Cuisinart Combo Steam/Convection Oven (Part 3)

[chromedome]

On 9/12/2019 at 10:56 PM, weinoo said:

I'm a fan of using cazuelas for reheating.  And I have some 1-quart, enameled cast-iron Le Crueset oval bakers, which are also just perfect.

I did a double-take when I read that.

I'm still a bit bleary after a few nights of sleeping erratically while camping, and at first I thought you'd said "azaleas." Couldn't quite see how that would work...

[KennethT]

When heating things for short periods of time (like some have suggested defrosting bread products at 300 bake steam for 3 minutes), do you count the time from the moment the oven turns on, or do you wait for it to preheat first?

 

I tried defrosting a frozen english muffin at 300 for 3 min - I put the em in the oven then pushed start.  By the time the 3 min was up, I don't even know if the oven was at full temp yet, and the em was still frozen in the center and wet from condensation on the outside.  So I tried a few more (cooling the oven and keeping the door open to get rid of the steamy environment each time).  I found the best results with 5 min at 275 - this gave it enough time to fully defrost, and for the surface liquid to disappear.

[Smithy]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

When heating things for short periods of time (like some have suggested defrosting bread products at 300 bake steam for 3 minutes), do you count the time from the moment the oven turns on, or do you wait for it to preheat first?

 

 

It may depend on your machine. I think I've read that some models start the timer when they've finished preheating. My model, which I bought refurbished, starts the timer when I press "start". It is definitely not up to temperature until it's been running for some 3 - 5 minutes.

[ElsieD]

16 minutes ago, Smithy said:

 

 

It may depend on your machine. I think I've read that some models start the timer when they've finished preheating. My model, which I bought refurbished, starts the timer when I press "start". It is definitely not up to temperature until it's been running for some 3 - 5 minutes.

 

On mine, it depends on the setting.  On some settings, the timer starts right away and on others, not until it has finished pre-heating.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

 

On mine, it depends on the setting.  On some settings, the timer starts right away and on others, not until it has finished pre-heating.

 

Mine preheats and beeps when ready on convection bake, but no delay on steam bake.

 

[Anna N]

3 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Mine preheats and beeps when ready on convection bake, but no delay on steam bake.

 

From the instruction manual:

 

Preheat – Preheat indicator will disappear once the oven has reached set temperature. Food should be placed in oven before selecting cooking function and starting oven as preheat time is minimal and incorporated into overall cooking time.

 

 Bolding is mine. 

[ElsieD]

17 minutes ago, Anna N said:

From the instruction manual:

 

Preheat – Preheat indicator will disappear once the oven has reached set temperature. Food should be placed in oven before selecting cooking function and starting oven as preheat time is minimal and incorporated into overall cooking time.

 

 Bolding is mine. 

 

You read the instruction manual?

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

 

You read the instruction manual?

 Somebody has to.😂

[Margaret Pilgrim]

The dog ate my manual.  

The dog has eaten ALL my manuals.

[scubadoo97]

Guess it’s the dogs night to make dinner.  Cough it up rover 

[ElsieD]

5 hours ago, Anna N said:

 Somebody has to.😂

 

And a good thing, too, as someone's got to do it if for no other reason than to direct Gulleters towards the correct path.

[blue_dolphin]

10 hours ago, KennethT said:

When heating things for short periods of time (like some have suggested defrosting bread products at 300 bake steam for 3 minutes), do you count the time from the moment the oven turns on, or do you wait for it to preheat first?

 

I tried defrosting a frozen english muffin at 300 for 3 min - I put the em in the oven then pushed start.  By the time the 3 min was up, I don't even know if the oven was at full temp yet, and the em was still frozen in the center and wet from condensation on the outside.  So I tried a few more (cooling the oven and keeping the door open to get rid of the steamy environment each time).  I found the best results with 5 min at 275 - this gave it enough time to fully defrost, and for the surface liquid to disappear.

 

I'm probably the one who recommended 3 min @ 300°F on steam-bake as that's what I used to defrost an English muffin or a roll and I don't pre-heat.  In my hands, at that point, the middle of the English muffin is no longer frozen but still quite cold and I can easily split it with a fork.  I wouldn't say the exterior is dry as a bone, but I wouldn't call it wet either - it's nothing that's not taken care of during the toast cycle that comes next.  

That said, you've clearly experimented to find a slightly longer and cooler setting that better suits your needs, so it's all good.  I'd guess that you might be using a slightly shorter toast setting than I do (since I'm likely starting to toast with a muffin that's a little damper on the outside and cooler on the inside) so it probably all comes out in the wash....or the CSO!

[KennethT]

40 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

 

I'm probably the one who recommended 3 min @ 300°F on steam-bake as that's what I used to defrost an English muffin or a roll and I don't pre-heat.  In my hands, at that point, the middle of the English muffin is no longer frozen but still quite cold and I can easily split it with a fork.  I wouldn't say the exterior is dry as a bone, but I wouldn't call it wet either - it's nothing that's not taken care of during the toast cycle that comes next.  

That said, you've clearly experimented to find a slightly longer and cooler setting that better suits your needs, so it's all good.  I'd guess that you might be using a slightly shorter toast setting than I do (since I'm likely starting to toast with a muffin that's a little damper on the outside and cooler on the inside) so it probably all comes out in the wash....or the CSO!

Actually, my wife is a little odd (she would be the first to say it) but she doesn't like her english muffins toasted - she doesn't like the possibility of the toasted bread scratching the roof of her mouth as she tastes a lot of wine for a living and having a scratched up mouth could be either painful or cause her to not perform as well as normal.

