Burning food in the oven. Where am I going wrong?
im not having much luck cooking food in the caravan oven at all. food at the back is burnt to a crisp while food at the front of the tray is barely done.
i guess if it's a tray of oven chips I can not use the back of the tray but I can't avoid the back of the tray with pizzas. The underneath of the baking tray is actually discoloured, I'm guessing through excess heat?
is this to be expected with the oven being smaller than a normal oven?
one thing which crossed my mind this morning is that maybe I'm not giving the oven time to heat up. Will the gas flames die down a bit once the correct temp is reached? I don't know how long it takes the oven to warm up and tend to just put food in about
five mins after lighting up.
Comments
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I am guessing that you possibly have a modern fan oven at home? Very different cooking with a van gas oven. Smaller, no fan. We have learnt to lower the heat, turn the food around at least a couple of times. Not easy if you are cooking using more than a couple of shelves, but less heat, longer cook and moving the food about more than at home worked for us! If you can, keep your food as far away from back of oven as possible as well. Foil over top helps as well. Good luck, once you get it right, it gets easier.
EDit: something large, like a pizza, may end up right over the flame. Only thing I suggest is smaller pizza, or if possible, cut in half before cooking and use two shelves, moving halves between shelves? You still have to let the heat circulate, and a large solid tray across one shelf won't do this.
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Agree with both TDA and Jeff. I put my oven on and leave it for about 20 minutes before putting food in and then keep checking it and turning trays/dishes around and/or swopping them from top to bottom shelves. Larger pizzas are cut in half and done on
two separate trays.
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When we're away I have to remember to give the oven time to heat up. We have an Aga, and it's always on so there's no "pre-heating".
But it also means beibg used to turning round/moving to different shelf etc, and not knowing the temperature in degrees. It's about 65 years old and has a mind of it's own.
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Thanks everyone. Yes, I have a modern fan oven at home.
Will experiment with leaving it a bit longer before putting food in and turning food. Cutting pizzas in half is a good idea.
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I am sure with a bit of experimenting, it will come right Philippa, we have all been there! We have a very old caravan, no oven, so I became very good at meals using a grill and a couple of gas hobs. Our MH does have an oven, a very good one, and we tend
to use this a lot now when away in MH, but it took a bit of practice to get things just right. We dislike BBQ food, so not a route we have taken, although steamer is useful!0 -
Yes as everyone says you need to get used to it. Don't have tons or trays that hang over the flame. My shelf prevents that as it has a back? Could your shelf have got turned the wrong way? I have a conversion chart easily found online and you need longer
for a non fan oven. They do work well when you are used to them. I have done Pavlovas to roast can son spuds for 6 ay Christmas. Not at the same time obviously as the Pavlova0 -
Pippah, I would normally leave the oven at least 10 mins to reach temperature, but a little tip when not using a fan oven is to put a normal flat baking tray right to the back of the lower shelf to the back wall of the oven this deflects the heat around
the oven and stops the direct heat from the flame from burning. Having worked in a kitchen I'm fortunate in having a infra red themometer to check the temp but you can buy a simple oven thermometer for less than £4 which then removes the guess work, the temps
on most ovens are only approximates the only one I've used that was close to accurate cost the hotel £11k.0 -
Jimbo is right to suggest a temp thermometer. We don't eat meat, so not an issue for us, but need to get meat cooking spot on to avoid any problems!
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Two really dangerous and potentially fatal practices mentioned in the first page already.
Loose foil should not be used in any oven with exposed heat or flame. Did you know aluminiuml will burn? It does and with a very high heat indeed - burning alloy wheels (mainly aluminum) will burn underwater even.
Placing a deflector over a flame can cause imperfect combustion which is a source of carbon monoxide.
The ovens I have used have an adjustable setting control with numbers to provide a regulation of the heat. None of them have been thermostatically controlled, the numbers are just an easy way to get back to a previous setting, and dont appear to relate to the "Gas mark n" one sees in cooking instructions.
