Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 1)

[rotuts]

BTW  a bit off topic:

 

the beets ( cold ) from both methods, diced, made a stunning beet 'salad' the next day.

[Anna N]

So one of us is blessed with patience, the other one not so much! The unopened box has sat in my house for some time unmolested but when Kerry saw it today...........

After my house was thoroughly trashed, she left to attend to her understanding of patients in the emerg ward!

I took a couple of photos to show the inside and to give an idea of its capacity.

To be fair we will have to cram an awful lot of stuff in the van to go north and still leave room for the rug rat and the oven takes up much less space without its packing.

Now that it is all unpacked.......

[rotuts]

please consider taking out the dump ass cheap stainless drip pan on the grate it sits on, not by itself.

 

please consider , like the BVXL, the lower and perhaps upper grate areas lack the 2.73 cent / 100  'stop' that keeps the grate from 

 

sliding out all the way, on to those shoes and toes.

 

looking forward to both of your insights.

 

it does have a very nice light !

[rotuts]

this might help and seems pretty cool 

 

http://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/EquipmentDetail.aspx?model=ST

[weinoo]

After toasting a few items in our DC BV-medium, I give the Cuisinart a higher grade when it comes to toasting. Much more even toasting.

[rotuts]

Ive never thought the BVXL made 'great' toast.

 

the heat sensor shuts off at a certain temp and the heat coils cool

 

to me perfect toast is browned  ( not Picasso even --- who cares ? ) but the center of the toast is still a bit soft.

 

the BVXL  seems to make toast  --- based on its internal algorithm --  ( if you want brown ) 'dry'

 

this is the toast i remember 'at room temp ' that the Brits liked:  id did not melt the butter, but allowed the butter that was at 

 

room temp to be evenly applied

 

a nice base for the marmalade  !

Edited June 24, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

Can't say my first experience was an unqualified success. It's an issue common to all these small ovens -- headroom! This bread was from the booklet that accompanies the oven "Rustic Italian Bread" made exactly to the recipe. The burned "cap" wasn't the only issue. It was a rather doughy bread that had little to recommend it. Tomorrow, all being well, and if I can stretch my last remaining flour I will attempt my excellent 4-hour baguette recipe making use only of the steam bake function.

This was just a first date and we all know things can go very wrong on the first date.

[rotuts]

many thanks A.N.

 

did you use the 100 F degree steam 'boost' function ?

 

im very interested in your take on that, as my kitchen in the winter is quite cold.

Edited June 25, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[Anna N]

many thanks A.N.

 

did you use the 100 F degree steam 'boost' function ?

 

im very interested in your take on that, as my kitchen in the winter is quite cold.

I did although I did not see the logic in it. I was determined lto follow the recipe to the letter. It might have some value if you are attempting to overcome a cold kitchen, but my kitchen poses a challenge from being too warm. I do think much more experimentation is going to be necessary.

[weinoo]

I'm sure you read back to page 4 of this thread and my experiment with the same bread!  Just reading the recipe you know it has to suck - the recipe isn't even what the title says it is!

 

I'm sure with a little experimentation your breads will be just like you and we like 'em.

[Anna N]

I'm sure you read back to page 4 of this thread and my experiment with the same bread!  Just reading the recipe you know it has to suck - the recipe isn't even what the title says it is!

 

I'm sure with a little experimentation your breads will be just like you and we like 'em.

weinoo

Mea maxima culpa! I was so taken aback by the sudden availability of this oven that I did not check back on topic. Your bread looks so much nicer than mine!

Today, as promised, I tried again. I made my usual dough for four hour baguettes. Given the size of the oven I knew that the baguette was not going to be the shape I used. But the dough is amenable to many shapes. I sorely missed a pizza stone. I am sure this can be remedied in the future. The first loaf I made threatened to burn just as my bread did last night but I caught it in time and covered it with foil. The second loaf I covered immediately with foil. This of course was a bad move. That crust needs to be initially exposed to hot steam. This may be a steep learning curve. Both loaves were edible but really not up to my usual standard.

I was pleased that my 8 inch cast iron frypan would just fit in the oven and I made some shrimp in garlic olive oil. I used the convection steam bake at 425F and they were perfectly done in six minutes that is after preheating the olive oil and garlic in the oven.

So two dates and I am a long way from proposing a permanent partnership.

[weinoo]

Try a loaf in a loaf pan.  Success is yours!  And I think earlier in the thread we discuss pizza components - but this is never gonna be a pizza oven.

 

In my mind, this oven is a great tool, but can't have too much asked of it.  It's not a $3000 combi - it's a $300 really cool toaster oven.

