Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

[FauxPas]

9 hours ago, dtremit said:

We did some wing flats last night @ 400F S-B and they came out well, though only crisp on one side. They were done enough (skin brown, and meat pulling away from the bone) after 25min that I pulled them. Was worried they were overdone but the meat and skin (on one side) were great.

 

Think I may indeed try the next round at a lower temp. 

 

Also, I did these on a rack; that allowed for great drainage, but there was no crisping on the underside. Wonder if doing them in a pan would provide better results due to the contact.

 

I cook wing segments in the CSO fairly often. I usually mix them with a bit of olive oil and salt/pepper and maybe some garlic or onion powder in a bowl, then put them on a rack and do Steam/Bake  at 300 to 350F. I use the higher temps if I'm in a hurry. I use tongs to turn them after about 20 to 25 mins and then continue cooking until they look done. We like our chicken well done so that may be another 25 mins or so.  

[Smithy]

7 hours ago, Okanagancook said:

@Smithy  Why not use the air fryer for the tator tots?  Use a more moderate temp and I bet they would be good.  If your timing is off a little they would reheat in a flash.  Don't retire your AF, it's a gem...bet you could have toasted the bread in there.

 

 

In fact, the thing that sold us on the air fryer was its ability to do tater tots. They're much better in it than in the oven, and by extension I think the same thing would be true in the CSO. I had intended to retire the air fryer, however, in the interests of not having too many spare appliances lying around. One spare bedroom is already overrun. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, rotuts said:

@JoNorvelleWalker

 

and where did you get that ?

 

My favorite kitchen supply store, McMaster-Carr...

https://www.mcmaster.com/standard-stainless-steel-sheets

 

[KennethT]

8 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

My favorite kitchen supply store, McMaster-Carr...

https://www.mcmaster.com/standard-stainless-steel-sheets

 

ha! I use McMaster for work all the time... they're expensive, but they have everything in stock and I always get my delivery the next day.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎7‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 12:45 AM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

You're welcome.  I took another for the team...

 

 

 

This was 10 minutes (OK, actually 11 minutes) Super Steam at 400F then switched to 450F Convection Bake.  The crust looks a little heavy.  Perhaps too much of a good thing.  Though oven spring was fine.  I don't plan to cut into this loaf for a day or two but if I can I'll report back with results.

 

 

Nothing wrong with the crumb although with super steam the crust looks a little different from that to which I am accustomed.  Indeed it looks a little like the exhibits professor Calvel in The Taste of Bread* labels as too much steam.  For this type bread I see no reason to use super steam over bake steam.

 

Perfectly tasty though.

 

 

*Glad I bought my copy of The Taste of Bread before the price was $369.35.

 

[dtremit]

Latest round of experiments. Apologies for not taking pictures outside of the bread!

 

First up -- beans! I figured that if super steam was good for rice, it would probably be good for beans. I've been accustomed to making beans in the "Parsons Method" -- bring to boil on stovetop and finish in a low oven -- but found that it was sometimes a little tricky to calibrate the water level properly to account for both evaporation and absorption. Too little, and the beans on top got exposed and leathery; too much, and they were absolutely swimming in liquid. 

 

So I tried baking some nice @rancho_gordo Christmas limas (which admittedly were about a year past their "best by" date, I have a backlog) *un*covered @ 300F Super Steam -- and they came out just about perfectly. I had to add boiling water about halfway through (they took 90min to cook, which I suspect is on the long side due to size and age), but ended up with a nice broth coming only about halfway up the beans. As this is only a slight modification to my usual method, and with better results, I suspect I'll be using it frequently in the future.

 

Dinner was a lovely chunk of hake loin cooked @ 300F super steam. I made a "rack" out of green beans and surrounded it with cherry tomatoes and onions, which became the sauce. 20min was a little too long, but it was still quite tasty; my partner who's not always crazy about fish really liked it.

 

For sides, I tried the halved eggplant, which I did @ 400F super steam for 20min, alongside some batons from a large zucchini that needed using up. The latter I finished for 10min on convection bake, and tossed with a handful of Thai basil; the eggplant went under the Breville broiler for a few minutes just before serving. I made a quick tahini-garlic sauce for the eggplant. Also did some ears of corn according to the in-husk spreadsheet method (400F S-S for 30min), which worked well; very easy shucking when cut at the stalk end.

 

Sounds like a lot, but we had a lot of veg to cook!

