Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)


JoNorvelleWalker

Recommended Posts

Sugars are certainly important for the browning and the "toasty" flavors that result from the Maillard reaction but you also need temperatures well above the boiling point of water for this to occur.  It will take significantly more heat to drive the moisture out of a moist, heavy bread than a less dense, drier slide of commercial sandwich bread.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive noticed this with my Home Made Machine Bread :

 

it takes longer to brown than commercial bread.  HMMB for me has no added sugar , butter or fat , nor dry milk

 

looking at the only commercial bread I have not  ( TJ's Sourdough loaf , a remainder from Pigs that Fly , in NH )

 

it has malted barley flour in it.  I think it brown's faster than my HMMB    I have not looked into this as a study.

 

I can't say if malted barley has natural sugar in it   ....

 

I do know that if you look carefully at the ingredients of commercial ConAgra breads  you might be surprised

 

even more surprising is what in the Bread at WholeFoods.

 

I can't see the CSB effecting this.   it does keep the breads ' steam ' in the oven  but I think

 

the issue is Whats in Commercial Bread

 

thats not in HMMB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if a commercial loaf did not brown , in what ever set up you have to Toast it , in the time you had ,

 

that company would be out of business  Toot Sweet.

 

this is not a political statement , but a commercial one.

 

some of the most damming breads Ive ever seen , were sold at WholeFoods some time ago.

 

get your glasses on and take a look at the labels there and everywhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I need to bake and freeze up some lamb meatballs, and having recently taken the plunge on a CSO, I wondered if there would be any advantage to steam baking them over doing them in the regular oven, and if so, what you might suggest for time and temp. I am planning to use the recipe for Beacon's Meatballs that FatGuy posted on the meatball thread once upon a time. I tried searching, but have not come up with any combination of terms that gets me anywhere. O.o

 

Any guidance is surely appreciated, even though I am a consummate lurker, you are all my trusted advisors in many matters of the kitchen... including the purchase of way too many books and toys. xD

  • Like 4

"There are no mistakes in bread baking, only more bread crumbs"

*Bernard Clayton, Jr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I'd use the temp in the recipe and take off ~15-20% off the time (to account for the steam effect) as a starting point. Maybe do 1 meatball as a test.

 

 

Thank you, I wasn't quite sure where to start.... point taken on the tester!

"There are no mistakes in bread baking, only more bread crumbs"

*Bernard Clayton, Jr.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, gfweb said:

I'd use the temp in the recipe and take off ~15-20% off the time (to account for the steam effect) as a starting point. Maybe do 1 meatball as a test.

 

 

And you can listen to this song at the same time.

  • Like 3

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"A sense of humor is a measurement of the extent to which you realize that you are trapped in a world almost entirely devoid of reason. Laughter is how you release the anxiety you feel at this knowledge." -Dave Barry, humorist

 

Read to children. Vote. And never buy anything from a man who's selling fear. -Mary Doria Russell, science-fiction writer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just pass me those potatoes, please. For those l'll sacrifice everything else on the plate.

  • Like 2

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, gfweb said:

@JoNorvelleWalker  Fingerlings cut on the bias and roasted face down on peanut-oiled tray  350F Bake, no steam x 25 min. Salt.

 

No steam?  Interesting.  Will have to try.

 

Did the fingerlings start off raw or did you parboil them?

 

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

No steam?  Interesting.  Will have to try.

 

Did the fingerlings start off raw or did you parboil them?

 

 Raw.

 

I often leave them in a little longer to brown up the cut side. Maybe 35 or 40 min.  These are little fellows, a fatter spud would take a bit longer.

 

I've never tried them with steam...who knows if its better?

 

 

Edited by gfweb (log)
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can anyone offer a suggestion for preparing frozen French fries in the CSO?

 

By the way, I'm wondering if the CSO rack is really stainless.  I mean the larger rack that supports the pan, not the smaller rack that sits in the pan.  My rack is beginning to show rust.  I half suspect it's plated.

 

 

P.S.  I also came home with fingerlings.

 

 

  • Like 1

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

By the way, I'm wondering if the CSO rack is really stainless.  I mean the larger rack that supports the pan, not the smaller rack that sits in the pan.  My rack is beginning to show rust.  I half suspect it's plated.

 

No idea if it's stainless, but if it's rusting, wiped it with a little oil each time you baked for a while, and season it to halt that rust.

> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why would be any different than cooking them in an ordinary toaster oven?

 

Click

  • Like 1

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I just discovered an oddity about my CSO when I refilled its tank.

When I pressed on the lower right metal corner (below the tank), it makes a chirping sound.

You may want to test yours just out of curiosity.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the innards stay moister in a CombiOven on steam-bake etc.

 

everything cooks quicker.  Id imagine FF in a CSB  would cook quicker and have a moister InnerSelf  once you 

 

figure out your Times and Temps.

 

a higher than usual temp might give you a crispier outer coating w/o the drying out of a conventional oven

 

it take an effort  , smoothed out w a fews MR's , to think of SteamCooking   ( 350 ++++  ) as getting anything crisp

 

as day to day steaming is at 210 or so, not 350 +++

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Had some freshly made pizza dough in the fridge so made a little flat bread thingie using the tray that came with the oven; convection bake at the highest setting for about 13 minutes.  It was a little over done on the top and not as brown underneath.  Next time I think I would lower the rack.  Tasted good and it was quick.DSC01782.jpgDSC01783.jpg

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...