[weinoo]

By the way, you did use the bread bake function and not the steam bake, right?

[Anna N]

Try a loaf in a loaf pan.  Success is yours!  And I think earlier in the thread we discuss pizza components - but this is never gonna be a pizza oven.

 

In my mind, this oven is a great tool, but can't have too much asked of it.  It's not a $3000 combi - it's a $300 really cool toaster oven.

weinoo,

Too soon to write it off. I am still learning. But I fell in love with the Breville immediately and remain highly committed. If there's going to be any dalliance on the side he'd better be worth it!

[Anna N]

By the way, you did use the bread bake function and not the steam bake, right?

Have to 'fess up! Operator error! Will agree to another date but will have to be up north. All out of just about everything.

[MelissaH]

weinoo,

Too soon to write it off. I am still learning. But I fell in love with the Breville immediately and remain highly committed. If there's going to be any dalliance on the side he'd better be worth it!

I anxiously await your further experiments. I am particularly interested to hear if it and the Breville are really different versions of the same thing, or if they're different enough that they could both warrant a place in the kitchen (sorta like a blender and a food processor).

[Beth Wilson]

Me too!  My little toaster oven has been very disappointing so I am thinking I need to upgrade.  I would love a comparison review by Anna.

[weinoo]

I anxiously await your further experiments. I am particularly interested to hear if it and the Breville are really different versions of the same thing, or if they're different enough that they could both warrant a place in the kitchen (sorta like a blender and a food processor).

 

 

Me too!  My little toaster oven has been very disappointing so I am thinking I need to upgrade.  I would love a comparison review by Anna.

 

Of course they are different versions - one offers steam and one doesn't.  The large Breville holds a quarter sheet and the Cuisi doesn't.

 

They both have a large footprint.  I own both, but they are in separate apartments.

 

The Cuisi toasts better, in my opinion, and offers a whole set of different functionality than the Breville.

 

The Cuisi has a cool light.

[rotuts]

Steam Burgers from the CuisiSteamBoy are here:

 

http://forums.egullet.org/topic/143108-4th-of-july/page-2#entry1976183

 

Delicious.  The GrBeef used is very very tasty.

Edited July 5, 2014 by rotuts (log)

[chefmd]

Roasted beets again with bake steam setting 300 degrees for 45 minutes.  No oil.  Beets were somewhat different in size so I cut larger ones in half and roasted them cut side down.  Skins slipped off easily. No drying out of the cut beets.

 

I think I prefer Cuisi to sous vide method for beets.  Texture is somewhat better, flavor is more concentrated.  Also, not using plastic bags is a plus.  And it takes less time to throw things into Cuisi compared to setting up sous vide and vacuum packing beets.

 

Beets were used to make traditional Russian beet salad called for some reason Vinaigrette.

[chefmd]

Roasted potatoes 300 degrees bake steam for 40 minutes, added green beans for the last 12 minutes.   Veggies were used as garnish for chicken and to make salad the next day.

[rotuts]

Its hot here now, about 89 or so, 60 % humidity.

 

Time to take the CuisiSB outside and try some more beets:

 

 

I had 4 large beets, the largest I could find, from the same store as before.  These trimmed nicely and were not fibrous.  I washed them and trimmed off a little of the tops and bottoms and cut them in 1/2.  Placed them in  the CSB, 425 steam for 30 min.  They needed a bit more time so I added 10 min.

 

The area where the Weber is is in the shade and the mosquitos were just waiting for me.  About 1 PM.  I get a delayed hypersensitivity reaction to eastern mosquitos so Im a bit paranoid about them. In my haste to clear the area I goofed when adding the last 10 min on the CSB.  It ended up being just heat, no steam, my error.

 

The skin, because of this mistake, needed to be removed, but the beets were fine :

 

 

About 1 KG of very nice beets ready for some sort of further treatment.  Its interesting that America’s Test Kitchen just did a show w beets made in a covered saute pan.  These are much easier.

 

The pan, however, got a bit of a char w 425 x 10 min.  I forgot to take a pic.  Here however is the pan w a little water added to it and placed back in the CSB for 15 min on 425 steam.  Steam Cleaned ! All those black plaques just floated off.

 

 

 

 

So, for me, w proper beet selection, its CuisiSB Beets !

[rotuts]

what do people make of the 'super steam' Fx?

 

it clearly is different than 'bake steam'

 

'bake steam' is the order of the words as you 'spin' the selection dial.

[weinoo]

I haven't really used super steam either.

[rotuts]

" Super Steam " seems to destroy and burn beets

 

see:  AnnaN  on the M.T.Kitchen thread