Experiance shows low heat and turn often to be the simple answer - as learned in the middle of the previous century with the Boy Scouts.
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Navigateur, what I have proposed is not in contact with the flame, but it does deflect the direct heat source and I no way would cause anymore co2 than normal combustion Unless the flame is 6 inches or more in height in which case I would then say get the oven serviced. I also can't see where anyone has suggested using loose foil in the oven, but merely to place over the said item again as a shield. Foil has been used around ovens for many years now and I think when you compare the amount sold and used with reported fires the incidence is minute to say the least.
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im not having much luck cooking food in the caravan oven at all. food at the back is burnt to a crisp while food at the front of the tray is barely done.
i guess if it's a tray of oven chips I can not use the back of the tray but I can't avoid the back of the tray with pizzas. The underneath of the baking tray is actually discoloured, I'm guessing through excess heat?
is this to be expected with the oven being smaller than a normal oven?
one thing which crossed my mind this morning is that maybe I'm not giving the oven time to heat up. Will the gas flames die down a bit once the correct temp is reached? I don't know how long it takes the oven to warm up and tend to just put food in about
five mins after lighting up.All caravan ovens (that I've come across anyway) are rubbish!
Some of the suggestions above will ameliorate things, but for me the best advice is:
- don't try anything at all complicated
- get a gas fired BBQ (cadac or similar) and/or a microwave
- don't get too overwrought, have another glass of wine and chill
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Nav, likewise, I know where you are coming from, but I am wise enough to make sure the foil isn't loose either at home or in the van. Apologies to anyone who I misled, foil does need to be used around food and not left to waft freely!
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Where are you going wrong? Entrusting the task to anyone called Alfred for starters.
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Pippah and Phillippa my apologies as I keep getting you two mixed up, Pippah yes if you want to be safe you do need a meat thermometer even after many years of cooking when I was working we had to use the probes on the meats and other things even though we knew it was cooked correctly so we could record the temps for environmental health paperwork. You could probably get both from eBay for less than £10. I bought some from the eBay and as we had to check them against known temperatures ie boiling water and Ice they were more accurate than some the hotel had paid over £20 for. Phillippa have you considered the perforated trays the likes of Asda sell for pizza's, I've never tried one so can't confirm the results.
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Our motorhome oven cooks well, but then I had a gas oven in my kitchen until very recently. Always pre-heat, I still do this with my fan oven, once trained thats the way
, I learnt to cook on an Aga and in Domestic Science (there's a lesson that isn't on the cirriculm these days). Probably because of this I tend not to worry overly about temperature and have managed roasts and most dishes. We have two shelves, one a rack and the other is solid with a removable rack that has two leg lengths so more choice. The solid tray slots in the oven side grooves and the rear of the tray has a wide bit that has large holes in it. Never knew why the holes were there but maybe that's a heat deflector?? You always learn something on here 
. Just take your time and practice, you'll get there. 0 -
When you first light up the oven the flame is 'high' - when the flame dies down I assume it's come up to temperature and pop in whatever I'm cooking. The ovens are small though but pretty good, I think. Turning things during cooking will help with more even
cooking. Happy cooking!0 -
Two really dangerous and potentially fatal practices mentioned in the first page already.
Loose foil should not be used in any oven with exposed heat or flame. Did you know aluminiuml will burn? It does and with a very high heat indeed - burning alloy wheels (mainly aluminum) will burn underwater even.
Placing a deflector over a flame can cause imperfect combustion which is a source of carbon monoxide.
The ovens I have used have an adjustable setting control with numbers to provide a regulation of the heat. None of them have been thermostatically controlled, the numbers are just an easy way to get back to a previous setting, and dont appear to relate to the "Gas mark n" one sees in cooking instructions.
Experiance shows low heat and turn often to be the simple answer - as learned in the middle of the previous century with the Boy Scouts.
Write your comments here...
