Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 2)

[Smithy]

@Shelby, you just keep those eggplant ideas coming. I love the stuff and you're giving me some good ideas. :-)

[chefmd]

Real wild rice from MN cooked with left over gazpacho and chopped tomato.  I approximated 1:1.25 ratio of rice to liquid.  Super steam 300 degrees 25 minutes.

 

Edited July 31, 2016 by chefmd (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I believe I steam-baked last night's baguette.  I blame @Rafa

 

One recent success worth mentioning was frozen peas.  I thawed the peas then steamed 210 deg F. for 8 minutes.

[kayb]

@Shelby-- next time, try coating that scored surface of the eggplant with a mixture of honey and miso. Read that in a blog somewhere and it remains one of my favorite methods.

 

I am still attempting to recreate one of my favorite restaurant dishes, an eggplant casserole that features onion, cheese and cracker crumbs, from a local meat-and-three institution. The recipe is in their cookbook, which I have. The cookbook lies. 

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

@Shelby-- next time, try coating that scored surface of the eggplant with a mixture of honey and miso. Read that in a blog somewhere and it remains one of my favorite methods.

 

I am still attempting to recreate one of my favorite restaurant dishes, an eggplant casserole that features onion, cheese and cracker crumbs, from a local meat-and-three institution. The recipe is in their cookbook, which I have. The cookbook lies. 

Interested in the cracker dish - can you describe a bit more?

 

[kayb]

7 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Interested in the cracker dish - can you describe a bit more?

 

This is the recipe from the book. I followed it to the letter (scaling it down by half). It was awful. Much more bland than the restaurant version. I'm going to roast the eggplant next time, use a tangier cheese, and up the seasoning. The texture was pretty much on point.

Edited August 1, 2016 by kayb (log)

[Kerry Beal]

21 minutes ago, kayb said:

This is the recipe from the book. I followed it to the letter (scaling it down by half). It was awful. Much more bland than the restaurant version. I'm going to roast the eggplant next time, use a tangier cheese, and up the seasoning. The texture was pretty much on point.

 

Interesting - cooks.com seems to have a number of similar recipes (with better cheese and butter in place of margarine) - they call it Mock Oyster Stew. 

[gfweb]

4 hours ago, kayb said:

This is the recipe from the book. I followed it to the letter (scaling it down by half). It was awful. Much more bland than the restaurant version. I'm going to roast the eggplant next time, use a tangier cheese, and up the seasoning. The texture was pretty much on point.

 

 

Recipe looks suspect. Not a drop of umami in it.

 

Everything like this needs a little garlic and perhaps some acid like lemon juice or jalapeno vinegar

 

I'd increase the salt (which helps everything)....add a tsp or two of soy sauce...consider adding worcestershire too or fish sauce.

 

American cheese is lame (as you say)..maybe gruyere or extra sharp cheddar.

 

Onions might fit well. Esp if blackened.

 

And if that doesn't do it you could cajun spice it or something.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I agree with @kayb's first take. Roast the durn eggplant! It tends to be watery, and the technique of piercing it in order to counteract the tendency to float, just introduces more water to the mix.  Never heard of boiling it before, and it does not sound appealing in the least. Roasting is a very common method, evaporates excess water and concentrates the flavor, so I think kay's right on track with that idea.

 

I would also sautee the celery with some onion, rather than boil it. I would also go with a sharper, less creamy cheese. My preference would be medium cheddar, but there are so many choices that would work better than American here, although American certainly has applications where it is desirable, IMO.

[Shelby]

I'm having the hardest time with bread.  Sigh.  This is King Arthur's white bread recipe.  

 

If these would have not fallen (did I overproof?) and burned as black as coal on the bottom (obviously baked too long....need to adjust the time waaaaay down), they would have been excellent.  The parts we could salvage were REALLY good.  Nice, crisp tops.....soft white on the inside.  Good crumb.

 

I will not give up on this.  Trying again this afternoon.  I'm gonna need more flour lol.

 

The sad failures.

