When we last left off, the installation of my new Frigidaire kitchen appliances had hit a small hiccup. And by “small hiccup” I of course mean “possible disaster.” It took five tries, but I now have a flawless range/oven—it’s a thing of beauty. And it’s clear that some of the problems we saw before (like the dent in the door facing) have been fixed at the factory level; the construction is actually different, now. We can see that there’s now a spacer by the door handle that wasn’t there before, and the spacer is preventing the denting that was happening before.
So, yeah, I now have a beeyoootiful oven. I’ve been going about all of my usual sorts of cooking, and enjoying it, sure, but I hadn’t really put this new machine to the test. I’d never said to myself, “Self, what would be a good way to see if this oven really is superior to a conventional oven?”
Well, until this weekend, anyway. This weekend I decided it was time.
Just to remind you, my new stove is this one (you can check out all the specs here). My old stove worked fine, I guess. I mean, it worked. But two things completely intrigued me about this one: First, that it can be used as a conventional oven or as a convection oven, and second, that it has this Fits More design with four racks.
Surely you couldn’t actually use all those racks at once and have it work properly… right?
Well, this is where the beauty of the convection oven comes in. That circulating hot air is like magic. And I know that because…
… I decided to bake a billion cookies. At once.
And yes, I could’ve put another cookie sheet in there, too. But I only have three cookie sheets.
You know how in a regular oven, you can do two cookie sheets at once, but you have to switch them halfway through baking so that they cook evenly? I never switched these. They just… baked. Magically.
Yum!
Of course, I don’t usually make this many cookies at once, but last week during The Great Dog Chase a lot of our neighbors were extremely helpful and went out of their way to try to help us catch the dog (no, we still haven’t caught him), so I thought that called for cookies. Because nothing says, “We’re sorry about the feral dog and really appreciate the fact that you sometimes tossed him some food” like oatmeal butterscotch chip, right? Right.
Anyway. Back to the stove! In eight minutes, I had five dozen perfect cookies.
The kids were the taste-testers. They said they’re as good as they look.
And another eight minutes later I had another five dozen cookies. And later on I hopefully had some less-annoyed neighbors. Ahem.
Now: Is it a big deal to have to move the cookie sheets around while baking? I guess not. It’s annoying, but hardly a huge inconvenience. On the other hand, just being able to put the food in the oven and forget about it until the timer goes off is really, really nice.
After the cookies were done I roasted a bunch of tomatoes and red peppers and onions and made soup. I didn’t take pictures of that, because roasted soup veggies sort of look like glop, but the resultant soup was out of this world delicious. Maybe not as pretty as fifty billion cookies, but very yummy.
In short, I’m digging my new oven in a serious way.
I am sooooo jealous! When I redid my kitchen I wanted 2 ovens and it would not accomodate it. This looks GREAT!
I bake ALOT of cookies and I usually spend 2 hours with 3 cookie sheets – one baking, one being loaded with dough and one cooling. Being able to do 3 or four sheets at a time would save me LOADS of time. So yes, I am very jealous of your pretty new oven. Also, bravo for killing all of those birds with one stone – baking thank you cookies, while baking a treat for the kids, while testing an oven for a blog post.
Definitely jealous here too. Very nice!
This sounds like holiday-cooking heaven.
Wait, you only have three cookie sheets? 🙂
So how are you liking your washer (and dryer for that matter)? Because I bought one bottom-of-the-line back in March and it’s already sounding like the motor is about to go. Before I demand the store take it back, I want to know which washer I’m putting my credit towards.
Arrrghh! Now I have that earwig in my head from Schoolhouse Rock!
That is beautiful! Such a cool oven. Did you drop the baking temp down a bit to use convection? Or old house had convection and I never used it to bake cookies (sadly, we only lived there 18 months) and the current house doesn’t have convection, but we will be replacing that range next year, hopefully! The dishwasher is on the list to go first though. Such a sexy gift hubby and I are giving each other for Christmas – a new dishwasher.
Jamie: There is nothing sexier than not having to do the dishes by hand, my friend. 😉
I did not drop the temp for the cookies, I just kept a close eye on them. They were done maybe a minute sooner than they would’ve been, otherwise, but in conventional oven mode I’m guessing 3 sheets at once would’ve lengthened the bake time considerably.
OMG OF COURSE switching baking sheets around is awful. My toddler loves to zip around the corner just as I peek into the oven and try to stick her arm in. I wouldn’t put it past her to try to climb into the oven. Of course, she also does her best to drink out of the toilet and eat any awful thing she can find (worms, rocks, crayons), but keeping her away from the oven is harrowing.
So jealous of those dozens of cookies all baking at once!!!
I recently purchased a Whirlpool gas convection range. I really wanted the dual-fuel style, but couldn’t justify the additional cost for the range as well as running a 220v electrical to the kitchen. The gas convection range replaced an 18 yr old gas range. The Whirlpool has 6 settings for convection cooking: bake, roast, poultry, turkey, cookies, and pies. Anyway, I’m having some fun cooking things quicker, but struggle with the temps & times. Haven’t burned anything or undercooked anything yet, but am sure there are some tips to help. Recently purchased “Cooking with Convection” cookbook, but I think the author uses as electric convection in her recipes. Would appreciate any help and continuous blogs from people using gas convection-lessons learned, etc. Thanks!
I’m happy for you, Mir, and not a bit envious. With lots of kids and whatnot, you need a good oven, so that’s why I’m less than ten percent envious. Twenty percent, tops. But mostly I’m happy for you. Really. And anyway, what’s thirty percent? Nothing, that’s what.
How did you become a part of this testing? Are you aware of any others that I might become a part of? Could ya help a girl out?