Hi, I have recently changed from a gas cooker to an electric fan oven with a
ceramic top. I am not happy with the way it is cooking food and wonder if
anyone can give me some tips.
I made some fairy cakes in exactly the same way as I always do, placed them
in the oven at 170 deg. for the required time, and at the end of the cooking
time they have not risen by one iota and are a little raw in the middle, so
had to throw them in the bin.

This also happened with my little Yorkshire puddings, and they ended up in
the same place.

What am I doing wrong? I used to use Gas Mark 5 for my fairy cakes and the
equivalent for a fan oven is supposed to be 170 deg.

Cooked a joint of beef at the weekend, it looked burned on the outside but
was pink inside. I'm baffled.

Any advice gratefully received.

Margaret

"charlie" > wrote in message
...
> Hi, I have recently changed from a gas cooker to an electric fan oven with
a
> ceramic top. I am not happy with the way it is cooking food and wonder if
> anyone can give me some tips.
> I made some fairy cakes in exactly the same way as I always do, placed
them
> in the oven at 170 deg. for the required time, and at the end of the
cooking
> time they have not risen by one iota and are a little raw in the middle,
so
> had to throw them in the bin.
>
> This also happened with my little Yorkshire puddings, and they ended up in
> the same place.
>
> What am I doing wrong? I used to use Gas Mark 5 for my fairy cakes and
the
> equivalent for a fan oven is supposed to be 170 deg.
>
> Cooked a joint of beef at the weekend, it looked burned on the outside but
> was pink inside. I'm baffled.
>
> Any advice gratefully received.
>
> Margaret


It is unclear if this equipment is actually new, or just new to you. If the
owner's manual is handy, I would give it a thorough reading. There may be
something about the operation of the oven that is eluding you. Not being
familiar with gas marks, I did a search and found that gas mark 5 is
actually equal to 190C or 375F. http://www.cobjon.com/conver.html That
could be an issue since you stated that you set the oven for 170C. Not
being familiar with fairy cakes, I did a search and found that they are what
I would call a butter cake. I would expect to bake this type of cake at
350F or gas mark 4. Since you baked it at the equivalent of gas mark 3, it
would take longer than expected. If you really meant to set the oven to gas
mark 5, you baked it at a very much reduced temperature. Cakes are done
when they shrink from the sides of the pan and when a toothpick inserted
into the center of the cake is dry when removed. No matter what the
temperature, you need to leave the cake in the oven until it is done, even
it that is not the same as the time specified in the recipe. If the cake
did not rise at all, then there is probably something wrong with your
self-rising flour or baking powder. Even at the lower temperature, it
should have risen fairly well. I think these are two different issues.

The roast. Perhaps your assumption about the gas mark conversions were also
wrong when you roasted the meat. Many people decrease the oven temperature
by 25F when using a convection oven. Had you done this the outside of the
roast may not have burnt. Also, different ovens use different heating
elements in different convection modes. Some true convection oven only use
a hidden element in convection mode. Others use a bottom element for
convection bake. Some use a top element for convection roast. Others use
various combination of elements. Again, your owner's manual would be of
help.

The last possibility is that there is something wrong with the oven. The
thermostat may be malfunctioning. The oven may need to be recalibrated.
There could be a problem with the electronic controller. I would get an
oven thermometer and check the actual oven temperature against the set
temperature. Try to see how far the temperature swings before turning on
and off. If you oven is not calibrated accurately or there are dramatic
swings in the temperature, you should call a service technician.