 

 

 

[lindag]

I've baked a couple batches of cookies in my CSO and find that the conv bake setting bakes foo fast and it appears there's no bake without convection.  The cookies I baked yesterday just spread way too much.  I may have to check against my own oven to see if the fault is really the oven or if it's the recipe.

I'm also working on a Jewish Rye recipe and am eager to bake in the CSO with the 'bread' setting to see how it differs.

 

Edited August 3, 2016 by lindag (log)

[Anna N]

@Shelby

 

Tell Us more. 

 

Was as it this recipe?

 

Click

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

@Shelby

 

Tell Us more. 

 

Was as it this recipe?

 

Click

It's very similar.  This is the recipe I used.  I've made it a lot--using my regular oven--and it always turns out well.

 

I proofed it for 30 mins at 100F.  The dough was still below the top of the pan so I turned it on again and proofed for 30 mins more.  By that time it looked great....not too far over the top, maybe a 1/2 inch?  Maybe a little less.  I then put it on the bread setting and baked it at 350F for 20 mins.  About 10 mins in it had fallen and looked like I could use it as a bread bowl lol.  After the 20 mins it didn't look done to me so I did it for 15 mins more--too much.

[Anna N]

9 minutes ago, Shelby said:

It's very similar.  This is the recipe I used.  I've made it a lot--using my regular oven--and it always turns out well.

 

I proofed it for 30 mins at 100F.  The dough was still below the top of the pan so I turned it on again and proofed for 30 mins more.  By that time it looked great....not too far over the top, maybe a 1/2 inch?  Maybe a little less.  I then put it on the bread setting and baked it at 350F for 20 mins.  About 10 mins in it had fallen and looked like I could use it as a bread bowl lol.  After the 20 mins it didn't look done to me so I did it for 15 mins more--too much.

Hmmm.   The recipe as written calls for a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Did you just divide the dough into two and put it in two 8 x 4 pans?   It certainly looks as if over proofing is the cause of the collapse but if you've made this recipe before in your own regular oven then this all seems very strange.   My suspicion would be that if you simply divided the dough into two smaller pans then waited for it to rise half inch above the rim would require some over proofing. Hope other more experienced bakers get in here with some other ideas. 

 

[Shelby]

5 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Hmmm.   The recipe as written calls for a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Did you just divide the dough into two and put it in two 8 x 4 pans?   It certainly looks as if over proofing is the cause of the collapse but if you've made this recipe before in your own regular oven then this all seems very strange.   My suspicion would be that if you simply divided the dough into two smaller pans then waited for it to rise half inch above the rim would require some over proofing. Hope other more experienced bakers get in here with some other ideas. 

 

Yes.  I divided the dough in exactly half (I weighed it) and put it in the two 8 x 4 pans.  

[Anna N]

12 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Yes.  I divided the dough in exactly half (I weighed it) and put it in the two 8 x 4 pans.  

 I suspect that that could be part of the problem. An 8 x 4 loaf pan usually requires a recipe calling for 3 cups of flour. If you divide your recipe  in half you are only getting 2 cups of flour per pan. So in order for it to rise sufficiently to fill each pan I suspect it will be over proofed.  

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Anna N said:

 I suspect that that could be part of the problem. An 8 x 4 loaf pan usually requires a recipe calling for 3 cups of flour. If you divide your recipe  in half you are only getting 2 cups of flour per pan. So in order for it to rise sufficiently to fill each pan I suspect it will be over proofed.  

Ah ha!  Ok.  Thanks.  I knew someone smarter than me would be able to help   

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Ah ha!  Ok.  Thanks.  I knew someone smarter than me would be able to help   

Wait! Wait! I am not smarter than you!  We have much more experienced bread bakers around who may have other ideas!  

[Shelby]

Just now, Anna N said:

Wait! Wait! I am not smarter than you!  We have much more experienced bread bakers around who may have other ideas!  

No, what you said makes perfect sense.  My brain simply thought I could divide the dough and voila!  Perfect bread!  I'm on the hunt for a recipe specifically for 2 8 x 4 pans.