The concept of aluminium burning, fiercely even, arose following the destruction of several British warships in the Falklands conflict. The Genesis of this scientific inaccuracy came from articles in the tabloid press. In fact, aluminium melts with heats found commonly in flames, though the energy to do so is beyond most domestic burners. Hence I'm able to cook asparagus and sweetcorn, wrapped in aluminium, on my gas BBQ. The Falklands burning belief gave rise to cries of incompetence for using such a dangerous material in warships. The resultant enquiry completely vindicated the metal and its volatility. Hence aluminium is still used in both military and civil shipbuilding.
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Two really dangerous and potentially fatal practices mentioned in the first page already.
Loose foil should not be used in any oven with exposed heat or flame. Did you know aluminiuml will burn? It does and with a very high heat indeed - burning alloy wheels (mainly aluminum) will burn underwater even.
Placing a deflector over a flame can cause imperfect combustion which is a source of carbon monoxide.
The ovens I have used have an adjustable setting control with numbers to provide a regulation of the heat. None of them have been thermostatically controlled, the numbers are just an easy way to get back to a previous setting, and dont appear to relate to
the "Gas mark n" one sees in cooking instructions.Experiance shows low heat and turn often to be the simple answer - as learned in the middle of the previous century with the Boy Scouts.
Write your comments here...
The concept of aluminium burning, fiercely even, arose following the destruction of several British warships in the Falklands conflict. The Genesis of this scientific inaccuracy came from articles in the tabloid press. In fact, aluminium melts with heats
found commonly in flames, though the energy to do so is beyond most domestic burners. Hence I'm able to cook asparagus and sweetcorn, wrapped in aluminium, on my gas BBQ. The Falklands burning belief gave rise to cries of incompetence for using such a dangerous
material in warships. The resultant enquiry completely vindicated the metal and its volatility. Hence aluminium is still used in both military and civil shipbuilding.Which raises the question of why were KitKats in foil contraband in coal mines?
As with modern life the elf and safe tea culture leading to measuring and recording of temperatures of foodstuffs and storage, cooking is nothing whatsoever to do with welfare of humans, but a pointless exercise of covering your arse when the lawyers come
to make their money.When it's brown it's done, when it's black it's buggered. Always a good measure of if food is sufficiently cooked to consume without getting the trots.
I do wonder how folk will survive in places foreign when on holiday
Our caravan oven is sufficient to do a full Xmas dinner and pies from the leftovers. We use foil trays to cook in, saves washing up, just bung them in the bin.
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I appreciate we have been diverted from the OP, but the fires on warships in the Falklands were intensified by the use of plastics, Formica and cheap cables. I believe that all builds from possibly late 80's had to have LSF type cables (low smoke & fume) some of the gasses given off by the plastics and cables were explosive and contributed to flash burns, I know this because I helped to treat many of them in the famous Red &Green life machine 34yrs ago when serving in the Paras.
Now back to cooking in the hotel we had the all singing Rationalle ovens which did everything for you apart from open the door, but even with those if you didn't keep checking things they could and did get burnt. The numbers given on a gas oven do equate to a temperature setting and so will give a fairly accurate but still approximate temp but as I've said before get a cheap oven thermometer and let the oven come to temp first, too often I've seen people throw things into a cold oven and then turn up the temp because they think it's not cooking and then it burns. Remember a bit of colour equals flavour but even I've had some extremely tasty dishes, so mistakes do happen.
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Our caravan oven is sufficient to do a full Xmas dinner and pies from the leftovers. We use foil trays to cook in, saves washing up, just bung them in the bin.
Write your comments here...
What a refreshing change from 'can't cook - the oven is rubbish there's no thermostat', posts. I too thoroughly enjoy cooking both in the van and alfresco outside. All of our caravan ovens have proved perfectly functional over the years, simply requiring
the cook to take account their small capacity. And as for posters who put food into a cold oven then heat it up - come along, that's never going to work well with any oven.0 -
Doesent calor Gas burn hotter than domestic gas?
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