I'm Way Out Of My Comfort Zone Right Now

[terry and jo]

As many of you know, Jo and I are waiting for our Mobile Suites fifth wheel. One of the options we elected to get was the GE Advantium Oven, which I think is a convection oven.

Jo doesn't feel comfortable getting on forums, and I can't cook (seriously, I can't even fry water), so I am asking a question that she posed to me yesterday. We have never had a convection oven, and she was wondering whether I had read anything on them on the forums. Obviously, since I can't cook, I normally stay away from cooking threads.

So, if I could intrude on the rest of you, could you give us some tips on using a convection oven in general and a GE Advantium in particular?

For instance, are there particular types of cookware to use?

I've read somewhere on one of the forums about setting the oven 25 degrees below normal or reducing the cook time by about 6 percent. Is either of those scenarios reasonable to follow?

Be creative here and tell us anything involving these types of ovens.

Thanks in advance for any tips and advice.

Terry

[Red Ram]

Your GE Advantium Oven will come with a detailed book on how to use it and what is compatable as far as cookware. I am not a cook either, I just use mine to heat stuff up.

[wingnut60]

Terry,
Try this link:

http://housewares.about.com/lw/Food-...n-Cooking-.htm

[wingnut60]

Here is another:

http://www.geappliances.com/products...uying_tips.htm

By the way, I don't know how to use it either, so maybe I'll learn something also. My wife has used it some, but we just don't cook for ourselves very much.

Joe

[SuiteCook]

Hi Terry and Jo
Congratulations on your decision to buy a Mobile Suite. We are full timers and have been living comfortably for almost 3 years in our MS TK36. The first six months I was NOT a happy camper because my oven would not heat up enough to cook anything properly. When we ordered the Suite I had decided to forgo a gas oven as I preferred to have more drawer space, so I did not have an alternative to use.
After replacing the original Dometic oven with another one (same type) and experiencing the same problem of not enough heat, I found out that the Advantium was slightly more expensive and much superior, so we got one.
I am a Registered Dietitian and I love to cook, especially now that I have more time to spend in the kitchen. It was therefore a big relief to find an oven that actually worked the way it was supposed to!
T o answer your questions. Yes it is good to reduce both the cooking time and the temperature when cooking with convection. This saves both time and energy so it is a “good thing”. Even better is the “Speedcook” feature on the Advantium. It uses a combination of Microwave and convection heat to cook even faster while still producing food that is browned. The recipe book that comes with the oven is excellent. I have made many of the recipes and all have turned out great.
Re cook wear. When using the microwave you can use anything that you would normally put in the microwave. For convection cooking any type of oven wear is fine. The only thing you have to be aware of for both is that even though the oven is rectangular the turn table is 12 inches around so your pans cannot be more than 12 inches wide or long. You cannot use a 9 x 13 lasagne pan as it will not go round and with the Advantium you cannot disable the turntable. I spoke to one person who made a rack to place above the turntable, but it did not work as the food cooked unevenly.
When you use the “Speedcook” feature the appropriate cookwear is a little trickier as it must work in both microwave and oven. Corning Wear and Pyrex are both ideal. When baking cookies, bread or biscuits you place them directly on the metal tray that comes with the oven. I put parchment paper on the pan to reduce sticking and cleanup time. You can use a metal 6 cup muffin pan with Speedcook.
I attended a cooking demonstration at the Good Sams Rally in Albuquerque last spring. The demonstrator was using flexible rubber cook wear. It is very light, flexible and worked well in the oven but I find it rather pricey so I have not purchased any.
As the last poster noted there is an excellent cookbook that comes with the oven. As well there is a DVD that explains how to use the oven.
Hope this is helpful!
Suite Cook

[Gemstone]

We use the GE Profile convection/microwave exclusively.....in 4 years of full-timing we have only used the gas oven for storage of bread pans/cookie sheets etc. . We cook a lot, everything from cookies to bread to lasagna to pizza (not frozen) in the convection/microwave, and I've found no problems with recipes or cook times. For baking items, I've come to like the silicone pans for most things...they are light, will bend to conform to your tight storage spaces, and spring back to shape. They clean easily, and can be used with the microwave or convection method. I find the large silicone bread pans don't hold their loaf shape with a heavy batter bread tho'.

Regards
Gemstone

[Motor31]

We use the gas oven to bake in. The advantium is just a microwave for us.

[hitchup]

No gas oven in our Suite. Neither of our Suites had the GE Advantium Oven. I've never used the speed cook feature, just as a baker. I don't change oven temps and set the time for mid-range. I haven't changed my baking cookware much from stk house. Just buying smaller in some cases.

I just baked some frozen apple turnovers on a metal 10x13 cookie sheet. I also use the silicone bakeware. They make the best muffins! Glass pie pans are my preference for T-day pumpkin pies. And also works for cinnamon rolls.

Over the weekend, we bought a pizza stone. Not sure how it will work, but I'm trying to cook more from scratch. I've baked bread in the GE M/C and it turns out great. But hand kneading is tiring and so have been using a Oster breadmaker for the last year.

Everything is dual purpose, but I still carry more bakeware than I probably need. It takes a little experimentation, but that's the fun of baking!