Calling All Baking Experts

[simei_mum 2]

My daughter has severe allergies so in recent years I have had the need to bake our own cakes / cookies for her.

I have a good Siemens Oven but too few functions (no fan; only top+bottom heating and bottom heat).

So would like to replace with another built-in oven but this time with fan and more functions (so I don;t need to make cookies tray by tray).

I am overwhelmed and confused by the FAN functions offered.

Would now like to call on all baking experts on advice with the following:

(1) Which is the better function to have:

(a) top+bottom elements + fan; or

(b) fan heat only (ie heat element wrapping around fan at rear of oven); or

© need both functions

(2) for grilling, do I really need all grill, maxigrill and variable grill functions? (I will do minimal grilling)

(3) How useful is the rapid pre-heating function?

(4) Any brand that stands out?

(5) What functions should my oven absolutely have?

THANKS in advance for your help.

[lapena 0]

My daughter has severe allergies so in recent years I have had the need to bake our own cakes / cookies for her.

I have a good Siemens Oven but too few functions (no fan; only top+bottom heating and bottom heat).

So would like to replace with another built-in oven but this time with fan and more functions (so I don;t need to make cookies tray by tray).

I am overwhelmed and confused by the FAN functions offered.

Would now like to call on all baking experts on advice with the following:

(1) Which is the better function to have:

(a) top+bottom elements + fan; or

(b) fan heat only (ie heat element wrapping around fan at rear of oven); or

© need both functions

(2) for grilling, do I really need all grill, maxigrill and variable grill functions? (I will do minimal grilling)

(3) How useful is the rapid pre-heating function?

(4) Any brand that stands out?

(5) What functions should my oven absolutely have?

THANKS in advance for your help.

I think the best buy is the miele combisteam oven, with cleansteel exterior.It is the best for baking,roasting n steaming.Its the must have for all pastry chefs. But thre price tag is around $5k.

http://www.designawards.com.au/application...licationID=5254

[donut88 1]

My daughter has severe allergies so in recent years I have had the need to bake our own cakes / cookies for her.

I have a good Siemens Oven but too few functions (no fan; only top+bottom heating and bottom heat).

So would like to replace with another built-in oven but this time with fan and more functions (so I don;t need to make cookies tray by tray).

I am overwhelmed and confused by the FAN functions offered.

Would now like to call on all baking experts on advice with the following:

(1) Which is the better function to have:

(a) top+bottom elements + fan; or

(b) fan heat only (ie heat element wrapping around fan at rear of oven); or

© need both functions

(2) for grilling, do I really need all grill, maxigrill and variable grill functions? (I will do minimal grilling)

(3) How useful is the rapid pre-heating function?

(4) Any brand that stands out?

(5) What functions should my oven absolutely have?

THANKS in advance for your help.

get the multi function oven where u have 8 functions. it has everything u need. top and bottom, top only, bottom only, fan assisted, grilled, etc

basically, if u bake cookies alot, the oven must have top and bottom function.

fan assisted is more for fish or meat baking where u dun want the meat to get too dried and burnt and to keep the smell/texture within the meat.

if u get the 8 multi function oven, u will have everythiing u need.

i actually noticed tat all ovens in the market are the same. if its a 4 or 8 function oven, all the ovens have the same funtions.

the main difference is the knobs. some knobs are just plain ugly and difficult to turn. The timer knob is impt. Get the digital timer, so that u can key in the exact timing u want.

those turn knob timer is not accurate. u cant really see the timing when u turn the knob. more like 'agar agar' timing.

All the other gimmicks such as self cleaning and all that, no use one la..... u will end up doing more cleaning

I'm just a novice person learning how to bake stuff now.....

my oven is EF brand. Italian made

[leen 2]

get the multi function oven where u have 8 functions. it has everything u need. top and bottom, top only, bottom only, fan assisted, grilled, etc

basically, if u bake cookies alot, the oven must have top and bottom function.

fan assisted is more for fish or meat baking where u dun want the meat to get too dried and burnt and to keep the smell/texture within the meat.

if u get the 8 multi function oven, u will have everythiing u need.

i actually noticed tat all ovens in the market are the same. if its a 4 or 8 function oven, all the ovens have the same funtions.

the main difference is the knobs. some knobs are just plain ugly and difficult to turn. The timer knob is impt. Get the digital timer, so that u can key in the exact timing u want.

those turn knob timer is not accurate. u cant really see the timing when u turn the knob. more like 'agar agar' timing.

