Buns And Ovens

[HarryHerb]

I really want to make my own cakes, and I'm thinking of getting one of those teeny-tiny ovens that look like a microwave (don't have enough space in my kitchen for anything larger).

Some of them have pictures of cakes etc. on the front, but I'm slightly doubtful. Does anyone know if it is possible to do proper baking in such a small thing? Or are they really only for cheese on toast?

[Tywais]

The model I have is "Otto" and it is fairly large (not a toaster oven as you mentioned). Been able to bake a roast, make macaroni and cheese, pies, hamburgers, cookies, candys etc. Never tried a cake yet. You need to be sure it has enough height to prevent the top of the cake browning too fast. Mine has upper and lower heating elements so you can select top, bottom or both. I suspect you can do it in one like mine but may need to experiment (that is ruin one) to get it right.

[phuketsiam]

we used one, it was OK for most things, just limited by its size really

[HarryHerb]

Tywais, how large is your "Otto"? It must be pretty big if you can do a roast - the ones I've been looking at would be able to do a quail at best. They could fit an average-sized cake tin, but I'm worried about the heating elements as you said.

Phuketsiam, first of all, I'm sure you've heard this before (and I'm sure that's the whole point of it), but your avatar - yuk!

That aside, can you elaborate what you mean by 'most things'? Specifically, have you been able to bake anything - cakes / biscuits (cookies) / puddings? Or can you only grill 'n' toast or warm things up?

[Tywais]

Tywais, how large is your "Otto"? It must be pretty big if you can do a roast - the ones I've been looking at would be able to do a quail at best. They could fit an average-sized cake tin, but I'm worried about the heating elements as you said.

The inside size is 30cm wide x 30cm deep x 23cm high. An average sized cake tin will fit in because that is what I used to make cassarol and macaroni and cheese with no problem. You can get a perspective on the size from the picture. Sorry, didn't have time to clean the oven. It also has a motorized rotisary and of course adjustable shelf heights. Believe it cost a little more then 3000 Baht.

[HarryHerb]

Tywais, how large is your "Otto"? It must be pretty big if you can do a roast - the ones I've been looking at would be able to do a quail at best. They could fit an average-sized cake tin, but I'm worried about the heating elements as you said.

The inside size is 30cm wide x 30cm deep x 23cm high. An average sized cake tin will fit in because that is what I used to make cassarol and macaroni and cheese with no problem. You can get a perspective on the size from the picture. Sorry, didn't have time to clean the oven. It also has a motorized rotisary and of course adjustable shelf heights. Believe it cost a little more then 3000 Baht.

That looks just the ticket, thanks a lot for posting! It's smaller than I thought it would be, and I think I can fit it in if I move a few things around. I assume "Otto" is available in Homepro type shops - I live in the sticks so I'll have to make a trip to the big city soon.

By the way, is that a sandwich maker and a toaster I see in the picture? Not fond of rice then, I take it .

[Tywais]

That looks just the ticket, thanks a lot for posting! It's smaller than I thought it would be, and I think I can fit it in if I move a few things around. I assume "Otto" is available in Homepro type shops - I live in the sticks so I'll have to make a trip to the big city soon.

By the way, is that a sandwich maker and a toaster I see in the picture? Not fond of rice then, I take it .

You're very welcome. Any chance to try out my new mobile camera phone.

I bought mine at Tesco Lotus but it is a common brand name so shouldn't have problems finding one. The size for me is perfect, smaller then the full size electric ovens you can find but bigger then those little toaster ovens.

Love my toasted bread goodies. Notice the very tiny rice cooker on top.

[bread_republic]

As for asking what you can use a small owen for, then I can say that par baked breads, bread rolls, croissants, bagels are excellent items to put in there.

1. Take out your frozen bagels fom the freezer, put them in the owen for 2-3 min.
   
2. While waiting for the breads to be baked, put the kettle on for your coffee/tea or make a cup of cappuchino. Pour up the drink of your taste.
   
3. Take out your baked bread.
   
4. Sit down and enjoy your drink and freshly baked bread. If it is too good, repeat the steps.
   

Best of all, there is no baking bowls to clean and no wait for the dough to rise, just bake and eat.

For more info about par and pre baked bread, check out -

Thaivisa Comercial Ad - Bread Republic, Home delivery of Bangkoks finest breads and pastries.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

As for asking what you can use a small owen for, then I can say that par baked breads, bread rolls, croissants, bagels are excellent items to put in there.

