Well, I guess the question is in the title. I’m not a bad cook, but I’ve never quite figured out how you do the multiple dishes using just one oven. For example, tonight I decided that chicken with barbecue sauce and green chile cornbread sounded good. So, no problem right? Pop the chicken in the oven, pop the cornbread in the oven, and we’re good to go. Right? Wrong. The chicken needs to bake at 375 for at least 30 minutes (it’s frozen breasts that you don’t need to thaw before cooking) while the cornbread needs to bake at 425 for 20 minutes. So instead of being able to just put them both in the oven and go, I wound up doing them consecutively. First the chicken, since I could get them fairly well cooked while doing the cornbread prep, and then the cornbread. Of course, by the time the cornbread was cool and ready to be sliced the chicken was cold and needed to be reheated in the microwave. Thing is, I know that you can’t just increase the thermal energy inside the oven and expect everything to work out, which is why I didn’t put the chicken in at 425 with the cornbread. I figure that there’s got to be a relationship to use or at least a way to cook them both in less than 50 minutes. Any suggestions?
It’s only 50 degrees, I’d split the difference and go with 400.
Some ovens have a natural temperature differential between the upper and lower racks that you can use for things like this… you’d probably need to get oven thermometers and test yours to see.
A lot of times, especially if the difference is too great, you just can’t. I remember big holiday dinners when I was a kid, my mom sending people up to the third floor of our house, (which was furnished as a seperate apartment with its own kitchen,) to one dish there while something else was in the downstairs oven. Of course, not everyone can use that trick either.
I think this is a situation where the temperature difference doesn’t matter that much. You can cook the frozen chicken breasts at 425, and they’ll probably cook a bit faster, but how much faster I can’t say for sure.
I know from culinary school that there have been a lot of studies concerning cooking a roast for a long time at a low temp, or a short time at a high temp. The general conclusion was that a long time at a low temp kept the meat juicier.
I’m rambling, but the point I’m trying to make is that you can cook that frozen chicken breast at 200 or 500. In theory the meat will be juicier after being in the 200 degree oven, and probably dry as a bone in the 500.
So if you wanted to put your chicken in with your corn bread, I’d suggest wrapping it, or covering it, so that it doesn’t dry out and you’ll be fine.
Buy a meat thermometer. That way, you can be sure when the breasts are the right doneness without having to rely on largely arbitrary time/weight relationships.
The part that really matters is that the oven is hot. Except for serious baking, the details arn’t so important. I can’t remember the last time I set my oven to anything other than my standard “350”. It’s hard to screw up stuff in an oven- either it gets hot or it doesn’t. It’s not like sauteing where things can get funny.
If I’m cooking a joint and oven chips, I’ll cook both at the joint’s temperature (Gas Mark 5), putting in the chips for much longer than ordinarily required, then while the joint is resting and I’m making the gravy, I’ll give the chips 10 minutes on Gas Mark 7 or 8.
This is a timely subject - so to speak.
Especially with Thanksgiving coming up and many things need to cooked at different temperatures for different lengths of time.
My rule of thumb is to stand back and figure out what can be cooked, and let sit before eating versus what has to be eaten straight out of the oven.
That makes the order of cooking the food a lot easier.
In addition, the warm oven upon completion of all cooking will allow a quick re-heat for those foods you want to be at least warm, if not hot, before serving.
The trick is alway in the planning.
(Worst case scenario, for SOME foods, the microwave is your friend.)
The choice here is to either bake the cornbread at a lower temperature (375) for a slightly longer time or to bake the chicken at a higher temperature (425) for a shorter time. I will sometimes find a happy middle temperature and put things in together until… well, until they’re done… in my philosophy of cooking, every recipe ingredient and temperature is negotiable, scalable, and entirely flexible. Just because something is written, don’t let that stop you, use your own judgement and you can usually find a delicious compromise or something entirely new and your own. I would probably bake everything at 400F and check the items for doneness after about 25 mins. as per John F’s suggestion.