Cooking on your ElectricKit conversion

Always count the runners down from the top of the oven.

 

If you are using a tin that does not fit directly onto the oven runners, hang the grid shelf at least one set of runners higher in the oven than instructed, it is the base of the tin that needs to be at the specified height in the oven.

 

The closer to the element between the ovens you cook things, the hotter it will be and the faster they will cook.

 

Top oven:

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2nd runners

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• Anything to be crisp goes in a shallow tin on the second runners – roast potatoes, roast parsnips, roast vegetables, oven chips, fish fingers, salmon fillets, chicken breasts etc  etc

• Reheating chilled foods to stop them from browning too fast

• Cakes go onto the second runners, away from the hot element in the floor of the oven

 

 

3rd runners

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• Deep tin, joints for roasting

• Cold plain shelf below cakes cooking higher up 

 

4th runners

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• Large roasting tin with cakes in for two-oven baking method, with the cold plain shelf on the 2nd runners

• Roasting larger joints where they will touch the roof of the oven if any higher up!

• Loaves of bread to give a crisp crust on the base

 

 Floor of top oven

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• Pastry for a pie or tart – set the oven to 180, if it is any hotter, set the pastry dish onto the grid shelf on the floor of the oven

• Pizza

• Frying pan for browning meat, bacon or sausages

• Saucepans of pasta, vegetables, rice,  etc, to save switching on the hotplates

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Baking temperature oven:

 

• Biscuits and sponges go in the lower half of the baking temperature oven

• Shortbreads and fruitcakes go in the top half of the baking temperature oven

 

 Bottom oven:

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1st runners

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• Grilling against the roof of the oven, closest to the element

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Some questions new ElectricKit conversion owners ask:

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 These tips assume that you probably have your oven set to 180 most of the time and one hotplate at 4.

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In no particular order:

 

1. How do you grill?  Put the grill rack into the roasting tin, big feet downwards so that the top of the rack is level with the top edge of the tin.  Put your food on the rack and slide the tin onto the top runners in the bottom oven, right up against the roof of the oven, by the element.  It grills!

2. How do you stir fry?  Set a hotplate to no 8, or the induction plate to 6.  Use a really wide based, heavy pan so that it has maximum contact with the hotplate.  Pre-heat your pan on the hotplate (as it heats up) while you chop your ingredients.  Don't try to use a wok, the base it too small to get the entire pan hot enough to stir fry properly.

3. How do you bake a cake in an ElectricKit conversion? Either: set the oven to the temperature required in the recipe and relax, or, if your oven is currently set to a higher temperature, put your cake tins(s) into the large roasting tin and hang that from the second runners in the top oven, then slide the cold plain shelf onto the 4th runners below.  This creates an ideal, moderate baking temperature, with the deep sides and base of the tin shielding the heat from the sides and back of the oven, while the plain shelf protects from the heat below. 

4. This lasts for about half an hour, after which you move the big tin, and its contents, to the bottom oven.  Moving the tin raises the temperature in the bottom oven and prevents thermal shock from sinking your cake as you move it.  The cake then continues to cook gently in the bottom oven.   You can get two 7” sandwich tins in the roasting tin.  Don’t forget to take the (now very hot) plain shelf out of the top oven!

5. How do you iron?  If the ovens are on, regardless of temperature: Fold up your laundry and put it onto the closed hot plate lids.  Walk away.  When you come back, the ironing fairy has called!   I have a rack that sits over the top of my cooker, which increases the airing and ironing space massively.

6. How do you cook pastry?  Set the oven to 180.  No need to bake blind in an ElectricKit conversion; just put the raw pastry into a dish, add the filling and put onto the floor of the top oven to bake.  I recommend using a ceramic or Pyrex dish, since a metal flan tin will conduct the heat too quickly and the pastry will be browned before the egg has set and the cheese melted.  A ceramic or Pyrex dish doesn’t conduct the heat as efficiently as metal, so it all cooks at the same speed.

7. How do you cook rice and risotto?  In the oven – bottom oven if ovens are set to 180 or above, or top oven set to 120!  Measure your rice and liquid, put into a pan, bring to the boil, cover and put into the oven.  The rice will be cooked when it has absorbed all the liquid, which happens to take the same length of time that it says on the packet it came in!

8. How do you grill a steak?   Set a hotplate to 8.  Pre-heat a griddle pan on the hot plate for a few minutes, then add the steak.  If it is a duck or chicken breast with the skin on, cook it on the floor of the top oven so that any fat spits onto the sides of the oven and carbonises, rather than spitting all over your clean laundry on the other hot plate lid.  

9. How do you cook fish?  Set the oven to 190.  Simplest is to put your piece of fish into a shallow baking tray and hang it from the 2nd runners (always counting down from the top) in the top oven for about 7 minutes. 

