Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

[Norm Matthews]

I don't know it the Texas Toast has sugar in it. It is a commercial brand.  I'll try some home made Sourdough bread  tomorrow.  I do put sugar in it to the amount of about 1Tb for a 2 loaf yield.  Thats about .001 ounce per slice.

[Anna N]

 

Toast (made from homemade milk and honey bread) in the Cuisinart.  Darkness level 4.  Today or tomorrow I will attempt to make a sugar-free ( flour, salt, water and yeast) bread and toast it for the sake of comparison. 

[chefmd]

I have never used steam broil function before.  Today I used it twice.  First I cooked poblano peppers 5 min on each side 500 degrees (no photo).  Skin peeled very easily.

 

chilean sea bass 18 minutes at 450 degrees.  Very flaky and moist.

 

[Anna N]

On 2017-09-18 at 9:12 AM, Anna N said:

 

Toast (made from homemade milk and honey bread) in the Cuisinart.  Darkness level 4.  Today or tomorrow I will attempt to make a sugar-free ( flour, salt, water and yeast) bread and toast it for the sake of comparison. 

 

 Home made bread with no added sugar at level 6.  It has barely any color and is already not toast but crispbread.   Just saying. 

[rotuts]

try 7 , and if not enough , add a little more

 

still the best toast ever , when properly managed , comes from the CSB  or similar " tight' toaster

 

BVXL really bakes bread so its not going to ever be ' toast '

 

and I have both machines.

[Anna N]

15 minutes ago, rotuts said:

try 7 , and if not enough , add a little more

 

still the best toast ever , when properly managed , comes from the CSB  or similar " tight' toaster

 

BVXL really bakes bread so its not going to ever be ' toast '

 

and I have both machines.

rotuts,  it was already as crispy as Melba toast. Further toasting would not improve it.  No (or little) sugar, no caramelization,  no colour.  The method of applying heat doesn't even factor into the equation.  For great toast you need not only a great toaster but also the appropriate bread.     

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I used my CSO for the first time tonight to cook a big (one pound) chicken leg quarter and a baked potato a little less then a pound. I know there is excellent guidance for chicken and many other things in this thread, but searching for the specific information I want seems to be beyond my capacity. So, I read through the two chicken recipes in the owner's manual. Hmm. One for whole roast 4 pound chicken says steam bake at 450 F for 50 minutes. The other for four thighs says steam bake at 300 F for 60 minutes. Not much guidance, but I decided to go 425 F for 45 minutes. It worked fine, and the chicken and potato were good. The temp registered 180 F when I took the chicken out at the end of the cycle. That was 5 or 10 degrees higher than I wanted to take it. I would have taken it out to check the temp when the skin around the "ankle" joint on the drumstick split and exposed the bone in a conventional oven. I was afraid to open the door lest I mess up the program or get scalded with steam.

 

Can one open the door while a cook program is running? How cautious does one have to be with the hot steam? I know steam will penetrate regular padded fabric oven mitts like they weren't even there.

 

I did manage to run the steam clean function after figuring out it wasn't a one touch button operation as advertised in the manual. It doesn't say so, but I had to press Start/Cancel to get steam clean to start. On one hand Duh, but they could have said so in an instruction manual. It worked very well to help clean up the mess the roast chicken made of my shiny new oven. And best of all, I didn't have to get down on my knees and stick my head into a conventional oven or deal with caustic chemicals. 

 

This chicken did not suffer a lot from the slight overcook. The birds these came from are so mature and got some exercise I can tell. I think next time, I'll try maybe steam bake 350 F for 40 minutes and then steam bake at 400 F for another 10 minutes and see what the temp is. Maybe convection bake at the end to get the crispiest skin? I have four more of these giant leg quarters in the freezer.

 

Any advice for a CSO newbie? Has anyone made pizza in it? 

 

I've been without an oven for so long , that I am just so happy to have the CSO now you really wouldn't believe it. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

Can one open the door while a cook program is running? How cautious does one have to be with the hot steam? I know steam will penetrate regular padded fabric oven mitts like they weren't even there.

 

Yes, no problem opening the door as necessary.  If using steam, wait a few seconds before sticking your hand in.

 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

...I was afraid to open the door lest I mess up the program or get scalded with steam....

I'm so glad to hear that you got a good result from your first CSO chicken dinner!