All the other gimmicks such as self cleaning and all that, no use one la..... u will end up doing more cleaning

I'm just a novice person learning how to bake stuff now.....

my oven is EF brand. Italian made

donut88 is quite right abt the above. top and bottom heat is for baking n fan is more for meat cooking as its more hot n will burnt the bakes if use the fan.

i cook n bake as well. maybe you like to read my following posts in the thread on oven. these r from my experiences as i get to use different type of ovens for different purposes and that's why get to know more of these electrical appliances.

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...623&hl=oven

hope the above helps. my experience tell me that even the most expensive oven may not produce the best bakes/dishes. each ovens hv their own characteristics even if they r of same brand n model.

most of the ovens that hv alot of functions r expensive. after searching high n low, i bought a La Germania standing cooker which has a cooking hob & a oven below. this standing cooker was brought from Citygas at around S$1300 only (a few years back) and its Italian made. i hv ever use this type of cooker while i stay in Australia (Oz) before as the angmoh old landlady uses it to cook for her family. btw, she is a heavy cooker. n that's why she put 1 same cooker for me to use at my rented unit from her. she stays at level 1 while i stay at level 2 of her hse which has a separate kitchen from hers.

so far, i hv baked many many butter, chiffon (etc) cakes, cookies, etc., grilled meat, cooked dishes from this cooker. its cheap n gd. many ppl had negative view on such cooker as they said, if 1 spoil, the whole cooker has to be changed. i told hb that if i buy separate hob n oven, lets say a cheap hob is S$300 n the oven is S$3k (with the functions that i want), then with this money ($3.3k), i can change 3 standing cookers with abit of top-up (abt $600)! so its still worth to buy it.

and also dun forget, italians r gd cookers. that's why the appliances they made r of gd standard also.

it has many functions that i can use.

as for precision wise, of course baking calls for precise temp, timing, ingredient amount, etc. but do remember every oven tend to behave differently and you need to get to know your oven. usually the rule is undercook is better than over cook because if its undercook, you can cook it some more but if its over cook, its burnt...

for timer wise, electronic will be more precise but to me turning knob makes no different as i hv put it that its better to undercook than overcook, eg. if recipe calls for 30mins, you put timer to 20 or 25mins n start to monitor from there on when to turn off the heat. as for rapid heating, it can only claim that it can heat up the oven faster, thus save electricity? or if you r using gas type (not many uses this type nowadays), it saves gas? well, imho, pre-heating is to heat up the oven so that a certain level of temperature is achieve compare to a cooled oven environment. this is because when you do pre-heating, you heat up the oven environment. then when you open the door to put in the bakes or dishes, temperature drops drastically but still maintaining a certain level of heat. this is only possible to detect if you hv an electronic thermometer to measure the heat as in hotel's kitchen where the chefs need to know exact temperature. but for us domestic users, it don't make alot of difference unless the drop is too much. if you hv a rapid heating function, it could only mean pre-heating time is cut short, eg. for normal oven, its preheat at 180 deg c. for 10 minutes, rapid heat may only need 5mins? so you will gauge when to finish preparing your bakes / dishes juz when the pre-heat has juz ended.

coz you can't put your already mixed baking ingredients / dishes out to wait for too long before putting into the oven. so sometimes its alright if pre-heat ends 10minutes already then you put in your bakes/dishes. if you delay for too long, the pre-heat environment will cool down and you will need to heat it up once again.

as for other functions, you can read up the following threads for more ideas. some functions are redundant, juz like donut88 says, self-cleaning is actually bull****. you still need to clean the oven yourself after every use.

n you can on the heater to melt away any stains that is stuck in the oven. after its cooled with its oven door slightly open, you use a damp cloth to wipe it clean will do. not that we trying to discredit certain forumers' recommendations or brands, but this is our practical experience from using these appliances, thus hope you don't buy those unwanted functions that you will never use. even 6-star hotel chefs who cook at home also won't use all of the oven functions even if its there (tips from chefs personally).

