The oven part of the family’s age-old gas range/oven had been sitting idly for the past 10 years or so. It was out of active duty for so long that I don’t even want to try bringing it back to life. This is also one of the reasons why I never really immersed myself into baking and similar tedious cooking activities. But after I completed my kitchen duty in a pastry section of an over-rated food place, I began to see the joys of baking. Unfortunately, with a decommissioned oven, there’s really no joy to speak of. Heck, there’s even no baking to talk about. Buying a new one will only be an option if I have extra cash. Extra cash is unthinkable if you are in my profession.
Beggars cannot be choosers, so I, the beggar, looked for alternative contraptions that can mimic what the oven does. I turn my attention to my oven toaster. Sure, you can bake cookies in an oven toaster, but my oven toaster is quite ancient, there is no temperature settings and the timer only goes all the way up to 15 minutes. So, you can see that making a sponge cake and pies will never happen in an oven toaster.
The only other alternative I have is the Turbo Broiler which, according to my dad, was won by my sister in an office raffle. Great! I know someone who wins a flat iron every year in office Christmas raffle….gosh, every damn year….sorry I digress….
Anyway, I don’t know the difference of an oven and a turbo broiler. It was not discussed in culinary school. Or maybe it was discussed but I never really paid attention. Anyway, the turbo broiler has the words “convection oven” plastered on the top handle. To the uninitiated, a convection oven circulates heated air using a fan. This not only prevents overheating of food but also helps warm the food faster than the conventional oven. Simply put, it makes food bake more evenly and even at a lower temperature. Yeah, I know some geeky stuff like that.
As they say, make use of what you have and I have a turbo broiler so I better use it. I decided to bake some chewy cookies that are loaded with mini choco bars. Normally, in an oven, they have to cook for 10 to 15 minutes at 350F. But we need to make some adjustments. What I did was to make cooking time between 7-9 minutes, used a non-stick cookie sheet, and lower the temperature at 300F. Not exactly rocket science, but the results will blow you away. Crunchy outside, chewy and moist inside. No, it’s not Mentos. See for yourself.
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cool! patikim!!! I’ve always wanted a turbo broiler but given the state of my kitchen right now, I can’t find a place to put it in. hahaha.
hi! do you recipes on how to bake using a turbo broiler? or is it just the same as baking in an oven? thanks…
hi! my mom just bought a turbo broiler. im so excited to try it na pero i dont know how to bake. like when i see recipes parang napaka hirap maghanap ng ingredients. i have 1% knowledge when it comes to baking.. can you help me please? like simple baking recipes that are not that hard to bake.
I can totally relate to your misery. Everytime I am struck by creativity in the kitchen, my mom and I are stucked with the turbo broiler with our cake recipes… and microwave oven for heating and quick meals…