Ovens

[Kev]

Bored on night shift. I was just wondering what is more energy efficient a fan assisted oven or a conventional oven. Or is there no difference between the two.
Kev

[Muddypause]

Never having encountered a fan assisted oven, I don't really know what they are about. I'm guessing the point is to make the temperature uniform thoughout the oven, moving the air about inside so that the bottom shelf is not cooler than the top shelf. Is this right?

If so, it may not be so much about efficiency, than cooking technique, so your soufflés will be more successful.

Or something.

[Kev]

good answer. The fan oven speeds up the cooking time too so must require extra energy. (I think its like what you said the fan must move the air around or somthing to make the oven the same temperature. I should know the answer really, Cooking being a hobby.

[Chickpea]

Nope, the fan oven is more efficient.

Here's what happens in a conventional oven - the heat all comes in the bottom, the oven slowly climbs to the desired temperature as the heat rises to the top, and the oven is really hot in some places but much cooler in others. If you are an experienced cook you will know exactly where the hot and cool spots are in your oven.

Here's what happens in a fan oven - the heat comes in the bottom and a fan (which requires a little but only a very little electricity) circulates the heat right through the oven. It comes to temperature much quicker than a conventional oven saving you energy from the get-go. It also (in theory) has no hot and cool spots. In my experience it will have hot and cool spots but they'll be much less pronounced than in a conventional oven. The food cooks quicker which saves bucketloads of energy.

The most environmentally friendly way to cook food is using an Aga running on dried dung collected from your own herd of rare-breed cattle. But for the rest of us, a fan oven is an energy-efficient alternative to conventional electric ovens.

[Kev]

WOW. Thanks very much for answering that one Chickpea. Now you have explained it, that does make sence.

[Muddypause]

So my souflés would still be a failure in a fan oven?

[Chickpea]

Maybe not, mp. Fan ovens have a more constant temperature, and it's temperature fluctuations that cause souffles to fall.

Are you teasing me? Do you really have probelms with souffles because I've never known what the fuss was about. They're dead easy and really nice. I love all those things made with a thickened roux - profiteroles, gougere, choux. Souffles inevitably fall eventually after taking them out of the oven, but they taste great anyway. The only concern is the showmanship of letting your dinner guests see the cosmetically perfect dish before serving it up anyway. If you don't care about that (and I don't) what's to go wrong?

I swear - dead easy.

[Muddypause]

Are you teasing me?

TBH, I've only the vaguest idea what a souflé is.

On the other hand, you should see my spotted dick...

[Chickpea]

Are you teasing me?

TBH, I've only the vaguest idea what a souflé is.

Basically you blend a cheese sauce into whisked egg whites and cook it in the oven. The heat makes the air bubbles expand and it rises. You can go to a lot of trouble to make them look especially pretty (like putting collars on them and removing at the last minute to make it look like it rose more than it did, or experimenting to find the exact quantity of souffle mix which fits your particular dish to give maximum rising-ness without overflowing) but it doesn't matter really because you're going to eat it. If you don't care what it looks like it's easy to make - easier than pastry for example.

The taste is somewhere between a cheese sauce and an omelette with the texture of a mousse. It *will* fall when you take it out of the oven, but who cares.

[Millymollymandy]

And also (going back to ovens), fan ovens are used at lower temperatures than conventional ovens!

[kanga]

I love my fan forced oven and haven't made a souffle (sorry couldn't find an umlaut on my computer!) for ages!! Now that eggs have the heart foundation seal of approval I will endevour to bake one tomorrow night for dinner...thanks for inspiration

[Joe]

If you really want to improve the energy efficiency of your cooking, you could try making a solar oven.

[Kev]

Thanks for the link Joe. Some really interesting information there.

[Andy Hamilton]

I have got pretty used to using fan assisted ovens and have found that I reduce the temerature and cooking time for most things.

Muddy - I thought that spotted dick was made using steam on a hob, no wonder you have trouble with a spotted dick or is down to the company that you keep.

Nice simple instructions on that site Joe. I intend to try out a whole load of different solar ovens/hot plates on my allotment this year so that link will certainly help. There is also nevs two ovens that can be found on the main site

[Kev]

I remember reading Nevs articles on solar ovens a few months ago. fascinating. Think im going to do the same as you Andy and have a go at making one this year