General Chat

I made flans/quiches the other day.

I use the weight watchers recipe for the crust (if anyone wants it, let me know).

Soggy bottom flans! I blind baked them.

No problem, I turned them upside down, put them on the high rack and cooked them for about 10 minutes at 150C..... keeping an eye on them in cast they turned into toast!

Ours has a new name......... the Star Ship Enterprise lol

:-D

Did I say mine cost $60Au? Typical, the place I bought it had them on special two weeks ago for $50 :-(

Have finally got around to trying out my new oven. Not very adventurous - cheese scones. OH ate them and didn't complain. Will try again this weekend with a sponge cake and see what transpires.

Mind you I haven't baked for a few years now so anything could happen.

From all the previous comments there seems to be an overwhelming YES vote for Halogen Ovens, just hope my baking turns out OK

They are brilliant I cook most things in it now...and it keeps my oven clean when you have finished cooking in it I just put a jug of water in it and a squeeze of liguid switch it on and it cleans it self

Scozz - I cook all food at temperatures between 150C &160C and check with a wooden skewer at regular intervals until I think it is cooked and I have never been disappointed. I have recipe books but never use them. The beauty of a Halogen Oven is that you can view the food being cooked quite clearly while you get on with other chores. I use two meat forks to lift joints out of the oven.

GP

I've had this gizmo over a month now (except for the week when I had to return the faulty one).

Brilliant! I wish I'd got one years ago.

Forget looking for special cookbooks. Use your own recipes & experiment.

I've found that I should have the temperature a bit lower and take some time off.........eg the banana cake I make (my recipe turned out well), I cook it at 160C instead of 180, for 30-35 minutes instead of 45. Scones (again my recipe, not the one on the website) were great, but I had to turn them upside down for half the time, the first scone experiment was not so good, they had soggy bums.

I've had to buy a few pans, because I couldn't pick mine up with the tongs (some things I just pick up the rack).

The best bit? Cleaned the big oven, and decided to only use that when I need to cook something big..... like half an ox :-D

I telephoned the company I bought the oven from, and explained the problem.

Service person said it sounded like the unit was faulty, and they'd replace it!

Less than a minute after talking to him, I got an email confirming the replacement.

Good service!

New one should be here Wednesday or Thursday, hope I don't have the same problem :-(

Very impressed with the service. :-)

Banana bread was a DUD!

I've been making banana cakes since I was about 14 - almost half a century, and this is my FIRST FAILURE!!

I expected it to be a bit overdone on the top (because of not being able to add the extender), but I wasn't expecting it to be soggy on the bottom.

I took it out of the tin, turned it over and put it on for another 10 minutes at 150C.

It's horrible!!

Hi Susan

Mine is a Sheffield. OH says the top of it looks like the Star Ship Enterprise lol

The banana bread is cooking.

Obviously the extender is to stop things like bread, cakes etc from browning too fast or burning. I've got it on 150C.

10 minutes to go.

Hopefully it's cooked! Not black on the inside & soggy in the middle.

I'll get OH to have a go at the button, I can't get it to move.

:-(

if it is the model I am thinking of.....the button should be pressed in then the lid slides up or down.....took me a while to get the hang of it :-)

I've used it twice now. First time for chicken thighs, potatoes & veggies. It worked fine, but I won't bother using it for the veggies again, it only takes 2 minutes to cook them in the microwave.

Saturday I tried a small leg of lamb. Cooked it for the time recommended, and the lamb was still raw! Arrrrrrrrgh!

We'll be having some late meals until I get the hang of this thing.

This morning I decided to try making a cake (the banana bread from one of the sites Susan recommended). First checked to see if I had a cake pan that would fit. No problem. Recipe recommends adding the extender ring. OK.

The instruction book says "The height can be adjusted up or down by first sliding the safety button on top of the height control handle and pressing the lever on the underside of the height control handle up".

I can't do it! My hands won't bend that way because of arthritis! I tried using two hands, but still can't lift the thing.

Any suggestions?

I've got a jug with mashed bananas in it.......... might have to use the ordinary oven!



:-(

Thankyou Susan! <3

I haven't got mine yet, hopefully it will arrive tomorrow or Thursday.

I'm still wondering where I'm going to put it :-(

A PDF download of Halogen Oven recipe book

http://cdn.idealworld.tv/common/downloads/Halogen_Oven_Recipe_Book.pdf

And another

http://www.judgecookware.co.uk/images/sites/judge/ranges/judge-electricals-cookers/products/halogen-oven-care-and-use.pdf

And another

http://besthalogencooker.com/recipes/


Google Halogen oven recipes....there are lots more online

i cook frozen roast spuds on an ovenproof plate, using the high ring. when cooked place on the lower ring to keep them hot. then put your frozen yorkshire puds on the high ring. for frozen cooked pies i defrost them before putting them in. if i cook a beef joint, i wrap in foil before cooking. also cook my own pie fillings, eg apple, steak, mincebeef, on the hob. make my pastry then bake in the halogen as you would in your big oven. if pie is getting to brown just cover with foil. you do have to experiment with the halogen. have cooked all sorts in mine, and its cheaper than using your big oven,. cooks a frozen pizza well, not that i live on instant food, but its cheaper to buy frozen roasters and yorkshire puds if cooking for 2. before i go, i buy part baked dinner rolls. bung them in the halogen for 10mins while you warm up your homemade soup. i hope others will add hints and tips.

Hi Geordie

There was a video on the mail order website, showing an extender ring, so I think you have that right :-)

I've googled for recipes, quite a few websites. Some of the comments I found were sad & pathetic, especially one woman who said she only uses it to make flapjacks! A frypan would be a lot cheaper :-) I did find one comment about putting frozen pies in one - good idea! I make my own quiches, pies & pasties & freeze them, don't really like them thawed in the microwave, the pastry isn't as nice as in the oven - but I don't want to use the oven for two pasties!

I'll be experimenting with recipes I already use, but any advice from those who have one is more than welcome! Maybe we could start a thread on Halogen Oven recipes?

I'll have to rearrange the kitchen a bit, move the coffee maker.......... arrrrgh........ I'm running out of bench space.

the only problem I have with it is that it is rather large and I have a very small kitchen so storage is difficult

SCOZZ - It's approx. £39. The 17 litre capacity oven you mention is probably a
12 litre capacity bowl with a 5 litre capacity extender ring. I've never seen any halogen oven bowl larger than 12 litre.

The oven fairies must be watching.

I don't live near big shopping centres, but I use a mail order company. They send daily emails showing their specials.

First item on today's list... a 17 litre oven! $60 Australian. No idea what that would be in British pounds.

Looking forward to faster cooking, lower electricity bills and.. NO MORE CLEANING THE BIG OVEN!!!

:-D

Thanks for the great tip, I'll post again when I've tried it. <3

I have a 12ltr Halogen Oven and it is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I wish I had bought one years ago. I never use my main oven anymore

I'm very interested in these ovens. They sound like a very good idea.

Our electricity bill is horrendous!

Only two of us in the house, so I feel a bit guilty when I use the oven.

Everything in the house is electric, except for a heater. That's on bottled gas, and we use a bottle in three years!

I know nothing about the halogen ovens. Do they come in different sizes? I have a "fry pan" sort of thing which has a halogen heating thingie, but I've only used it for making chips! :-D

Tell me more PLEASE :-D

PS ~ if it only does two chops it wouldn't be much use to me, as OH has at least 4 chops!

The new generation crisp and bake looks interesting. ideal world are selling one on flexi Pay for £89 it is the deal of the day today.