature given in a recipe. How much would you reduce it by when using a fan oven? I tend to reduce it by 10-15 C, but is it enough? What do you think?

Yes I know it is too early in the morning fo thinking of food, but I have been up since 3 am ;-)!

I think it is difficult to have a 'hard and fast' rule as there can be a big difference even between fan-assisted ovens. For instance the oven's manual should say if the oven has been factory preset to be lower already.

I think it is a question of different tactics depending on what you are cooking, i.e. reducing temperature and/or time. However using a strange fan-assisted oven I too would reduce temperature by 15 degrees celsius AND look to reducing the cooking time by about 10 minutes an hour.

Winton

Mines a fan oven and to be honest I can't tell any real difference from my last non-fan assisted oven !

Steve

Hi Steve,

This is what I indicated about some fan assisted ovens being 'factory preset' to be up to 25 degrees lower. Interesting to see if the oven's manual indicates any presetting or advice on converting down cooking temperatures or times. (Though I appreciate it is the sort of thing that gets pushed to the back of a drawer and lost!)

There must be a period of 'trial and error' when using a new/unfamiliar cooker and as you have discovered there is no discernible difference with yours. Others complain they tend to burn everything when moving to a fan assisted one. At least you should be using less fuel (saving the planet and on your bills.)

Not much use when using a friend's oven for the first time - your only tools then are a pair of eagle eyes, hopefully a glass door and a reliable oven thermometer!

Winton

Well, mine burns food if I don't reduce both temperature and time!

I didn't know that these things could be pre-set. We have a new cooker that has fan-assisted and non-fan-assisted settings. The fan-assisted setting is way too hot. I can't see any way around this other than to get to know your own oven by trial and error.

This raises a problem when it comes to the philosophy of 'following the recipe to the letter': how can you reliably do that with respect to oven temperatures?

By the way, I over-cooked my roast pigeon the other night. My fault: mustn't blame the oven. A French chef in Toulouse tells me 'Je cuisine comme je fais l'amour: deux fois sur trois, c'est rat?!'. I know the feeling!

Phil

Agree Phil.

I have a friend who is a brilliant cook with a fan assisted oven but with the luxury (like you?) of having a switch to turn the fan on or off.

She uses the fan to preheat the oven but then turns it off when putting the food into cook.

Winton

Now that is thought, turning it over to non-fan once it is heated. Thanks for the idea Winton, I never thought of it! Doh!

I always use an oven thermometer to check the temperatures, never fails. Some ovens I've checked have been 20?C out (high).

The problem is how do you tell which recipe says it for fan oven and which for non-fan oven It is very rarely specified. I normally assume that when not mentioned, it is for non-fan oven, which sometimes leads to disaster! Perhaps I should assume fan oven unless otherwise stated!

I tend not to write recipes to specific times as they can vary for all manner of reason. I will normally give a rough guide but also use the pointers I look for, ie Bake in a medium hot oven until dark golden brown .. I've not grown up learning exact temperature settings and to the minute timings so my cooking style doesn't work that way (probably one of the reasons me and cake making don't get on well... lol)

Steve

Hello Steve

Well, I also keep an eye on the food, although I do set a timer. I have a glass fronted door to my oven, so it is easy to do this. It is just that when I am baking/oven cooking from a new recipe, things cook well before the specified time generally, when I am using fan oven, even when I have reduced times.

I also use oven temperatures as a rough guide only, not gospel. Even when I am making something for the first time, I tend to watch it, rather than sticking to times and temperatures strictly .

Changing the subject, I am still working on Kavey?s old lap top, so have no access to my saved files/pictures and have no chance of really working on the site. Hopefully, Pete will sort it out soon for us two, computer technology illiterate people!

lol I had wondered if you had access back...!

Steve

My mother's best legacy to me is a handwritten 'Recipe Book' of all her favourites with tips on the best way to make them.

Most recipes were written when she was using a coal fired Aga; brilliant stove but not reliable as to temperature (she said it was something to do in which direction the wind was blowing!)

Her cooking instructions normally then just end "place in oven at 180 celsius (gas mark 4) until done" At least we now have the advantage of oven and food thermometers but natural instinct still prevails!

Winton

I like Escoffier's recipes, they are more like aide-m?moires, it would say:

'roast a chicken'.

Lol.