Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

P.S.:   re toast

 

I looked at this AM's tranche  and indeed the bottom was not a pretty as the top.

 

no matter .  tasted perfect

 

Im wondering if the ' tray ' was not in the correct position ?

 

one thin about the CSB :  better check the slide out try position before you select your Personal Beverage

 

as it makes no intuitive sense at all.

 

just saying

Yes I found that with the oven up north. In fact I think on one occasion @Kerry Beal and I may have come close to fisticuffs over whether we had the rack positions correct. 

Today I had to study the photographs with care to determine where the tray should be for toast. 

[PattyO]

I made baked potatoes...baby steps...and they were perfect.  Hopefully, I'll be able to expand my horizons this weekend.

 

I have mine on the kitchen island and it looks awful.  I had to put it on the end with an electrical outlet and I'm trying to figure out better placement.

[Anna N]

I am reading through all the old threads to see what I can learn and I came across this which I found quite amusing

Click

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am reading through all the old threads to see what I can learn and I came across this which I found quite amusing

Click

 

I'd go with the pulley system.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, PattyO said:

I made baked potatoes...baby steps...and they were perfect.  Hopefully, I'll be able to expand my horizons this weekend.

 

I have mine on the kitchen island and it looks awful.  I had to put it on the end with an electrical outlet and I'm trying to figure out better placement.

 

Baked potatoes are one of the few things I do not enjoy from the CSO.

 

Sorry, don't mean to rain on your parade.

 

[lindag]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Baked potatoes are one of the few things I do not enjoy from the CSO.

 

 

 

Can you tell us what it is that you don't like?

[rotuts]

BP's are fine in the CSB  but the temp needs to be higher than a dry oven to crisp up the skin.

 

sometime on Idaho's the fluffy part can be a tiny bit sweet as the higher temp might caramelize the starch  

 

that's just a guess

[Anna N]

 

 Small loaf of sandwich bread which was mixed in the Thermo mix, final proof and baking in the CSO. Will have to wait until I cut into it to determine if I'm happy.  It certainly doesn't have much of a dome. 

[rotuts]

@Anna N  et. al.:

 

Im pleased to see bread baking of any kind in the CSB

 

if you do this from time to time , please consider posting the Rx.

 

Id like to start simple baking again

 

and of course its going to soon be hot and humid  .....

 

but wait !   the CSB doesn't mind an occasion few hours outside on the deck !

 

[Anna N]

13 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Anna N  et. al.:

 

Im pleased to see bread baking of any kind in the CSB

 

if you do this from time to time , please consider posting the Rx.

 

Id like to start simple baking again

 

and of course its going to soon be hot and humid  .....

 

but wait !   the CSB doesn't mind an occasion few hours outside on the deck !

 

 This was a very simple and classic sandwich bread recipe from king Arthur flour.  Here.

 I was quite limited on what I was prepared to attempt as my supply of flour is now down to very low gluten American all-purpose.   I have just put in a grocery order that includes some more bread flour.  

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

 This was a very simple and classic sandwich bread recipe from king Arthur flour.  Here.

 I was quite limited on what I was prepared to attempt as my supply of flour is now down to very low gluten American all-purpose.   I have just put in a grocery order that includes some more bread flour.  

Very satisafactory.

 

 

Sliced for the freezer.

 

 

 Could not resist a toasted heel with butter. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, lindag said:

Can you tell us what it is that you don't like?

 

Normally I bake my potatoes one to two hours at 450 deg F. in a preheated conventional oven, in a bed of salt.  In my hands following the Cuisinart manual's cooking chart* for baked potato results in flaccid skin and unnatural texture.  More like pressure cooked potato.  Not that there is anything wrong with pressure cooked potatoes, I prepare pressure cooked potatoes about once a week.  But they are not baked potatoes.

 

*Bake-Steam, 400 deg F, 45 to 55 minutes, middle lower rack.

 

[FauxPas]

On 5/26/2017 at 0:30 PM, Anna N said:

Today I had to study the photographs with care to determine where the tray should be for toast. 

 

Where do they suggest positioning the rack for toast? I don't even know where my manual is anymore (doing some kitchen re-organizing). I put the rack somewhere in the middle for making toast, but my husband prefers to lower it when he makes toast. 

 

As an aside, I love steam-roasting new potatoes or baby potatoes in the CSO. Somewhere between 300 and 400F, depending on size and time up to 60 mins, again depending on size. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

55 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

As an aside, I love steam-roasting new potatoes or baby potatoes in the CSO. Somewhere between 300 and 400F, depending on size and time up to 60 mins, again depending on size. 

 

The CSO makes great roast potatoes!

 

(I'm interested in the toast position also.)

 

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, FauxPas said:

 

Where do they suggest positioning the rack for toast? I don't even know where my manual is anymore (doing some kitchen re-organizing). I put the rack somewhere in the middle for making toast, but my husband prefers to lower it when he makes toast. 

 

As an aside, I love steam-roasting new potatoes or baby potatoes in the CSO. Somewhere between 300 and 400F, depending on size and time up to 60 mins, again depending on size. 

I am not even going to attempt to explain rack positions.  Tried it once before here and everybody proved me wrong.  The manual is freely available online so if you can understand the photographs there is an explanation of rack positions. 