You won't mess up the cooking program by opening the door.  Like @JoNorvelleWalker said, just pause a few seconds for the steam to escape before reaching in. It will cool off a little and take a bit to get back to temp so if you are in and out a lot to check temps,  you may need to increase the overall cooking time to compensate.

I generally get nice results with chicken thighs with steam-bake at 425°F for 20 - 30 min, depending on size.  Those big leg quarters might take longer so I don't think you were too far off in your choice of cooking time.

[rotuts]

just stand back a little when opening the door.

 

initially I wanted to bend down an poke my nose right in there to take a look.

 

not the best idea !

 

i think steam-cooking is very forgiving  .

 

hope you got or will get that crackling skin that steam-baking seems to generate !

[Jon Savage]

It has been over a year since we got this device. 

A few remarks in no particular order:

-It bakes outstanding bread

-convection steam bake is the bomb for brisket & or ribs (225F all day mmmmm) tho I wish the timer would go over 120 minutes. Starting again is EZ but I'd much rather set & forget.

-Broiling is the next best thing to an actual salamander

-it makes absolutely killer toasted bread or bagels

-perfect for not heating the house up; see below:

 

In the time we have had this oven we have only used our regular oven for turkey's standing rib roast & the like so maybe 3 times in the past almost 2 years? If there are only one or two people to cook for this thing absolutely takes the cake. We like it because it is precise & doesn't heat up the kitchen, which by ambient 85F (=29+C) in the house is oh so very welcome.

 

 The short version = we are very happy with it & hardly ever use our conventional legacy oven.

 

$250- or less really well spent IMHO.

 

 

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Jon Savage said:

The short version = we are very happy with it & hardly ever use our conventional legacy oven.

 I quite like mine but it does sound as though you have a whole different model!   Or perhaps we just have very different expectations.  No question it does a great job on chicken. No question it does a great job on certain breads for toast. I have never been impressed with it as a bread oven simply because it is too small (read not high enough to accommodate a normal loaf without futzing around with foil).  I am not being contrary for the sake of being contrary.  I think it's great that you are so impressed with yours. 

[Jon Savage]

15 hours ago, Anna N said:

 I quite like mine but it does sound as though you have a whole different model!   Or perhaps we just have very different expectations.  No question it does a great job on chicken. No question it does a great job on certain breads for toast. I have never been impressed with it as a bread oven simply because it is too small (read not high enough to accommodate a normal loaf without futzing around with foil).  I am not being contrary for the sake of being contrary.  I think it's great that you are so impressed with yours. 

I scaled the loaf sizes accordingly which seems to have worked well at least for us i.e. 2 small challahs,  2 demi baguettes & one loaf pan's worth of bread.  I can see where baking loaves that involve more than (SWAG) 500 grams of dough each if making one, 1/2 that if making two could quickly become problematic. 

One feature I really like is the keep warm option; last Shabbat  I made a savory noodle kugel in the oven,  some lovely caraway cabbage sautee, both held warm while I sauteed a duck breast, also held warm to rest while I sauteed some potatoes in the duck fat that had rendered from the breast. Nifty to be able to pull the meat off the fire @ 115 internal; let it rest / finish @ 120 or so which results in perfect;y done meat; at least as far as our liking is concerned.

 

Edited September 27, 2017 by Jon Savage (log)

[Okanagancook]

I have tried to find the discussion about how flimsy the main tray was in these ovens.  I recall that someone got a replacement from the manufacturer.?? A friend has a CSO with a tray that warps when used at higher tempturers.  Help.

[blue_dolphin]

15 minutes ago, Okanagancook said:

I have tried to find the discussion about how flimsy the main tray was in these ovens.  I recall that someone got a replacement from the manufacturer.?? A friend has a CSO with a tray that warps when used at higher tempturers.  Help.

 

I've had my CSO for 2 years now.  The tray is flimsy and warps.  I ordered a replacement tray a couple of months ago.  It is identical to the original - flimsy and prone to warping at higher temps.

 

Edited to add - more discussion before and after this post from last year

Edited October 3, 2017 by blue_dolphin (log)

[rotuts]

I had this problem w my first CSB(O)

 

i called them

 

I was polite

 

they sent me a replacement  

 

for free

 

which back then was the same one

 

no matter , I use both of them together and its an improvement

 

the newer CSO's 

 

might have a pan that has dimples in it that makes it sturdier.