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...amp;hl=germania

hope the above answer your query.

[donut88 1]

hi,

think u are really an expert in baking!!

hey, i need to learn more from you.

when i need to preheat the oven to say 180C. so how do i actually do that?

do i turn my temp selector to 180C and just "on" the oven? how would i know whether the inside temp has reached 180C?

thanks.

so far, i agar agar.... what i did was turn the temp selector to 180C, and just "on" the oven for 10 mins. then i just assume that its sufficient. ha..........

[leen 2]

hi,

think u are really an expert in baking!!

hey, i need to learn more from you.

when i need to preheat the oven to say 180C. so how do i actually do that?

do i turn my temp selector to 180C and just "on" the oven? how would i know whether the inside temp has reached 180C?

thanks.

so far, i agar agar.... what i did was turn the temp selector to 180C, and just "on" the oven for 10 mins. then i just assume that its sufficient. ha..........

hi,

im no expert, also learning everyday

you can go to PA and phoon huat for cooking and baking classes. PA has quite professional teachers / instructors for both cooking and baking lessons. Phoon huat has professional pastry chefs for their baking classes.

some other places either charges too high, or they either go to places like Phoon Huat to learn the tricks and method of baking and decor and start to teach at their own premises or open classes at some other 'institutions' charging high fees for simple things which i find not worth it.

if you r really committed and interested, NITEC and BITC are also vy good place to obtain certs for such courses. but of coz, the duration is longer and fees slightly higher. its like getting a diploma cost. Other institutions are Shatec and Sunrise although their fees (especially Sunrise) are much higher but you will get professional results and certifications which are enough for you to get a full time job in the professional kitchen (my current dream.... but hb says i only 5min passion only... )

but you can search their webs for short workshops or courses that will suit you.

how i look for classess:

1) must be professional enough, not aunties who don't have anything to do and come and teach for leisure only

2) place must be big coz you need big space to do your work. some places may tell you they only have small classess so that its more family style or focus teachings... bullsheet actually their premises is too small so can't accomodate too many students at 1 time. ask to view their class venue and it will be better if they r having a class and you can see for yourself

3) have certificates is better (don't have also can but fees can't be too expensive) so that you will feel you r appreciated (at least you feel it yourself)

4) don't be afraid to go for metal tables or professional layout type of environment. you will find that exposure to such environment will let you have a feel of being a chef-in-making in a professional kitchen and inspire you to do your best

juz imagine small cramp place, wooden table that rocks to and fro everytime you roll or knead your flour... worst if you have a neighbour who is like a monster machine in rolling the flour... juz like richter scale 7 earth quake...

5) teachers / instructors / chefs r professional enough, not those semi-retired or retired aunties. why? becoz they will tend to give you more professional and proven theories and advise.

6) if you go to places that uses professional machines (eg. mixer / oven) to do the baking, you can ask the instructors if you have a normal domestic equipments, how u manage them.

7) hands-on lessons r the best but usually ppl charges high fees. remember to take notes on the eg. mixture color / texture when its mixed correctly, etc.

8) pay attention to the teachers, not the aunties around you. ask all questions and clear all doubts.

back to topic...

your method of pre-heating the oven is correct. pre-heat the oven is to make the oven hot, not to that EXACT / PRECISE temperature coz you r not baking anything yet.

to guage your temperature, go to phoon huat to buy those thermometer that can be hang inside the oven and safe to use in oven. can ask the sales girls there as they r quite friendly, professional and knowledgeable coz they need to help the pastry chefs do baking also. you can google for their website with their company name.

phoon huat has economical baking items. some ppl always say some other places cheaper. maybe correct for some small items but generally phoon huat has everything you need for baking at affordable prices (i have went to countless shops and this is my conclusion). if they don't have a particular item that you need, you juz ask the girls to check for you if they have it at other outlets.

so far, most of my baking items are bought at their place. daiso also sells some baking stuffs but trust me, $2 quality for baking wares r abit scary to use. eg. baking pans of all shapes. they r cheap but they seems to be like aluminium wares. aluminium wares r harmful to our health. Pls avoid if you can.