1. Take out your frozen bagels fom the freezer, put them in the owen for 2-3 min.
   
2. While waiting for the breads to be baked, put the kettle on for your coffee/tea or make a cup of cappuchino. Pour up the drink of your taste.
   
3. Take out your baked bread.
   
4. Sit down and enjoy your drink and freshly baked bread. If it is too good, repeat the steps.
   

Best of all, there is no baking bowls to clean and no wait for the dough to rise, just bake and eat.

For more info about par and pre baked bread, check out -

Thaivisa Comercial Ad - Bread Republic, Home delivery of Bangkoks finest breads and pastries.

How can you manage to cook/reheat/bake-off frozen bread in 2-3 minutes?

[mojo]

As for asking what you can use a small owen for, then I can say that par baked breads, bread rolls, croissants, bagels are excellent items to put in there.

1. Take out your frozen bagels fom the freezer, put them in the owen for 2-3 min.
   
2. While waiting for the breads to be baked, put the kettle on for your coffee/tea or make a cup of cappuchino. Pour up the drink of your taste.
   
3. Take out your baked bread.
   
4. Sit down and enjoy your drink and freshly baked bread. If it is too good, repeat the steps.
   

Best of all, there is no baking bowls to clean and no wait for the dough to rise, just bake and eat.

For more info about par and pre baked bread, check out -

Thaivisa Comercial Ad - Bread Republic, Home delivery of Bangkoks finest breads and pastries.

How can you manage to cook/reheat/bake-off frozen bread in 2-3 minutes?

[BambinA]

electric small owen , in my opinion, its good for bake/cook/warm from time to time coz it needs loads of electric power

..

and imagine, you can do it just small part/amount .. i afriad that the mixer(of cake) or dough will be degenerated be4 u bake (i dont know how to say in eng )

[mojo]

First of all, sorry for my empty post above.

You need to thaw it a couple of minutes (do that during the heating of the oven), then it takes 2-3 minutes (depending on the oven). Larger breads needs of course some more time, but that is another story.

Rgs

Mojo

[solo siam]

I have that exact same Otto Grill, I have baked fresh Pizza's in it and it worked fine - I have also done roasts etc..

[kerryk]

The problem with baking is uneven heat. There is not enough room in those little ovens for heat circulation and the convection ones are even worse although you would think with the internal fan they would be better but that is not so.

I have tried over thirty brands of small ovens. You may ask why? In my restaurant I had a product (a special kind of garlic bread) that had to be toasted to order. The large institutional ovens produced too much heat and were too large for the waitress area where the bread was made so I started trying to find a small ones to do the job. The only one that ever worked well was the Toastmaster 7093S Convection Oven. I used to go through ten of them a year. They are only $100 USD.

Given the nature of the restaurant business we would run out of large oven space at times and use the little ones to fill the gap. They bake OK if you rotate the pans every once in a while and change racks or just bake on one rack. All in all I found the Toastmaster the only one that would do a variety of jobs in almost the same fashion as a larger oven. Although I have never seen one in Thailand.

Roasts seem to me to be better served by a slow cooker (not a rice cooker because you need a high and low temp). There are times I would like to roast a chicken but I make do with the slow cooker. I cut the chicken up and marinate it, brown it in the wok and then toss it in the slow cooker for an hour or two with a wine sauce or other flavor.

Pizza from scratch really has to be baked at 450 degrees Fahrenheit 232 Celsius minimum and few small ovens can accommodate that temp very well (too many hot spots). Besides you need a tile shelf, although you can do that with quarry tile as long as it has not been chemically treated. Actually sticking a couple of quarry tiles even in a small oven helps baking evenness.

When you are buying a small oven it is a plus if you can control the top and bottom heating elements. Some of them you can because you don’t want the top ones on when you are baking most things. The top elements are useful only for the broil function.

I have never tried the Otto but it does look like something I would be interested in especially after reading you can turn the top elements off. Thanks for the info.

And I could not resist throwing in one Wok picture

Edited February 15, 2006 by kerryk

[The Dan Sai Kid]

electric small owen , in my opinion, its good for bake/cook/warm from time to time coz it needs loads of electric power

..

and imagine, you can do it just small part/amount .. i afriad that the mixer(of cake) or dough will be degenerated be4 u bake (i dont know how to say in eng )

I didn't recognise you with your new avatar.

