I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
casserole tomorrow.

Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens
and the noodle dish separately. But my sister has only the one oven,
and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not sure what to do.

If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are
finishing (last 45 minutes), would it help if I used the convection
setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of time and
temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything
else I shoud be aware of when cooking in an electric oven?

I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help....
Cathy

cathy wrote:

> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
> casserole tomorrow.
>
> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
> At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens
> and the noodle dish separately. But my sister has only the one oven,
> and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not sure what to do.
>
> If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are
> finishing (last 45 minutes), would it help if I used the convection
> setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of time and
> temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything
> else I shoud be aware of when cooking in an electric oven?
>
> I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help....
> Cathy

You're kidding right? 350 degrees in a gas oven is the same as 350
degrees in an electric one. Why even waste the energy heating up two
separate ovens? I myself would just ignore the convection aspect and
leave it off if you don't know how to use it, and continue on just as you
would otherwise, but using the one oven.
Goomba

cathy wrote:

> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
> casserole tomorrow.
>
> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.

The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop
the temp from 25 to 50 degrees and look to a shorter cook time.

The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read
thermometer. Take the birds out of the fridge about an hour before
cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the birds to 160F
and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd
estimate they'd be done in less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.

The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole
time.

Pastorio

Bob Pastorio > wrote in
:

> cathy wrote:
>
>> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
>> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
>> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
>> casserole tomorrow.
>>
>> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
>> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
>> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
>
> The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop
> the temp from 25 to 50 degrees and look to a shorter cook time.
>
> The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read
> thermometer. Take the birds out of the fridge about an hour before
> cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the birds to 160F
> and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd
> estimate they'd be done in less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.
>
> The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole
> time.
>
> Pastorio
>
>

Another "rule" is to roast the birds high in the roaster (well exposed/not
covered, out in the wind so to speak) so as the moving hot air can get at
them. So put a rack under them or get one of those vertical bird roasters.
a quick read thermometer is almost a necessity as the birds will cook real
quick. Even better is one of those digital remote thermometers then...no
opening the oven till stuff is ready to come out.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food
and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 07:28:02 -0500, Goomba38 >
wrote:

>cathy wrote:
>
>> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
>> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
>> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
>> casserole tomorrow.
>>
>> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
>> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
>> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
>> At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens
>> and the noodle dish separately. But my sister has only the one oven,
>> and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not sure what to do.
>>
>> If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are
>> finishing (last 45 minutes), would it help if I used the convection
>> setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of time and
>> temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything
>> else I shoud be aware of when cooking in an electric oven?
>>
>> I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help....
>> Cathy
>
>You're kidding right? 350 degrees in a gas oven is the same as 350
>degrees in an electric one. Why even waste the energy heating up two
>separate ovens? I myself would just ignore the convection aspect and
>leave it off if you don't know how to use it, and continue on just as you
>would otherwise, but using the one oven.
>Goomba
>
Er, no, really I"m not kidding. I have never cooked with an electric
oven, and especially not a convection one. I have to admit I'm so
unfamiliar with electric that I don't even know if there =are= any
differences, let alone what those might be. Sorry!

And when I'm home, I use two ovens because I've found that if I put
too many things in one oven they all take a lot longer to cook and
don't cook evenly. I'm just too used to my own stove, I guess! But
thanks for your advice re using/not using the convection oven.

Cathy

On Sun, 18 Jan 2004 10:10:14 -0500, Bob Pastorio
> wrote:

>cathy wrote:
>
>> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
>> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
>> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
>> casserole tomorrow.
>>
>> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
>> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
>> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
>
>The general rule for converting conventional to convection is to drop
>the temp from 25 to 50 degrees and look to a shorter cook time.
>
>The birds will be done well before 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Use a quick-read
>thermometer. Take the birds out of the fridge about an hour before
>cooking them to let the meat warm up slightly. Cook the birds to 160F
>and pull them to rest for about 20 minutes before carving. I'd
>estimate they'd be done in less than 1 1/2 hours at 300-325 cook temp.
>
>The casserole will take about 15% less time if it's covered the whole
>time.
>
>Pastorio

Thanks for the help, everyone! I feel like a dunce asking such simple
questions. I really do NOT like cooking on an electric stove. I've
already overcooked eggs twice and keep forgetting not to put the
teakettle backon the burner it just came off of. Sigh. I miss my gas
stove!

Cathy

"cathy" > wrote in message
...
> I need some quick help. I'm visiting my sister, and she's got an
> electric convection oven. Now, I have never cooked/baked in an
> electric oven, and I've got to make two chickens and a noodle
> casserole tomorrow.
>
> Normally, at home in my gas oven, I'd roast the chickens at about
> 350-375 for about two and a half to three hours (two 5 pound
> chickens). The noodle casserole needs about 30-40 minutes at 350.
> At home I have two ovens, so it isn't a problem to make the chickens
> and the noodle dish separately. But my sister has only the one oven,
> and an electric/convection oven at that. I'm not sure what to do.
>
> If I put the noodle casserole in at the same time as the chickens are
> finishing (last 45 minutes), would it help if I used the convection
> setting, and if so, how do I do that? (I mean, what kind of time and
> temperature adjustments do I need to make?) And is there anything
> else I shoud be aware of when cooking in an electric oven?
>
> I'm awfully confused. Thanks for any help....
> Cathy

Some electric convection ovens give you the option of using it without the
convection feature. In this case it works just like a gas oven - you would
use the same temp and time. If you do use the conection feature, the general
rule is to cook at a slightly lower temp for a little less time. As a
starting point, if a recipe called for 350 for an hour in a regular oven try
325 for 45 minutes. Remember you can tell when the chicken is done with a
thermometer rather than relying on time and temperature.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.