The oven is one of the most important pieces of kitchen equipment, and knowing how to properly use it can make cooking a much easier and enjoyable experience. There are several common oven settings that every cook should be familiar with. Here’s an overview of the most common oven settings and how to best use them.
Bake – This is the most common setting for cooks. The Bake setting will evenly heat your food by circulating hot air around it, resulting in a delicious meal. Different dishes may require different temps, so make sure you read your recipe carefully before selecting this setting.
Broil – The Broil setting creates intense heat from the top element by projecting infrared rays directly onto the food, resulting in a quick cook time and charring on top of certain dishes. This setting is best used for quickly browning/crisping foods such as meat or vegetables. For safety reasons, it’s also important to keep an eye on food while broiling since high temperatures can cause fires if left unattended too long.
Convection – Convection ovens have special fans that circulate hot air which helps to promote even cooking throughout the dish - making them ideal for roasting meats or baking breads since they provide consistent results every time! It’s also often recommended that when using this type of oven you reduce your temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit compared to what you would use in a conventional oven as convection tends to cook things faster than normal settings do.
Keep Warm - Keep Warm is great for keeping cooked dishes at an optimal temperature when serving them later on or keeping them warm until all components are ready for serving! It won’t actually cook anything further but will just maintain its current temperature without any burning or drying out from too much heat exposure over time - making it ideal for holding casseroles or side dishes until everything else is ready!
These are just some of the most common settings found on modern day ovens, but there may be more depending on what type you have (such as steam bake). If you ever find yourself unsure about something while using your appliance, always refer back to its manual guidebook first before experimenting with different settings - this way you can ensure that whatever dish comes out will be cooked correctly each time!