[Anna N]

2 minutes ago, Shelby said:

No, what you said makes perfect sense.  My brain simply thought I could divide the dough and voila!  Perfect bread!  I'm on the hunt for a recipe specifically for 2 8 x 4 pans.

I believe the Walter Sands sandwich bread on the same site will meet your requirements. It's a nice bread. 

[kayb]

@Shelby, I've found if I want to convert a recipe for a 9 x 5 to two 8 x 4s, I can increase ingredients by 1/3 and it works pretty well.

 

Also, I think I knocked off about 10 minutes from the cooking time listed in the recipe for CSO bread, a timing I arrived at by checking with my instant-read thermometer. When it got to 195, I yanked it.

 

[csingley]

Hey guys - I'm a new owner of this machine - had it a few weeks now, seeing daily use.  I couldn't be happier with it, given its space limitations.

 

Most recent main dish was a whole "cornish" hen (little koshered birds now available at Costco for ~$7).  Butterflied, it fit into the stock roasting pan.  Separated the skin from the meat, fridge-dried it, and rubbed compound butter above & beneath.  Steam baked in the Cuisinart on the lowest rack position; 450 degF for 40 minutes.  It turned out very well, nicely browned & juicy.  Next time I plan to shave 5min off the cooking time.  I'd really recommend butterflying little birds for those roasting whole chickens; it keeps the surface at a better distance from the heating elements.

 

I also had good luck steaming flan and creme brulee, as advertised.  Both steamed and steam-baked eggs "en cocotte", and of course plenty of toast.  Steam baked pork chops and spare ribs also turn out nicely.

 

I find that I'm having to adjust my methods to account for how fast this thing cooks - the extra heat held in the steam & the higher conductivity really make a significant difference at a given temperature.  I'm particularly interested in playing with steam-baking baked goods.

 

I've got a 6-muffin pan that I was able to make fit into the Cuisinart by bending up the edge handles - now very useful accessory for the steam oven.  I tried making popovers in it by preheating the pan while resting the batter, then cooking on the bread function on high heat - theorizing that the initial steam injection would help the rise.  This worked TOO well; the popovers rose up into the heating elements and scorched.  I'll conduct further tests to see if this is worth bothering with.

 

Has anybody tried steam-baking biscuits?  American biscuits that is, not British cookies.  SOP around our house involves forming and freezing buttermilk biscuits, then baking them for breakfast - a perfect application for the little steam oven.  My vision of the Cuisinart bread function yielding big puffy glorious butter-browned bastards was dashed when I tried it, but then that was the fault of the batch not the steam - they were disappointingly flat when I tried regular convection baking; underleavened, apparently.  I plan to experiment further, and would be keenly interested in anyone elses' results with biscuits or similar pastries.

 

I'm taking the hint from rotuts and parking a notepad in the kitchen to refine my methods.  Thanks to everyone for contributing to this thread - an amazing resource!

 

P.S. rotuts, you sound like my kind of guy.  Parked right next to my Cuisinart is my other "mini-commercial" steam appliance - my Rancilio Silvia espresso maker, which I acquired from a friend for $200 when he had to give up caffeine (I have been drinking his share along with my own ever since, in lieu of pouring it on the ground for homies who ain't around).  I replaced the stock thermostat with a little PID controller, and have been happy as a clam since I don't need to steam milk.  This led to the purchase of a Baratza grinder and eventually a coffee roaster (which already has its own notebook - alas, no graph paper)... but that's a topic for another thread I suppose.

Edited August 4, 2016 by csingley (log)

[cyalexa]

I wish I could remember to pause after opening the door and let the steam out before reaching in for my toast. The skin on the back of several of my fingers is red and painful for for the umpteenth time.

[rotuts]

steam from the toast is a very good sign, if not a hazard :  indicates fresh bread !

[cyalexa]

7 minutes ago, rotuts said:

 indicates fresh bread

It was frozen homemade rye. We eat BLTs for dinner at least weekly in the summer.