What's for dinner?

Winchester said:

 
Ok, here's the thing. Look inside your oven. (Go ahead.....I'll wait. Got your head in there? OK.

) If you have an electric oven, most of the time, the heating element is on the bottom of your oven (I have a convection oven, so I have a fan at the back of mine, but that's another story). It's that long kind-of circular coil on the bottom? That's what heats your oven when you tell it to heat up for baking. You bake a cake, you bake cookies, you roast a chicken or a piece of pork or beef. When you bake or roast, you use the heating element on the bottom of your oven. The recipe for cake or cookies or the like will probably say something like, "Place a rack in the center of the oven" or something like that. The heat comes from the bottom of the oven.

Now, look up at the top of your oven. There should be another kind-of circular coil on the top.....see it? That's for broiling. And most of the time, your oven thermometer will have a BROIL setting. Or there will be a BROIL knob....something. If you use that setting, the broiler will come on and you will have your heat from the top of the oven. The recipe for broiling may say something like, "Place a rack four inches from the heat." What that means is to place your broiler rack (that's the deeper pan with a lid with holes that comes with your oven) on an oven rack in a position so that the meat on the rack will be about four inches from the broiler element. And then you broil the meat, which cooks it faster than the oven itself would do. 

Sometimes (sometimes) you may need to put something small (a small piece of wood or something similar) in your oven door so it doesn't shut all the way. Why? Because (sometimes) your broiler may cycle (shut off and come back on again, as temp is reached). If the door doesn't shut all the way, the broiler won't cycle on and off, and it will remain at a constant heat. It helps cook your meat better. You'd have to try it and see how it works for you. It's different with different ovens.

Baking/roasting is for roast chickens, roast pork, roast beef, and the like. Broiling is for thinner cuts of meat, like boneless, skinless chicken breasts that you might pound flatter. Or for steaks, chops, ribs, shrimp, scallops, etc. If you're making scalloped potatoes and after they've been baked you might want to put a bit of a cheese crust or something over them in the casserole, you want to broil the cheese, just a tad to form a crust. Broiling is faster....you do not want to put a steak on the broiler pan and then get on the computer. You'll burn the steak. It's kind of like upside-down grilling as the heat comes from the top when you broil.

If you have a gas oven, you're on your own.  Sorry. It's been so long since I've had a gas oven, I have no idea how they work anymore. Maybe somebody can chime in on this, too.

I hope it makes sense.

My ideal range? Is dual-fuel. A gas stove with an electric oven. I don't know that I'll ever have one, but it's like my dream range. 

 Some women dream of a large house or jewels or a fancy car. Me? I want a dual-fuel stove. Well, actually, this is what I really want:  http://www.bluestarcooking.com/products/freestanding-ranges/rnb-french-top   In red. They have 190 colors. It's gorgeous in red. 

 

Click to expand...

segelkatt said:

No wonder I did not know what littlenecks are as I am allergic to shellfish so seafood besides regular fish is not something I peruse in the fish market. Thanks for the information. Learn something every day.

Click to expand...

Stewball said:

The three times I was in the far east I only ate shell fish. I was scared that the meat chicken may have been our babies. Lucky I don't keep kosher any more.
Segelkatt I kept kosher till I came here

Click to expand...