 

 Link to the manual

Here

Edited May 28, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[FauxPas]

OK, so I think I use their recommended rack position for toasting, but my husband rarely does. I think it's because he likes his toast darker but he's impatient, so he lowers the rack and gets darker toast. It's only darker on one side, but that keeps him happy. The manual warns of a fire risk in that lower position but you'd have to really toast the life out of it before that would happen. 

 

 

[lindag]

IIRC, for toast the rack goes in the middle position looking something like this: --___--

[Anna N]

So this morning I attempted the hearth bread from the King Arthur flour site. I made just half a recipe.

 

 

 Here is the final loaf which was  given its final proof using the steam function on the CSO.   Talk about flatbread!

 

 

 

 I remade the recipe using everything exactly the same. I weigh my ingredients so there's no wiggle room there. But instead of a final proof with steam this was proofed for an hour on the kitchen counter.  I got dreadfully distracted when it was in the oven which accounts for the fact that it did not get turned and that it stayed in there a tad too long.  But the difference in the two loaves is striking.   I noticed two things. The recipes in the book that come with the oven use bread flour and active dry yeast.  This recipe uses all purpose flour and instant yeast.  It would take a far more knowledgable baker than I to determine if the different flour and/or yeast can account for the different reaction to the steam proofing.  I seem to recall a similar situation with the oven up north at some point. I know I was extremely disappointed in it as a bread oven.   But now it is in my own kitchen I intend to persevere and see if I can improve the outcome.  

 

Edited May 28, 2017 by Anna N (log)

[rotuts]

I must tell all that Id love to see a separate thread for ' Baking Bread and Such in the CSB '

 

Im trying to be polite here  , as Ive not baked in the CSB Yet

 

but I used to do a little bread baking

 

Id like to get back to it

 

and my oven needs an igniter for the Oven , but Ive refused to pay the service charge

 

which claims an initial $ 14.95 Amazon part  ( free shipping ! ) need $ 175 as the total final bill

 

and that was years ago.  now the part is $ 29.95  so imagine the total bill

 

the Miele induction oven ( 50 amps easy ) with a CombiOven  ( which does not exist ) at around 6 K or more

 

seems more affordable to me !

 

so

 

if you bake breads and things in the CSB

 

please consider a separate thread

 

and let us  ( AKA Me ) how your have adapted your favoties

 

Id like to make some decent sourdough w good crump and perhaps some foccacia  on the sour side

 

thanks and Cheers

 

Happy Cooking !

 

[Anna N]

 I am either obsessed or more probably possessed but my third loaf of the day is now undergoing bulk fermentation. This time I used bread flour and active dry yeast and, because my jar of active yeast might be a little long in the tooth, I made sure to proof it.  Once again I will try the final proof with steam in the oven. 

[kayb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

So this morning I attempted the hearth bread from the King Arthur flour site. I made just half a recipe.

 

 

 Here is the final loaf which was  given its final proof using the steam function on the CSO.   Talk about flatbread!

 

 

 

 I remade the recipe using everything exactly the same. I weigh my ingredients so there's no wiggle room there. But instead of a final proof with steam this was proofed for an hour on the kitchen counter.  I got dreadfully distracted when it was in the oven which accounts for the fact that it did not get turned and that it stayed in there a tad too long.  But the difference in the two loaves is striking.   I noticed two things. The recipes in the book that come with the oven use bread flour and active dry yeast.  This recipe uses all purpose flour and instant yeast.  It would take a far more knowledgable baker than I to determine if the different flour and/or yeast can account for the different reaction to the steam proofing.  I seem to recall a similar situation with the oven up north at some point. I know I was extremely disappointed in it as a bread oven.   But now it is in my own kitchen I intend to persevere and see if I can improve the outcome.  

 

 

I have never had success proofing with the steam function in the CSO. But I bake in it all the time. My pair of 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 loaf pans fit perfectly in it; I usually have to check midway through and shield the tops with foil to keep them from getting too dark. Truth be told, I probably use my CSO more than any other appliance in my kitchen, though the Instant Pot runs a close second.

 

[Anna N]

Not holding out a lot of hope this time, either.  I have been proofing bread on the counter since Methuselah was the top so if the steam function doesn't work for proofing it's not a big deal.  Still the function's there  so I have to assume it works somewhere for some people under some conditions.   Anyone have any success? 

[Anna N]

 And we have another flatbread!  No further experiments on steam-proofing planned at this time. 

[Lisa Shock]

I am reading this thread with the idea in mind of primarily using the machine as a home proofbox.

 

I have a few basic answers for @Anna N - the yeast shouldn't matter as long as you handle it as intended, that is, active dry needs blooming, instant is just tossed in the with flour.

 

Bread flour has a higher gluten content, which means it should be able to hold more air bubbles, and they can be larger, too.

 

AP flour can vary by region. In some places, it's very close to being bread flour, in the US South it's much closer to being cake flour as so many people use it for biscuits. It's kind of a guessing game for a while. That said, having a little more starch and less gluten can mean that you get better fermentation with breads that have long fermentation times or get handled a lot over time -like croissants.

 

Proofing on the counter obviously has challenges, keep the crust from drying is obvious, and there are temperature variations to consider. Can you give room temperature readings and steam-proof temperature readings for future experiments?

[ElsieD]

I was out admiring the CSO today............