5 things you need to know about cooking temperature
You know what they say – if you can’t handle the heat, change your oven temperature…
Can you imagine the days when our ancestors had to cook everything over an open fire and coals? Nowadays, we’ve got fancy dials, thermometers, and state-of-the-art meat probes to monitor our cooking temperatures, helping us make the perfect home-cooked meal.
Even though we have all of this handy technology, there are still some myths and misconceptions about the perfect cooking temperature – do you really have to follow the recipe’s instructions? Can you turn the oven up to bake your dish faster? Does it really matter if you open the oven door? We’ve got all the answers you need.
Why is having the correct oven temperature so important?
Even a mere 20°C can make a huge impact on your meal’s success. If you’ve ever baked a cake in an oven that’s too hot, you’ll know how frustrating it is to watch the crust burn while the batter on the inside stays gooey.
No matter the complexity of your dish, like this simple flourless almond cake with white chocolate ganache, or your oven type, like a combination oven, you must always follow your instructions to the letter (or number) if you don’t want to see another baking disaster. Plus, using the right oven temperature can help you work out baking times, which can be helpful if you’re entertaining guests and want to time your cook perfectly.
With the new NEFF Flex Design range, you can get a 6.8-inch touch display that allows you to effortlessly adjust the temperature through the touch pad or with traditional dials to ensure that your cooking temperature is accurate and precise.
Why should you follow the oven instructions in the recipe?
Recipe instructions for the cooking temperature take the guesswork out of home cooking. They’ve been tried and tested to bring out the best flavours and textures in your dish. And while there might be a bit of flexibility when it comes to roasting potatoes, when it comes to baking breads and cakes the temperature is really key.
So, if your cake recipe suggests a baking temperature of 160°C, stick to it. Turning it down to 140°C will give you sunken, dense cakes. And unfortunately, 180°C won’t help cook it faster – it’ll just deliver rocks for tea.
Cooking tip:
Using the Circo Therm® as part of your baking can help heat up your NEFF oven faster and achieve a perfectly even bake, no matter what you’re cooking up.
What tools can you use to help monitor your oven temperature?
Having a thermometer on hand can help monitor your oven temperature, just in case things get out of hand or need to change at any point. This is especially the case for a lot of meat based recipes, such as more sensitive recipes, like a medium-rare lamb that usually needs an internal meat temperature of between 60–65°C, or a roast chicken recipe that calls for a core temperature of around 75–80°C. NEFF’s Multi Point Meat Probe can even regulate the oven temperature itself, letting you get on with your sides and desserts.
Can you open the oven door while cooking?
Every time you do, heat can escape the oven and cause the temperature to drop. This can put your dish at risk of losing that golden, even bake just for a peek. Tricky recipes like choux pastry will be a disaster if you open the oven before they’ve had a chance to rise properly – all the escaped heat and steam will leave your buns a little flat. But you can get guaranteed results without opening your oven with the NEFF Home Connect system. This cooking essential comes with automated recipe settings, so you can pre-set your oven settings and rest assured that your food will cook evenly.
How does temperature affect a steam oven?
It’s generally less important to monitor your temperature if you’re using a steam oven, as the cooking method usually retains moisture and cooks more gently and evenly. A NEFF Full Steam oven allows you to steam your creations at 120ºC, which not only cooks your food faster but also retains the full flavour and nutrients.
And if you’ve got an oven fitted with NEFF’s Added Steam function, injecting some steam into the process can help prevent your recipes from drying out. While steam can be a far gentler method of cooking, it still won’t mean that you can crank up the temperature and cut your cooking time in half.
Want to see how a NEFF oven can take your meal to the next level? Then book in a free product demonstration today. Our NEFF kitchen experts will show you how easy it is to manage temperature with the Multi Point Meat Probe and our innovative oven technology. Plus they’ll show you how a NEFF oven can effortlessly tie in with your kitchen’s aesthetic with the new Flex Design range!
About NEFF
NEFF is a German-engineered kitchen appliance brand, with a product range that includes ovens, cooktops, rangehoods, coffee machines and dishwashers designed to make life in the kitchen a daily pleasure. For people who love to cook, NEFF gives you the tools to create meaningful connections, express your creativity and make memories. Because real life happens in the kitchen.
