I enjoy cooking and do pretty well at it, most of the time. Quite often I run across the following baking conundrum: wanting to bake multiple items at the same time, each with variable recommended temperature settings and baking times. I usually wing it (split the differences) and hope for the best. Usually, everything turns out all right, but I’d be happier if I had a more scientific baking paradigm to utilize in these situations. What do you culinary Dopers do? Let me pose the following baking hypothetical:
3 Items to Bake:
Breaded Fish Fillets. Recommend: 350deg-f x 25 minutes
Clam Strips. Recommend: 425deg-f x 15 minutes
A vegetable casserole: 375deg-f x 40 minutes.
You have the option of “Bake” or “Fan Bake (convection)” and two shelf levels. The plan is to get everything done at the same time. What’s your preferred method?
You might want to ask that the title be changed - the people you’re going to get are going to be the ones who know a lot of pastries, bread, and cookies.
Well, if we were talking about bread or pies or something where the temperature was really critical, I’d probably tell you to just do one at a time. However, we’re talking about frozen fried foods and a veggie casserole, so you have a little more leeway. The temperature isn’t really so important. What I’d probably do in this situation is run the oven at 375 or maybe even 400, with the convection fan on, and check everything frequently to make sure it’s not burning. (Convection cooking tends to speed cooking times, but when you have multiple items on multiple racks, it also helps cook everything evenly.)
I don’t have a convection oven, so I know nothing about it. Given my own oven, I’d split the difference at 375, put the veg casserole in at 5:15, the fish in at 5:35, the clam in at 5:40. At 5:55, I’d take out the casserole and probably the fish, and jack up the heat to 425 for the 5 minutes it takes me to get everything else to the table, then pop out the clam strips and serve it all. (Assuming the clam strips need the higher heat at the end to crisp up properly.)
Or I might do the clam strips in my toaster oven and the casserole and fish in the big oven at somewhere between 350 and 375. But I think that’s cheating.
Ovens vary by a lot - sometimes 50 degrees or more, and for roasting or heating, it’s not too important. The directions on the package are guidelines, not writ in stone. They’re averages not based on what the food needs, but what’s most convenient for most cooks. For baking pastries, pies, etc, it’s more critical, and I use an oven thermometer to gauge the temp, not the marks on the knob.
