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Questions about baking

Discussion in 'Food & Cooking' started by guavaboy, Nov 18, 2010.

  1. Nov 18, 2010 #1
    guavaboy

    guavaboy

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    Usually when refering to cooking books/recipes, they tell you what temperature to preheat your oven to, but never say if you should use top heat/bottom heat or both. My question is when do you know which setting to use?
     
  2. Nov 18, 2010 #2
    french fries

    french fries

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    I've never had an oven that let me select those options - except for my toaster oven.

    I would try using "both" as for baking most things you want the most even heat you can get.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2010
  3. Nov 18, 2010 #3
    kyheirloomer

    kyheirloomer

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    In general, if you have heating elements on the top and the bottom, the top one is for broiling. So, if the recipes calls for broiling, that's when you use top heat. If it doesn't specify that, you can assume it's a baking-roasting type dish, and use the bottom heat. In either case, don't forget to pre-heat the oven to the desired temperature.
     
  4. Nov 18, 2010 #4
    french fries

    french fries

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    Oh right, I didn't realize he was talking about his broiler when he mentioned top heat.
     
     
  5. Nov 18, 2010 #5
    guavaboy

    guavaboy

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    Thank you for the answer, I understand now.