Effects of dishes on cooking results, Defrosting

Only experience will enable you to determine the proper settings for your personal cooking needs. The temperatures are intended as a guide only. It may be necessary to increase or decrease the temperature to suit your individual requirements.

The effects of dishes on cooking results

Dishes and tins vary in their thickness, conductivity, colour, etc. which affects the way they transmit heat to the food inside them:

AAluminium, earthenware, oven glassware and bright shiny utensils reduce cooking and underneath browning.

BEnamelled cast iron, anodized aluminium, aluminium with non-stick interior and coloured exterior and dark, heavy utensils increase cooking and underneath browning.

Defrosting

The defrosting function allows you to defrost frozen foods. The oven fan operates without heat and circulates the air, at room temperature, inside the oven. This increases the rate at which defrosting takes place.

This function is particularly suitable for delicate food which could be damaged by heat, e.g. cream filled gateaux, iced cakes, pastries, bread and other yeast products.

HINTS AND TIPS

•Cover food with a lid, aluminium foil or plastic film to prevent drying out during defrosting.

•Small or thin pieces of fish fillet or peeled prawns, mince, liver and thin chops will defrost in 1-2 hours. Ensure that they are cooked or refrigerated immediately after defrosting to maintain good food hygiene.

•Place the food to be defrosted in a single layer and turn over half way through the defrosting process, where possible.

•Joints of meat or poultry MUST BE THAWED THOROUGHLY BEFORE COOKING. A 1.5 kg/3lb oven-ready chicken will thaw in approximately 5 hours. The giblets must be removed as soon as possible during the thawing process.

•Only joints of meat and poultry up to 2kg/4lb in weight are suitable for defrosting in this way.

ALWAYS COOK THOROUGHLY IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAWING.

•Take care to follow the basic rules for hygiene when handling fresh, frozen, raw and cooked foods.

HINTS AND TIPS

•Place the frozen food a single layer where possible, and turn it over half way through the defrosting process.

•The actual speed of defrosting is influenced by room temperature. On warm days defrosting will be faster than on cooler days.

•DO NOT leave food at room temperature once it is defrosted. Cook raw food immediately or store cooked food in the fridge.

•Care must always be taken when handling foods in the home. Always follow the basic rules of food hygiene to prevent bacterial growth and cross contamination when defrosting, preparing, cooking, cooling and freezing foods.