Practical Cooking Advice
The oven offers a wide range of alternatives which allow you to cook any type of food in the best possible way. With time you will learn to make the best use of this versatile cooking appliance and the following directions are only a guideline which may be varied according to your own per- sonal experience.
Baking Cakes
When baking cakes, always place them in the oven after it has been preheated (about 15 minutes).The temperature is normally around 160°C. Do not open the door while the cake is baking in order to prevent it from dropping. In general:
Pastry is too dry
Increase the temperature by 10°C and reduce the cooking time.
Pastry dropped
Use less liquid or lower the temperature by 10°C.
Pastry is too dark on top
Place it on a lower rack, lower the temperature, and increase the cooking time.
Cooked well on the inside but sticky on the outside
Use less liquid, lower the temperature, and increase the cooking time.
The pastry sticks to the pan
Grease the pan well and sprinkle it with a dusting of flour or use greaseproof paper.
Cooking Pizza
For tasty crispy pizzas:
·Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes
·Use a light aluminium pizza pan, placing it on the rack supplied with the oven. If the dripping pan is used, this will extend the cooking time, making it difficult to get a crispy crust;
·Do not open the oven door frequently while the pizza is cooking;
·If the pizza has a lot of toppings (three or four), we recommend you add the mozzarella cheese on top halfway through the cooking process.
Cooking Fish and Meat
When cooking white meat, fowl and fish, use temperature settings from 170 °C to 190 °C.
For red meat that should be well done on the outside while tender and juicy in the inside, it is a good idea to start with a high temperature setting
In general, the larger the roast, the lower the temperature setting. Place the meat on the centre of the grid and place the dripping pan beneath it to catch the fat.
Make sure that the grid is inserted so that it is in the centre of the oven. If you would like to increase the amount of heat from below, use the low rack heights. For savoury roasts (especially duck and wild game), dress the meat with lard or bacon on the top.
Using the Grill
Important: always use the grill with the oven door shut. This will allow you both to obtain excellent results and to save on energy (approximately 10%).
Use the 2 “grill” mode, placing the food under the cen- tre of the grill.
Therefore the best results when using the grill modes are obtained by placing the grid on the lower racks (see cooking table) then, to prevent fat and grease from dripping onto the bottom of the oven and smoke from forming, place a
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