10. How do you roast a joint?  Set the oven to 210. Three choices here:  FAST roasting - Line the roasting tin with Bake-O-Glide and put in your joint of meat.  Hang the tin from the third set of runners in the top oven and cook, completely standard roasting as you have always done.  OR MEDIUM where you cook in the top oven for 1/3 of the cooking time, then move the meat to the bottom oven, allowing the entire calculated cooking time (in addition to the 1/3 already cooked) OR SLOW ROAST - cover the tin tightly with foil and put into the bottom oven for about two and a half or three times the calculated cooking time.  Once cooked, remove the foil and move the tin to the top oven for the joint to brown for about 5 minutes.

11. How do you make gravy? When your joint is cooked, remove the meat and rest for 10 minutes to allow the juices to settle.  Pour off all but 2 tbsp of the fat from the tin.  Stir in 2 tbsp flour, then blend on a pint of stock – maybe adding a spoonful of wine. Stir well then put the tin onto the floor of the top oven for 5 minutes.  Stir and return to the oven for 5 more minutes and the gravy will be boiling and thickened, ready to stir and serve.

12. How do you warm plates? In a 4 oven ElectricKit conversion, in the warming oven.  In a 2 or 3 oven, anywhere on the top, since the lids are down and all the food is in the ovens.

13. How do you cook root vegetables?  Set the oven to 180 or above.  Cut up your vegetables, put into a pan and cover with cold water.  Put on the lid.  Bring to the boil (either on the hotplate of the floor of the top oven), a really good hard boil, then take a deep breath, drain off ALL of the water in the pan, replace the lid and put into the bottom oven.  Leave the kitchen.  They are cooked in about half as long again as you would cook them on top, but the lids are down, the cooker is not wasting heat and you don’t have to be there.

14. How do you cook green vegetables?  Put into a pan and cover with cold water.  Put on the lid.  Bring to the boil, a really good hard boil, on the hotplate or floor of the top oven, then they are done.  Drain and serve immediately, before they lose the bright green colour and crunch.

15. How do you bake bread?  Rise your dough beside the ElectricKit conversion, not on the top as that is a bit hot and might kill the yeast before it has risen. I bake it in a tin on the floor of the oven to get a crispy crust underneath.  Bake in a round or square tin to show you have made it yourself, as you can’t buy square bread!

16. What’s all this about bake o glide?  It is amazing.  Produced in Lancashire by Falcon Products (Gary is the boss).  Non-stick, non-stain, non-taint, it saves about 80% of washing up and goes in the dishwasher.  Every single tin that I own has a piece that lives in it at all times.  Use it for cake tins, roast potato tins, under a joint of meat, for chicken nuggets.  Any time you are using a tin, use a piece of Bake-o-Glide.  Also brilliant on the hot plate for fried eggs, pancakes etc and no need to clean the top of the cooker.

17. Can I really cook a secret bacon sandwich?  Grill the bacon on the grill rack at the top of the bottom oven or fry it in a frying pan on the floor of the top oven and there will be no tell-tale bacon smells so no one will know what you are doing., so you won’t have to share your bacon!

18. Fish fingers without a pan?  Really?  Yes!  Set a hotplate to 4.  Bake O Glide on the hot plate, fish fingers on that.  Lid down.  Four minutes each side, then leave to stand for a minute for the heat to penetrate fully.  Crunchy, browned and hot all the way through. 

19. How do I make soup?  Put some onions and other veg into a pan with a bit of oil or water.  Cover and put onto the hot plate or floor of top oven.  When it is at boiling point, so transfer to the bottom oven for at least 10 minutes.  The veg softens with no cooking or frying smells in the kitchen.  Once the veg are soft, pour in some stock, bring to the boil and either blend at once or put back into the simmering oven until you are ready to blend the soup.

20. Does it all have to be stew? There is absolutely nothing at all that I can think of that cannot be cooked successfully in an ElectricKit conversion.  Especially stew!

21. How do I steam a pudding?  Line your pudding basin with cling film.  Pile in the mixture.  Cover with more cling film.  Put the bowl into the bottom oven.  Get it out 3-6 hours later, remove the cling film lid and turn out.  Yum.

22. Why does the toaster stick?  It is not hot enough.  Preheat it under the hot plate lid for a minute before you put the bread in and it won’t stick nearly as much.

23. Eggs without a frying pan?  Put a piece of Bake-O-Glide onto the hot plate set to 4, break an egg onto it and close the lid.  In about 2 minutes you have a perfect egg, no fat, no frying pan, no washing up.

24. How do I heat baked beans?  Loosen the lid of the tin before you put it into the bottom oven for anything from half an hour to all day.

25. How do I cook Christmas dinner in a 2 oven ElectricKit conversion for 10 people?  Get ahead and cook a lot on Christmas Eve, or better still, freeze in advance. The roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, roast parsnips, root vegetable mash, red cabbage, bread sauce and gravy can all be made in advance, frozen and got out the day before to defrost, before reheating on the day.

26. How do I see if things are done when it’s in the oven?  Open the door and look.  No need to worry about the heat falling out like other people’s ovens, the ElectricKit conversion is so well insulated you can actually slide out your souffle, give it a wobble and decide it needs a bit longer, slide it back in and it continues to rise.