[rcalsop]

We got rid of our small toaster type oven and bought 2700 baht the slightly larger air broiler oven they are great for grilling baking roast chicken is fab ,and my steaks come out just as I want them my friends and mum have all taken them back to the UK as Thailand souveniers . . They are a fan heater on a large pyrex type bowl Tesco Big C central all have them we have baked pies and my daughter does her brownies in it very healthy grease free eating and very quick and economical when you have no proper cooker or cooker space .

[bread_republic]

electric small owen , in my opinion, its good for bake/cook/warm from time to time coz it needs loads of electric power

..

and imagine, you can do it just small part/amount .. i afriad that the mixer(of cake) or dough will be degenerated be4 u bake (i dont know how to say in eng )

I didn't recognise you with your new avatar.

As I wrote "bagels", they are a short baking time product. Also taking them out a few minutes before baking, shortens the time and bakes them more evenly.

Instructions of baking is accompanied with each delivery.

And as "Mojo" pointed out, breads take longer time.

Have to buy one of those "air broilers" and test how the breads and bagels is made in one of them.

I used one for making bbq spare ribs long time ago. Since it flows the air I think it might be a good solution. Will let you know after the test.

Ps. Mojo is not a new alias for me. I am another person.

[rcalsop]

electric small owen , in my opinion, its good for bake/cook/warm from time to time coz it needs loads of electric power

..

and imagine, you can do it just small part/amount .. i afriad that the mixer(of cake) or dough will be degenerated be4 u bake (i dont know how to say in eng )

I didn't recognise you with your new avatar.

As I wrote "bagels", they are a short baking time product. Also taking them out a few minutes before baking, shortens the time and bakes them more evenly.

Instructions of baking is accompanied with each delivery.

And as "Mojo" pointed out, breads take longer time.

Ref Breads

I bought a 35 quid Morphy Richards bread maker ..the sort you throw all the ingredients in set the time you want the bread close the lid and you have fresh baked bread for breakfast the next day, it does it all kneading proving and baking . you load it, leave it and take it out finished . Oh then eat it .

The machine came from Comet store with a friend on a holiday to LOS but now they are avialable here quite easily ...they do a great result and now good organic strong flour is available easily at TOPS specially for bread making .. plus dried yeast . We bake most of our own bread ...sorry my wife bakes most of our bread ... quick easy ,fresh easily cleaned and it has about the foot print of a deep fat fryer so the smallest kitchen is fine .

Have to buy one of those "air broilers" and test how the breads and bagels is made in one of them.

I used one for making bbq spare ribs long time ago. Since it flows the air I think it might be a good solution. Will let you know after the test.

Ps. Mojo is not a new alias for me. I am another person.

[Tywais]

Since I said I've cooked nearly everything in my OTTO oven except cakes I thought I would give it a try. Came out very nice first attemp, at least for me.

[HarryHerb]

Since I said I've cooked nearly everything in my OTTO oven except cakes I thought I would give it a try. Came out very nice first attemp, at least for me.

Yum! Crispy on top and slightly gooey on the inside, looks delicious. Did you use real chocolate, or cocoa powder?

Still haven't got round to buying my oven (working on Thai speed here) but this pic has definitely spurred me on to do so.

[Tywais]

Yum! Crispy on top and slightly gooey on the inside, looks delicious. Did you use real chocolate, or cocoa powder?

Still haven't got round to buying my oven (working on Thai speed here) but this pic has definitely spurred me on to do so.

Exactly the way I like it. Set the oven temperature as specified, set the timer, heard the "bing", stuck a toothpick in, perfect.

However, I cheated. I bought cake mix. Just add water, vegetable oil and 3 eggs. Wanted to experiment first before doing it the hard way. The slightly gooey inside is due to the mix having chocolate pudding in it.

Edited March 11, 2006 by tywais

[Phil Conners]

6,000 calories

[Tywais]

6,000 calories

Just ate some of it this evening and so light and smooth. A few calories splurging occasionally isn't an issue for me, but yeah - lot's of calories in this desert. So you never indulge yourself sometimes?

[Simbo]

we used one, it was OK for most things, just limited by its size really

Correct. If it fits, it bakes. Only yesterday, I baked 2 large cornish pasties ( same size) Pastry, filling, made by me. They were delicious. Even my Thai wife managed half of one. I finished the other half for supper. These small ovens are great. I paid about 2k for mine 3 years ago.

TIP. Just make sure you earth them !