[Anna N]

7 hours ago, KennethT said:

Actually, my wife is a little odd (she would be the first to say it) but she doesn't like her english muffins toasted 

OK so I thought about this and realized that I just couldn’t imagine eating an untoasted English muffin.  I gag at the very thought of it.  Probably makes me at least as odd as your wife.😂

[Margaret Pilgrim]

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

...I just couldn’t imagine eating an untoasted English muffin.  I gag at the very thought of it. 

Well, there are English muffins and there are English muffins.    A couple of years ago when I was in the habit of doing "breakfast club" at our son's house, new baby and all, I would make fresh English muffins.    They were hot off the griddle and would have been a sin to toast.    Just break oven and lay on butter...

[TdeV]

My toaster has died. Will a CSO do toast?

As an item of intense personal interest, will a CSO do toasted cheese? (I grew up with these)

[ElsieD]

21 minutes ago, TdeV said:

My toaster has died. Will a CSO do toast?

As an item of intense personal interest, will a CSO do toasted cheese? (I grew up with these)

 

Many on here rave about the toast the CSO makes.  I'm not one of them.

[kayb]

34 minutes ago, TdeV said:

My toaster has died. Will a CSO do toast?

As an item of intense personal interest, will a CSO do toasted cheese? (I grew up with these)

 

The CSO will most assuredly do toasted cheese. With or without any additional toppings. And do it well.

 

Get one. You will not regret it.

 

[dtremit]

4 minutes ago, kayb said:

 

The CSO will most assuredly do toasted cheese. With or without any additional toppings. And do it well.

 

Get one. You will not regret it.

 

 

Is there actually a form of "toasted cheese" that is made in toasters (or toaster ovens)? I have always seen that describe something made in a skillet. (I'm actually curious here -- every item that combines toasting and cheese needs to be in my life.)

 

But yes, get the CSO! I rather like the toast from it.

[kayb]

For grilled cheese, I slap the cheese between the bread slices, butter the outside, and cook in a skillet, pressing down as if it were a panini.

 

For toasted cheese, I open-face toast two slices of bread, each topped with a slice of cheese, take them out, and put them together. Fillings can be added to the middle. I don't do condiments on either, but some folks do.

 

[TdeV]

Thanks for the info.

 

I also asked my sister who said "Toast cheese was broiled because our little toaster had sides that opened and our mum would prop it up to keep the coil some inches from the cheese. Our current toaster wouldn't accommodate that. You'd need a toaster oven on broil setting."

 

I don't remember this side thingy, but I do recall that the toaster had a little shelf that could be raised to <2" from the broiler element.

 

How close can you get the tray to the grill element in the CSO?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Off thread topic, but IMHO the best toasted cheese sandwiches are made in a frying pan.     Butter one side of the sandwich and fry until brown, then flip and fry the other side in the butter that remains in the pan.    Incomparable!   

 

Or use a teflon pan if you must, but know that you are missing out.   

[kayb]

16 minutes ago, TdeV said:

 

How close can you get the tray to the grill element in the CSO?

 

Because of the configuration of the rack, there are four possible height settings in the CSO. The highest is about 2 inches from the top element. The lowest if 5 1/2 inches from the top element, and about 1/2 inch from the bottom element. 

 

Please forgive the condition of the interior of my CSO. It gets a lot of use and it needs cleaning. I'm kinda embarrassed.

 

This is the highest position. Rack is 2" from upper element.

 

Same slot, rack turned over (this is where I use it 90 percent of the time.

 

 

This is the next-to-lowest position. Bottom slot, rack turned "upside down."

 

And this is the lowest position. Rack about 1/2 inch from lower element. I use this to roast chicken (using the accompanying shallow roasting pan and rack that sits inside it; a 3 1/2 pound chicken just fits, and you need to put a sheet of foil over the top during the first half of the roast to keep the skin from burning).

 

I make toast and toasted cheese with the rack in the second position, using the toast function (which employs both top and bottom elements, as opposed to broil, which uses only the top). Depending on the bread, I may play with the toast darkenss setting (goes from 1 to 7). 

 

I love this thing, and use it more than any other small appliance in the kitchen with the exception of my coffee maker. 

 

 

[Kim Shook]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

My toaster has died. Will a CSO do toast?

As an item of intense personal interest, will a CSO do toasted cheese? (I grew up with these)

This is why it is helpful to know where an eG member lives. 😁  Words mean different things in different places.  If by toasted cheese, you mean bread topped with cheese and put under a heating element that melts the cheese to whatever degree you want it, then - YES!  It does lovely toasted cheese.  

 

I am one of those who likes the way the CSO does toast.  I place my rack in the position of the 2nd of @kayb's picture above and toast on 3.  If you can tell from this picture, this is how dark the toast gets:

The inside is a bit tender (not solid crunch like some toasters) and the underside is a little bit lighter with the stripe of the rack on it.  You can flip halfway through to even out the browning, if you like.  Personally, I haven't used my toaster since I got the CSO.  Mr. Kim still does, but he admits that he is intimidated by the CSO.  Jessica is a complete convert, though, and love it.

[dtremit]

4 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

The inside is a bit tender (not solid crunch like some toasters) and the underside is a little bit lighter with the stripe of the rack on it.  You can flip halfway through to even out the browning, if you like. 

 

I do wonder if leaving the door open one stop would create crunchier toast for those who prefer it that way?