pots / pans - use stainless steel, casserole pots (eg. corningware, luminarc etc.), glass, non-stick wares (they r gd but need carefull cleaning method, cannot anyhw scrub) etc. do not use aluminium type.

type of thermometer to buy:

1) those that looks like a pocket watch type that have a metal bend on the top for your easy hanging IN the oven

2) must state safe to use in oven

3) REMEMBER: CANNOT USE IN MICROWAVE OVEN OK (must state this in advance coz some ppl forget cannot put metal things in microwave oven, wait explode and go on Lian He Wan Bao )

4) if not sure, ask the sales girls.

5) a typical oven thermometer temp range is from 0deg Celsius to maybe 400 or 500 deg C which is sufficient. don't buy a too low range temp type and we don't need too high a range type also.

6) why buy hang type of thermometer? i believe most of the oven has glass door that are ususally tainted (meaning of darking colored glass). if you buy a stand type where you need to put on the rack and not near the glass door, when you bake, you may not be able to see the temperature clearly. for me, i juz want it to hang near the glass door so that i can see it clearly.

step by step on how to hang the thermometer:

1) hang the thermometer on the 2nd rack (or the middle rack)

why? coz when you bake, you will wear mitten to take out your bakes and it will need space for your hand to move in. most of the bakes r recommended to put at mid rack so as top and bottom will not burnt / browned too much or uncooked. if you were to hang it on the 1st rack, when you stick your hand into the oven to take out the bakes, you will touch the thermometer and it will drop and scald your hand which is not covered by the mitten. or it will become a hindrance to your view of your bake.

2) position the thermometer a bit to the left or right side (as per your preference) starting from the middle of the oven.

why? coz if you position in the middle of the oven, it will obstruct your view of your bake.

i know there r some oven that has a border panel which is built in the glass door, so if you position it too much to the side of the glass door, when you closes it, the thermometer is hiden and you can even see the thermometer.

(hope you get wat im talking abt)

in hotel and restuarant professional kitchens, chefs and pastry chefs sometimes do use electronic phrobe type of thermometer for precise accuracy on temperature checks. but we don't have to use so professional types.

i only uses electronic scale coz when i measure my ingredients, i find that i have to wait for those manual type to stop bouncing before i can know what's the weight of my ingredient which is a hazzle to me as i like to prepare my ingredients fast.

be it baking, cooking or steaming kuehs, all r talking abt chemical reactions of different items being mixed together. being baking for a few years already so like i always say, when you do more, you tend to understand and know when you need to stop blending, beating the mixture, etc. cannot over beat also... initially i also face flop cakes, burnt cookies, etc. don't be disheartened, ask yourself wat went wrong, etc. don't comprise methods and ingredients.

hope the above clears your doubt.

[leen 2]

oh, forgot to add... im in no way related to these companies that i have mentioned above. im in construction field, walk site, inspect works, witness tests, scold workers / engineers, amend drawings, attend meetings, do programs, supervise submissions, submit claims, do tenders, find new projects locally and overseas, look up new / old clients... etc. so baking is my hobby... if only i have more time on my hands

[donut88 1]

thanks for your tips!!!

i'm been going to phoon huat every now and then, to look around. i must admit they are the BEST baking shop in singapore!!!

they practically have everything and prices are very reasonable!!

so my baking experience is only baked fish so far!! ha.....

i ever tried baking cookies.... totally CMI!! ha.... it became more like muffins!!! i think i added too much water.

i think i will stick to baking food and meat, more than trying to bake pastries. more managable for lazy ppl like me.

talking abt the temperature monitor, i saw in IKEA, they are selling the probe type. you leave a wire inside the oven and the device is placed outside. very interesting!! almost tempted to get it at that time, though i dun know how often i will use it.