 

Now, the bread. Glamour shots of the loaf are in the bread topic, here. This is the same dough as my first loaf, held in the fridge for a few days. I preheated @ 450F along with the 8" cast iron skillet (only one I have that fits!), did 15min super steam @ 400F, and then finished on convection bake @ 450F for another 15min. Except for the burnt top, I'm thrilled with how it came out -- but that burned top is really frustrating! You can't really tell from the picture, but it's a tiny loaf, only about 4" tall to the highest point. I don't think there's any way I'm going to get the color I want on the crust in just the CSO; I expect I'll be starting loaves on steam in the CSO and then transferring them to the Breville to finish. It's still an improvement, as I can't get anything close to these results out of the Breville by itself, and I'd rather leave my main oven off in the summertime.

 

I don't actually think the height of the oven is the major factor here. I made some cinnamon swirl bread in the Breville the other day, and it got close enough to the top elements that I was worried it'd get stuck between them. But no charring on that loaf. The Breville has small metal guards over its top elements, though, which shield the bread from direct heat. I think either the lack of those on the CSO -- or some difference in programming which favors the top element more -- is the root of the issue.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

@dtremit, any more information on how you cooked the beans?  What weight of beans?  Did you presoak?  And in what did you cook them?

 

My bedroom is overwhelmed with beans.

 

 

[dtremit]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

@dtremit, any more information on how you cooked the beans?  What weight of beans?  Did you presoak?  And in what did you cook them?

 

My bedroom is overwhelmed with beans.

 

My general method with beans is to follow the "Parsons method" (so named after Russ Parsons of the LA Times who advocated for it). No soaking required; simply combine beans (about a half pound in this case, but you could do any quantity in the right size pot), water, salt, a glug of olive oil, and any aromatics* in a suitable pot, bring to a boil on the stovetop. Once it boils, cover, and move to a ~300F oven until the beans are done. Timing varies, but it's foolproof otherwise.

 

The only adaptation for the CSO was to leave the cover *off* the beans so the steam could get in -- and as mentioned, cook on super steam.

 

I only covered the beans by about 1" of water, which is usually plenty for a lidded container, but wasn't sufficient here. I topped it off after 45 minutes with boiling water from a teakettle. Next time I will use more water and/or partially cover. Total cooking time was ~90 minutes, but almost totally hands off -- and these were older beans of a slow cooking variety.

 

[*] re: aromatics: If I don't know what I'm going to do with the beans, I usually just throw in a few smashed cloves of garlic, a half onion (with a toothpick through the layers if I want to fish it out), and a bay leaf or two; this seems to boost the flavor of the beans without introducing any flavors that limit their versatility.

 

 

 

[weinoo]

On 7/22/2019 at 8:09 AM, rotuts said:

my plan was to update my Amps in my kitchen.

 

oddly there is one 20 amp for the whole kitchen , but 6 outlets

No complaining - I have 60 amps for my whole apartment!  Try running 2 air conditioners, various other appliances, etc. etc.

 

By the way, why cook beans (in the summer) any other way than the Instant Pot?

[dtremit]

26 minutes ago, weinoo said:

By the way, why cook beans (in the summer) any other way than the Instant Pot?

 

Honestly, it's the one thing I don't like cooking in the IP -- I've never gotten them to come out as well. I think it's the lack of reduction in the broth.

 

If they're going into a chili or something I don't care, but for bean salads and the like I've gone back to the oven.

[KennethT]

29 minutes ago, weinoo said:

No complaining - I have 60 amps for my whole apartment!  Try running 2 air conditioners, various other appliances, etc. etc.

 

By the way, why cook beans (in the summer) any other way than the Instant Pot?

That's not atypical.... but if you really needed it, you could probably hire an electrician to pull some more wires up from the building's breaker box and increase your amperage... you'd have to get coop approval first, of course.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

My general method with beans is to follow the "Parsons method" (so named after Russ Parsons of the LA Times who advocated for it). No soaking required; simply combine beans (about a half pound in this case, but you could do any quantity in the right size pot), water, salt, a glug of olive oil, and any aromatics* in a suitable pot, bring to a boil on the stovetop. Once it boils, cover, and move to a ~300F oven until the beans are done. Timing varies, but it's foolproof otherwise.

 

The only adaptation for the CSO was to leave the cover *off* the beans so the steam could get in -- and as mentioned, cook on super steam.

