Do small ovens work as well as full-size ovens?
I might be apartment-hunting in Minneapolis soon, and a lot of the apartments in my price range (yes, the cheap ones) have the smaller-sized ovens. I do a LOT of cooking, like actual recipes from scratch, so I don't want to get an apartment with a small oven if it doesn't work as well as a full-size oven. Thanks!
Other - Food & Drink - 4 Answers
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1 :
The type of oven it is makes a difference, and extreme differences in size can, but from standard to apartment size is only a few inches. If you're going to do much broiling, baking commercial items such as large amounts of cookies, wedding cakes, etc, then an apartment size won't work as good, but for the normal amount of meals in the US, an apartment size should be alright for most things. Going from electric to gas or vice-versa would make more of a difference to me. If the oven is a convection type of oven, it makes a huge difference also. I had a convection oven that I stored in a pantry in an apartment once, which I used for holidays and such for simple dishes, and used my oven for others. And, if you are the one that cooks the 24 pound turkey at Thanksgiving, then the small ovens might not work for you.
2 :
Get a convection/microwave combo oven all in one and that should make you happy.
3 :
If the stove is electric, it will be different. Gas is regulated, true heat. The temp is what it says to a point, you can always buy an oven thermometer?
4 :
They can, but individual ovens vary a lot between themselves regardless of their size. I agree about gas and convection if you can get them, but also a cheapie oven thermometer is essential for knowing the actual temperature your oven reaches compared to what you've set on the dial, whether there are hot spots in that oven, and whether the heat coming from the top and bottom are even, etc.** You might even take the thermometer with you to look at an apartment "because an accurate oven is very important to you," then turn on the oven when you first arrive. Before leaving, after pre-heating is completed, collect your thermometer and check its temp. Some ovens are way off, but can be controlled just by always adding or subtracting a certain number of degrees. Generally, you won't need a large oven if you're not cooking large turkeys or the baking pans you have or buy won't fit width wise. Especially in a small or old oven, I'd probably also be sure and have an "air-filled" baking sheet to moderate the bottom temp (sold for making cookies so their bottoms won't get too dark), or you could klug your own. **this page at my site has info about checking oven temp, etc., if you're interested (my site is primarily about polymer clay but since it has to be baked too, and temperatures are critical, we've learned a lot about ovens http://glassattic.com/polymer/baking.htm
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