[leen 2]

try out baking recipes and follow the steps and the amt of ingredients and most likely can come out nice cookies. in fact cookies look easy to do but u need to know how, if not they will be burnt easily.

u hv to put at 2nd level of the rack. usually the temp is lower compare to baking cakes and the time to bake do not need to be too long.

eg. if recipe says bake 20mins, you put timer to 15mins and start to observe. if by 18mins, it achieve a light golden yellow color, its mostly ready. if u want to be sure, u juz use a baking testing needle to poke it. if it comes out clean, its ready. if not, u need to put a while more.

if its cooked at light golden yellow, n u can accept it or like it, you can take out the cookies.

but if you need to make it look a bit more golden brown, u juz need to turn up the heat, eg. from 150deg c to 180 or 200deg c for abt 30sec to 45sec and it will brown the top abit. and then quickly turn off the heat and open the oven door and bring out the cookies. this is for looks. (this is known as flush up the temp)

and to quickly use a spoon and fork to bring your cookies to the cookie metal rack for cooling. don't leave it in the baking pan as heat is still in the pan and it will burn the bottom of the cookies.

how to diy cookie rack instead of buy those ready made:

1) use a rack with the size slightly bigger than your baking pan (which is not use to bake the cookie as its still vy hot)

2) put the rack over the baking pan

3) put the cookies on top of the rack and leave it to cool

for baking food, eg. if u hv cheese on top of bake rice (eg only), and you want it to have a bit of golden brown, use a gd blow torch and with quick sweeping motion, burn the top portion abit and it will brown abit. but DO BE VERY VERY CAREFUL when u handle blow torch coz you don't want to burn down the hse. put your food with nothing surrounding it or things that can easily caught fire coz the blow torch flame can easily spread the fire to other items or melt other items if they r too near (eg. melt your plastic ware that is near to where u use the blow torch). other than careful usage, blow torch can be a gd tool to use.

alternatively, eg. if u do meringue, to make the top brown (juz like professional pastry chef at hotel or pastry that comes from hotel or restaurant), u can use your oven to flush the temp as per the above method. if not, can use blow torch also can.

as for your thermometer, do buy from professional bakery stores as they will not bring in items that don't work. i don't compromise buying my baking equipments from elsewhere.

hope the above helps.

[yc_mw 1]

try out baking recipes and follow the steps and the amt of ingredients and most likely can come out nice cookies. in fact cookies look easy to do but u need to know how, if not they will be burnt easily.

u hv to put at 2nd level of the rack. usually the temp is lower compare to baking cakes and the time to bake do not need to be too long.

eg. if recipe says bake 20mins, you put timer to 15mins and start to observe. if by 18mins, it achieve a light golden yellow color, its mostly ready. if u want to be sure, u juz use a baking testing needle to poke it. if it comes out clean, its ready. if not, u need to put a while more.

if its cooked at light golden yellow, n u can accept it or like it, you can take out the cookies.

but if you need to make it look a bit more golden brown, u juz need to turn up the heat, eg. from 150deg c to 180 or 200deg c for abt 30sec to 45sec and it will brown the top abit. and then quickly turn off the heat and open the oven door and bring out the cookies. this is for looks. (this is known as flush up the temp)

and to quickly use a spoon and fork to bring your cookies to the cookie metal rack for cooling. don't leave it in the baking pan as heat is still in the pan and it will burn the bottom of the cookies.

how to diy cookie rack instead of buy those ready made:

1) use a rack with the size slightly bigger than your baking pan (which is not use to bake the cookie as its still vy hot)

2) put the rack over the baking pan

3) put the cookies on top of the rack and leave it to cool

for baking food, eg. if u hv cheese on top of bake rice (eg only), and you want it to have a bit of golden brown, use a gd blow torch and with quick sweeping motion, burn the top portion abit and it will brown abit. but DO BE VERY VERY CAREFUL when u handle blow torch coz you don't want to burn down the hse. put your food with nothing surrounding it or things that can easily caught fire coz the blow torch flame can easily spread the fire to other items or melt other items if they r too near (eg. melt your plastic ware that is near to where u use the blow torch). other than careful usage, blow torch can be a gd tool to use.

alternatively, eg. if u do meringue, to make the top brown (juz like professional pastry chef at hotel or pastry that comes from hotel or restaurant), u can use your oven to flush the temp as per the above method. if not, can use blow torch also can.

as for your thermometer, do buy from professional bakery stores as they will not bring in items that don't work. i don't compromise buying my baking equipments from elsewhere.

hope the above helps.