 

call them politely and suggests its a burn hazard for your family.

Edited October 3, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[Okanagancook]

Thanks to blue_dolphin and rotuts for your replies.  I will pass this information on to my friend who is having the problem.  She bought it due to my recommendation so I kinda feel a little responsible.

cheers

[palo]

If you have a restaurant supply handy, measure the CSO tray and take your measurements and a tape with you and see what they have to offer. I picked up a couple of "bar trays" that fit quite nicely and they were cheap and heavy-duty.

 

p

[Thanks for the Crepes]

8 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

I have tried to find the discussion about how flimsy the main tray was in these ovens.  I recall that someone got a replacement from the manufacturer.?? A friend has a CSO with a tray that warps when used at higher tempturers.  Help.

 

I don't know if this will help your friend with a free replacement baking pan or not. But I took delivery of a new CSO on September 20. The baking pan that came with my model is "corrugated". In other words it has 11 raised ridges 3/8" wide separated by shallow valleys between them across the width of the pan. That whole surface is raised a little so there is a 1/2" wide trough for drippings around the whole perimeter of the pan. It measures 10-1/2" x 10-1/2" and has a rolled edged all the way around the top. It's only 7/8" deep, so I can see if you're cooking a whole fatty chicken, the drippings might fill it kind of full to be tilting it to get it out of the oven over that little lip on the oven rack. Might want to pull out the whole oven rack with the pan and food still on it, since that is doable in the lower rack position without any tilting. 

 

It's certainly not the sturdiest baking pan I own, but I haven't had problems with it warping under heat yet. I broiled something at 500 F the other day in the upper rack position, so I think if it were going to happen, it would have occurred then. Perhaps she can ask for the newer style pan to be sent? Wouldn't hurt, and rotuts said the new one will fit in the old oven.

 

The worst pan I have for doing that annoying sproing warp thing in the oven, or upon removal, is a seemingly very nice baking sheet with Marcus Samuelsson branding. It's the heaviest one I have, large and has a beautiful SilverStone non stick coating all over and feels very sturdy with heavy rolled edges. I should throw it out, because even baking cookies at moderate heat, it will sproing on you and mess with your food. That may explain why I found it for cheap at Ollie's discount outlet. Sure looks deceptively of good quality, though, and doesn't perform as well as the cheapos that come in a two pack with a cooling rack at the Dollar store. 

[Jon Savage]

I have not experienced warping with my pan either. Note my CSO is newer than many in this thread & the pan is corrugated which seems to be sturdy enough at least for almost 2 years of daily use in one way or another. 

 

JS

[Okanagancook]

My CSO is newer than my friend's and my pan is like what Thanksforthecrepes described.  I have had no issue with it warping.  My friend has the info and the phone number for the Canadian Cuisineart customer support.  I will  post what happens.  Thanks everyone.

[MelissaH]

Question: I brought home two banh mi from the closest Vietnamese restaurant 30 miles away, intending them for a quick dinner. The restaurant suggested reheating them in a microwave. That doesn't sound like a great idea to me. Would the CSO be a good option? What settings? (With or without steam?) Would I be better off using the Breville XL? Is there something else I'm missing? Or is this just a bad idea and I should rethink dinner completely?

[Anna N]

24 minutes ago, MelissaH said:

Question: I brought home two banh mi from the closest Vietnamese restaurant 30 miles away, intending them for a quick dinner. The restaurant suggested reheating them in a microwave. That doesn't sound like a great idea to me. Would the CSO be a good option? What settings? (With or without steam?) Would I be better off using the Breville XL? Is there something else I'm missing? Or is this just a bad idea and I should rethink dinner completely?

 Don’t know if this  might be of help until someone who has already tried to reheat one chimes in and give you better information. 

[MelissaH]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

 Don’t know if this  might be of help until someone who has already tried to reheat one chimes in and give you better information. 

Thank you. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Worst case scenario...well, we do have a jar of pasta sauce from one of the local red sauce Italian restaurants in the house. :-)

[Anna N]

Just now, MelissaH said:

Thank you. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Worst case scenario...well, we do have a jar of pasta sauce from one of the local red sauce Italian restaurants in the house. :-)

Do report back. I am interested in how it works. There is a recipe for the buns in Modernist Bread and I intend to attempt them at some point.