 

I only covered the beans by about 1" of water, which is usually plenty for a lidded container, but wasn't sufficient here. I topped it off after 45 minutes with boiling water from a teakettle. Next time I will use more water and/or partially cover. Total cooking time was ~90 minutes, but almost totally hands off -- and these were older beans of a slow cooking variety.

 

[*] re: aromatics: If I don't know what I'm going to do with the beans, I usually just throw in a few smashed cloves of garlic, a half onion (with a toothpick through the layers if I want to fish it out), and a bay leaf or two; this seems to boost the flavor of the beans without introducing any flavors that limit their versatility.

 

 

 

 

What sort of pot?

 

[weinoo]

13 hours ago, KennethT said:

That's not atypical.... but if you really needed it, you could probably hire an electrician to pull some more wires up from the building's breaker box and increase your amperage... you'd have to get coop approval first, of course.

That's a good one, @KennethT!

 

I was quoted some insane price to run more amps up from the breaker box - which is 15 floors below me. In addition to "coop approval."

 

Also, while not atypical for buildings the age of ours (60 years, now), today apartments come with more amperage, as there are way more appliances to be plugged in.

[dtremit]

13 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

What sort of pot?

 

 

Anything will do, honestly -- in this case I used a 4 quart stainless soup pot like this, but almost anything you can heat on the stove and fit in the oven would probably do just fine. (This particular 4qt pot fits nicely with the lid off, and you can use the lid upside down to reduce clearance.)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

11 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

Anything will do, honestly -- in this case I used a 4 quart stainless soup pot like this, but almost anything you can heat on the stove and fit in the oven would probably do just fine. (This particular 4qt pot fits nicely with the lid off, and you can use the lid upside down to reduce clearance.)

 

Having thought about it a bit, I don't see the advantage of leaving the lid off.  Unless for clearance.

 

[Smithy]

How vigorous is the fan supposed to be in convection mode for the CSO? I was expecting a strong current as with my air fryer. This is nothing like that powerful. Am I expecting too much?

[Shelby]

10 minutes ago, Smithy said:

How vigorous is the fan supposed to be in convection mode for the CSO? I was expecting a strong current as with my air fryer. This is nothing like that powerful. Am I expecting too much?

Yeah, my air fryer fan is stronger than the CSO fan for sure.

[ElsieD]

8 minutes ago, Smithy said:

How vigorous is the fan supposed to be in convection mode for the CSO? I was expecting a strong current as with my air fryer. This is nothing like that powerful. Am I expecting too much?

 

Mine is not very noticeable.  I am guessing that the strong current produced by your air fryer would be much like my BSO when it is in air fryer mode.  When the BSO is in regular convection mode the current seems to be the same as the CSO.  

[Smithy]

Heck. That may mean I have to keep the air fryer AND get a small toaster. If the CSO doesn't come through for me as a superior bread-baking oven, it's going back. I guess that means I'd better get cracking on the bread tests.

[rotuts]

@Smithy

 

you will regret not having a CSO

 

I don't have an air-frier , and don't seem to regret that.

[Shelby]

6 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Heck. That may mean I have to keep the air fryer AND get a small toaster. If the CSO doesn't come through for me as a superior bread-baking oven, it's going back. I guess that means I'd better get cracking on the bread tests.

Don't send it back!  I promise you will like the bread baking--among many other things about it.  We would never steer you wrong  

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

it's going back

No. No. No.. Don’t send it back. It is the best thing ever made for reheating almost all leftovers. 

[Smithy]

8 minutes ago, Anna N said:

No. No. No.. Don’t send it back. It is the best thing ever made for reheating almost all leftovers. 

 

Thanks for reminding me, Anna. That's another test on the list that I haven't tried.

[Kerry Beal]

2 hours ago, Smithy said:

Heck. That may mean I have to keep the air fryer AND get a small toaster. If the CSO doesn't come through for me as a superior bread-baking oven, it's going back. I guess that means I'd better get cracking on the bread tests.

And custards - try steaming flan or creme brûlée 40 min 190º.

[rotuts]

@Smithy

 

and you have not mastered CkTh's just yet 

 

once you do , that's enough for one CSO

 

the skin is crispy , not fatty , and bubbly.   like a chicken skin crispy cracker 

 

this is way back in the thread :

 

my chicken :

 

 

looking carefully , you can see bubbles on the skin

 

and the skin comes right off and ' tents ' its so crispy   here upside down :

 

 

Yum Yum

Edited July 28, 2019 by rotuts (log)