Hi Leen,

I'm also a newbie in baking. However, during the renovation of our house, i did not put into consideration a build-in oven, hence now I have to make do with those stand-alone ones. My question is, can you recommend me a stand-alone oven that is good for cookies & pastries? Thanks!

[leen 2]

Hi,

its ok if you didn't allocate for a oven then, look on the bright side. at least you have more cabinet space for use.

you might like to read my post at this thread below.

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?sh...623&hl=oven

there r simply too many brands out there. my logic is simple, buy what suits your needs (& budget) and with a little expansion needs, eg. if you think you are going to bake cookies now but you will be roasting turkey in time to come, choose 1 that can have that function for your use at the later date.

don't buy something that will burst your wallet, or make you struggle with instalments, and you are only using the minimum of it. im taking into consideration the bad times that have hit everywhere now. be practical. but if one has plenty of spare cash to spend, by all means go and buy something that you feel gd with.

for me, im practical coz i always think i don't have spare cash to spend....

do feel free to contact me should u have further other questions. hope to be of help to you...

and also after you have your oven and start to experiment with receipes, do share your recipes and your bakes with us so that we can talk abt it.

refer to the functions that i have highlighted in bold.

extract from the above thread.

glad that the above helps. and happy using your oven. there r many possiblities that you can try with a conventional oven. some are convection oven. you can google search to see their difference.

just remember that the oven must hv a:

1) top element

2) bottom element

3) fan function

4) combine use of top & bottom element

5) combine use of top element with fan

6) combine use of bottom element with fan

7) glass door big enough for you to peep at your food / temperature gauge that you hv put inside the oven to measure the temp.

8) glass door is best to be double layer so that the outer layer will be cool to touch even when you r cooking. you don't want to scald yourself, or older folks or kids accidentally touch it when its cooking coz the heat is really high and hot.

9) hv a rack and a baking tray.

10) hv at least 3 layer for you to choose the appropriate layer to place your food to cook. eg. top layer for baking cookies, where its small in size & qty and cooks easily with a light browning on top. mid layer for baking of most cakes and cooking of most food that require longer time to cook. seldom we use bottom layer as it will burn the bottom of the food with the top uncook and the middle of the food (eg. cake, or chicken, turkey) half cooked.

11) light inside the oven (can be on for you to see the inside of the oven clearly without turning on the cooking function. once cooking function is selected and used, it will be on till you turn it off).

12) timer on the oven

(the rest are optional coz you may not be using many functions most of the time)

and some ppl may persuade you to spend $4k & above for ovens, do seriously consider if your usage of the oven is high and you are into full time cooking or professional cooking coz:

1) 1stly, technology changes vy fast, so if the oven last you for 10 years, there may hv spare parts if it broke down.

2) the more expensive an electronic item is, the more intricate and complicate component it has and thus any maintenance or repairs will be costly. eg. if you buy a jap car, there are plenty of cheap parts readily available, if you buy a beemer, the repair / maintenance cost is vy high.

3) self cleaning function

i find this unnecessary. coz after every use of the oven, the heat will melt away all food / sauces that are splatter on it which is ususally not so if you protect your oven by putting the food in casserole pot to cook or wrap up the food in aluminium foil to cook.

and if you are grilling a chicken (eg.), you poke a bbq stick through the chicken and you can place in a casserole pot without the lid to grille so that it catches the dripping sauce or have the bbq stick hang across the internal oven for a more rounded grille but do place a tray below to catch the dripping sauce.

after the you hv finish the cooking, you will also wash your dishes right? so its the same thing, once the oven is cooled down (really cooled down), use a damp cloth to just wipe it will do.

4) turnspit

this is a function where it have or allow a bbq stick in the oven where it will rotate the roast automatically while cooking. this will not require you to turn your roast to get it cook.

but do be mindful. are you doing alot of heavy roasting? eg. every week there's roast ribs, roast turkey, roast chicken, etc.

coz if not you will not need this additional function.

5) electronic selection vs knob turning selection ovens

electronic selection press button oven:

pros: more precise as you can choose the exact time and degree to cook the food.

cons: some are hard to choose as its not well labelled on the oven itself, so you hv to keep refering to the manual for the settings.