27. How do you do Yorkshire puddings?  Oven set to 220. Put your tin, with oil in it, on the grid shelf in the centre of the top oven and wait 5 or 10 minutes.  Pour your mixture into the tin and cook the Yorkshires. They puff up like you wouldn’t believe.  Take them out of the oven and leave to cool (can freeze them at this stage). 5 minutes before you dish up (12 minutes from the freezer), put them back into the top oven to crisp up and warm through.

28. How do I cook popcorn?  Put a piece of Bake-O-Glide on the hot plate set to 4.  Put on a handful of popcorn kernels and shut the lid.  Wait.  It pops after a while.  When you are certain it has completely stopped popping, count to 20 quite slowly then open the lid.  A pile of perfect popcorn!

29. How do I cook pancakes?   Put a piece of Bake-O-Glide on the hot plate set to 4.  Pour on your pancake mix.  Wait about a minute or two.  When the top is no longer shiny, turn the pancake over and cook for a minute or two on the other side. 

30. What do you do with stuff that has been incinerated?  Break it up and use it for firelighters – charcoal and fat burn beautifully.

31. How do you make a casserole?  Use a wide based, heavy pan.  Put your meat, onions and other vegetables into it with a spoonful of oil.  Set onto the floor of the top oven and shut the door.  Any spitting fat, steam or cooking smells disappear.  Leave for 5-10 minutes.  Maybe shake the pan after 5 minutes.  When the meat has browned, move the pan to the hot plate, add flavourings, spices, liquids, thickenings etc. and stir.  When boiling, put on the lid and put into the bottom oven until you are ready to eat.

32. How do you roast potatoes?  Set the oven to 210. Parboil as usual.  Drain and shake, maybe adding a spoonful of seasoned flour or semolina for crunch.  Shake well.  Add a spoonful of oil or melted fat.  Shake well.  Tip into a shallow baking tray and slide onto the 3rd runners in the top oven.  Roast for up to an hour until crunchy and browned.  No need to turn, spoon fat over or even open the oven.

33. How do you reheat roast potatoes? When the roast potatoes are ready, take from the oven and leave to cool.  To serve them the same day, put the tin back onto the 3rd runners on the roasting oven for 5 minutes.  To reheat from the larder or fridge, put the tin back onto the 2nd runners in the top oven for 10 minutes.  To reheat from the freezer, tip the frozen potatoes into the shallow tin and put onto the 3rd runners in the top oven for about 25 minutes.  The dry heat in the oven means they will always be crunchy when reheated. 

34. How do you make porridge?  Measure your oats and water (one part oats to two of water) and put into a pan.  Put the lid on and set the pan onto the back right hand side of the top of the cooker in the evening.  Next morning, move the pan to the simmering plate and stir once.  It will boil before you have made your cup of tea or coffee to accompany it.

35. How do you slow cook a goose or duck?  Sit your goose in your grill rack, big feet down, and set it in the roasting tin. Cover with foil. Into bottom oven for about a pound an hour overnight. In the morning, remove foil and if you have one, lift the goose and its rack into a fresh tin, so that all the lovely rendered fat is not overheated. Failing that, tip it into a jug but keep the fat out of the top oven until you need it for roasties or it will burn and be wasted. Put the cooked goose, uncovered and still on its rack, in the tin and put into the top oven for at least 45 minutes to brown and crisp the skin. Leave to rest while you make the gravy, reheat the roasties etc etc etc.

36. How do you cook a huge quantity (30 or more) of baked potatoes?   No need to waste foil by wrapping them, it slows down the cooking. Stab them with a knife to stop them exploding then throw half onto the grid shelf on the 3rd runners and the rest onto the grid shelf on the floor in the top oven. After an hour, swap the shelves over. Another hour and they are all cooked. Line a laundry basket with a towel or two or a cot duvet, chuck them in and cover with the rest of the towel and your dog walking coat. They will stay warm for a couple of hours. 

37. How do you cook pasta?  Put the pasta in a pan of water.  Put the lid on. Put it onto the floor of the top oven for about 15 minutes.  Drain and serve.

38. How do I clean the inside of the lids?  Hotplate switched off. Clean the inside with a wet Brillo pad or some fine wire wool, then wipe clean and dry with a cloth.

39. How do I cook biscuits in a 2 oven ElectricKit conversion?  Put the balls of mixture onto some Bake-O-Glide on the plain shelf and slide it onto the 2nd runners.  Slide your big roasting tin onto the 2nd runners above, so that you are using the roasting tin as a cold plain shelf to protect the biscuits from the heat at the bottom of the oven.

40. How do I cook oven chips really fast?  They can take up to 40 minutes in the oven, so try putting a piece of Bake-o-Glide on the hot plate and put the frozen chips onto that.  Close the lid.  Wait 3 minutes.  Open the lid, turn the chips over and let them cook for 3 more minutes, lid up this time so that they are really crispy.

41. How do you get the grilling element to work faster?  Open the oven door for a couple of minutes, this tells the sensor in the thermostat that it needs to come on and boost the heating elements.