Starting new thread for further convection oven discussion. (Discontinuing "Microwave Questions" thread.

COPIED FROM PREVIOUS THREAD:

Hey Folks!

@tigertiger - Will do. I'll probably order it when I return from my trip. I'll let you guys know how it works out. But, I have been in contact with an old girlfriend of mine who bought one for her college-aged daughter to use in her dorm room. She totally sang its praises and said that after her daughter graduated, she actually took the unit back to use herself. She also referred me to some YouTube videos for typical devices. Here are a few of the non-commercial ones:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtogq57qi7Q

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo20ztQXLew

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6xHmcqU0as

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZocz4w4ZgA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwrtyFVD5dA

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRMBaQoehb4

I'm sure it takes a bit of tweaking to cook certain recipes in one of these things, but that's usually pretty easy to do.

COPIED FROM PREVIOUS THREAD:

Shyam
January 6, 2014
191 posts
Hey Folks!

I said I'd get back you once I got my convection oven working. I ordered this thing on Taobao and received it Saturday. I've got to say that it didn't take long for me to fall in love with this thing.

It has a small footprint on the counter and can easily be stowed away, but the interior is ENORMOUS. You could easily bake a 15 pound turkey in it. All I had to cook was this slab of boneless pork. I butterflied it to 1", rubbed it with salt, pepper, and garlic, and stuck it in this thing. I used a present for roasting meat that took 13 minutes. This thing rocks! It cooked this piece of meat perfectly. It left a nice, slight brown on top and I could see that not much juice was lost.

The next mission for this thing is going to be baking something. But, I can already say that its worth the $50 I paid.

tigertiger
January 6, 2014
2069 posts
Cool, I look forward to seeing more.
Perhaps you could start a new thread, which will be more easily searchable for further reference. You might even convince others to buy one.

Magnifico
January 6, 2014
698 posts
Martha Stewart is going to register on GoKunming soon with all the cooking tips on here. And steal the ideas for her TV show!

Shyam
January 6, 2014
191 posts
Good Idea, Tiger. I'll do that. I'll also try to post some pictures.

I just sent some pics back home from a trip to Carrefour. Two of the more scary things that I sent were the dry cured pig faces and (what I think is) a BBQ'd rabbit in the hot deli case. (Think Martha would have any interest in those, Mag?) :))

lawlz0mg
January 6, 2014
47 posts
Could you send the link to me of what you bought?

Shyam
January 6, 2014
191 postsEdit
Hey Lawlz:

This is the approximate one at the approximate price I paid:

detail.tmall.com/[...]

I can't find the exact one I bought. I think it sold out. In fact, it looks like several of the different ones I reviewed have sold out and been replaced by other offers. But, this one is certainly the same OEM model with the same accessories. The control panel and heating/air element is the same, except for one thing. I does not have the 6 preset buttons that I have on mine. Also, my control panel is in Greek. I chose the one I did because it had a digital controller and it included all of the accessories. (I was especially interested in the extension ring, which would come in handy if I was baking a big object.)

If you would like to see some YouTube movies on this thing working, just check out the links on the earlier posting I did on this thread.

I will say that one of the preset modes I used had a pleasant little surprise. It actually cycled the halogen light on and off toward the end of the cooking time, in order to regulate temperature. I'm not sure if this is an absolutely necessity, yet. My unit has a baking preset on it. I'm imagining that in this mode, it does all sorts of interesting tricks. There are some models of this type of oven that have a simple time dial and a temperature dial. (I might have bought one of these, since they were cheaper. But, I found that those models usually have very few accessories with them and the cost of buying them separately would actually cost more.)

Important information about current ovens on the market:

Most higher end / larger model ovens at this time are IR (infra-red) ovens. Although they claim them to be safe, this is not true at all.
IR, just like UV can cause retina burns (sunburn to/ in eyes).

So please turn them off before opening the door and don't look directly into them. (Even when turning them off the glow may stay for a moment). Trust me, retina burns do very much hurt. I had some eye damage from when I was little and did frequent skiing. And that was just a mild doses of UV.

* severe cases they refer to as "snow blindness" due to that very cause.

that sounds scary. how about .... just avoid them altogether?

great thread title, shyam. "discoveries" sounds very adventurous!

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

It is true that Infrared Radiation can damage your eyes. Sunlight is about 50% IR. Looking directly at the sun can damage you eyes but the danger in sunlight is UV radiation.

Simply put, IR causes over heating but the danger is not "just like UV". UV is far more damaging than IR.

I suggest threads on toasters, waffle makers, and gel writing instruments. Each these ought to be worth 500 words.

Please bring back cooking related threads dealing with bugs. Now that is a subject you can sink your teeth into.

You're not kidding, Silvio! They call it an "UV oven", but it would more accurately be called a "halogen lamp oven". But, having said that, the oven I just bought is designed very well. The lamp points downward and is shrouded in a grilled house. It lets some of the light through, but mostly it produces heat. The big thing is that you don't crouch over and stare into it. (This is a very awkward thing to do, anyway.) In any case, Silvio's warning about the potential visual hazard is real, but only if you bend over (to counter height) and stare upward into the heating lid.

I've cooked with it twice, now. I'm happy to let you all know that from a temperature standpoint, this thing has turned out to be surprisingly safe. The convection fan runs constantly and keeps the thing from getting too hot. In fact, from a burn safety standpoint, this thing is definitely a whole lot safer than a metal box toaster oven.

With regard to what Geezer says, I would ask that this thread not be turned into a big collection of non-cooking related stuff. The purpose is to inform people about the performance of this convection oven I just bought. So, please don't stray TOOOO far from that subject, y'all. :)

You're right, Mag. This IS an adventure. By the way, can people here view photo albums from Picasa?

Toast Test:

Toast has worked out really well. I've done four toasted bread projects in this thing. In every case, the result has been excellent. The unit has a timer and a temperature than can be set, but I have used my preset for baking. Since I can see the bread cooking, I just wait until the right brown-ness is achieved. For me, this takes about 3-4 minutes. No pre-heat time is required.

The unit has a raised rack that I use because it circulates hot air around the bread. The raised rack has space for about 5 slices of Carrefour small loaf sliced bread.

The only difference from a real toaster is that the top gets brown, while the bottom doesn't. However, both sides get very crispy because of the circulating air.

I've toasted two kinds of sliced white loaf bread, a thick cut multi-grain, and thin slices of the fruit-filled round loaf that you get at Carrefour. All have been excellent.

No real mess. Just a few crumbs and they fall into the catch plate below. That can be dumped out after a few days and the thing can be cleaned with a damp towel.

Just one other thing. I'm a big toast eater, but I couldn't bring myself to buy a 299 kuai toaster at Walmart. I'm glad I stuck it out, until I got a hold of this.

More to come.

hi Shyam,
just thought I'd mention that toasters are only about Y30 on Taobao for a basic one. they do the job.

@debaser - So, NOW you tell me! :)

Actually, I knew you could get toasters for lower prices. I would have probably bought one, but I was holding out to see if I could buy something that bakes, as well. I also want to avoid accumulating dongxi (stuff), the best extent I can. My kitchen is really small.

Thanks for the tip