LCD display is small.

once spoil, that's it. you hv to send for repair and its costly.

knob turning selection oven:

pros: you can see what you choose

cons: the knobs can drop out due to wear & tear and you may plug it out to clean it, and forgot you hv turn to which function or accidentally turn to which function after that. never take out the knob for cleaning.

selection of cooking temp is estimation, coz the temp selection comes in: 20deg, 50deg, 80 deg, 100deg, 120 deg, 150, deg, 180deg, 200deg, etc. so when you need something that is in between, you hv to estimate.

if you go to baking / cooking schools to learn baking / cooking, do look at what type of ovens they use. most of these ovens are choosen by the schools coz they hv the basic functions that they want and can perform the job well.

just like buying handphone. one can buy a handphone with plentiful of functions but honestly, most of these functions are not fully utilised. eg. your handphone hv gps logging system but do you ever use it? your handphone hv wireless function, how many times you use it or use it to send your infor to printer thru wireless printing or faxing from your handphone?

hope you put your usage pattern, lifestyle, logic, experience, budget ($ no enough even if its for the richest ppl) etc. & combine them into your choice of buying an oven.

Hi Leen,

I'm also a newbie in baking. However, during the renovation of our house, i did not put into consideration a build-in oven, hence now I have to make do with those stand-alone ones. My question is, can you recommend me a stand-alone oven that is good for cookies & pastries? Thanks!

[p3nguins 0]

Hi Leen,

So hard trying to catch your attention.. 'cos been following your posts (even told my wifey that ya my Oven guru)

I'm actually considering the LaGermina F669D5X oven, but wanted to seek your opinion (since ya using their standing cooker) - basically using it for baking cookies/bread etc as well as roasting/double boil soup; 50-50 of the time...

I was looking at the specs of this model, and it seems pretty ok.. but i couldn't figure out what the function with the 'symbol' at the top is used for... nope not the top heat option function.. 2nd last symbol...

http://www.sampford.com.au/lagermania/uplo...a-BRLAG0906.pdf

Your thoughts? Appreciate it 'cos wifey says I'm starting to be obsessed and spending way too much late nights searching for my oven hee

Thanks!!

[leen 2]

Hi Leen,

So hard trying to catch your attention.. 'cos been following your posts (even told my wifey that ya my Oven guru)

I'm actually considering the LaGermina F669D5X oven, but wanted to seek your opinion (since ya using their standing cooker) - basically using it for baking cookies/bread etc as well as roasting/double boil soup; 50-50 of the time...

I was looking at the specs of this model, and it seems pretty ok.. but i couldn't figure out what the function with the 'symbol' at the top is used for... nope not the top heat option function.. 2nd last symbol...

http://www.sampford.com.au/lagermania/uplo...a-BRLAG0906.pdf

Your thoughts? Appreciate it 'cos wifey says I'm starting to be obsessed and spending way too much late nights searching for my oven hee

Thanks!!

hi,

i hope its the inner grill function u r talking abt. the symbol is like a mini coil but at the top rite?

its used for quick browning of small quantity of food, eg. cheese or toast and use with it at mid level rack.

same like top element. u juz flush up the heat abit for a while n food get that browning (but not burnt) juz like those selling in restuarant/pastry shop. hope it helps.

can ask the promoter abt the function n how to use. if answer not satisfactory, call up their office n ask them your questions.

[p3nguins 0]

hi,

i hope its the inner grill function u r talking abt. the symbol is like a mini coil but at the top rite?

its used for quick browning of small quantity of food, eg. cheese or toast and use with it at mid level rack.

same like top element. u juz flush up the heat abit for a while n food get that browning (but not burnt) juz like those selling in restuarant/pastry shop. hope it helps.

can ask the promoter abt the function n how to use. if answer not satisfactory, call up their office n ask them your questions.

Oo.. I think ya right... cool thanks! Haven't had a chance to check out it prices; hope it won't cost me a bomb...

[leen 2]

hi,

can know what's the price now and which shop is selling La Germania? i hvn't been checking out these store for awhile now...