Baking Basics – Part 1 of my baking series, which I plan to do on the blog! The first one is on selecting the right type of oven!
Baking Basics Part 1 – The Right Oven. Types of oven available in the market and which one could be right for you.
Considering lot of my posts and recipe are about baking on this blog and baking is what really my love is, it is not surprising that I get a lot of questions about baking in emails and FB messages these days 🙂
There are a lot of people out there who are waiting to try their hands at baking but don’t know where to start from. When I get those emails I remember the time I took that journey clueless about what to do and how I would spend hours googling and how I attempted and failed a lot of times, before I really got it right.
A lot of people asked me to share the basics of baking, how to start etc etc, so with this post today I am starting a series called Baking Basics where I will take you through some basics that can give you a kick start to what I am sure will be a lifelong journey 🙂
One of the most common questions I get from readers and friends is what oven I use in my house for baking. What is the right oven for them? How do they get started what all they’ll need. So in the first past of baking basics we would look at oven that has to be the first step to start anyways.
The Oven.
While chosing an oven one has many options that we can choose, let me take you through them.
OTG aka Oven Toaster Griller : This is the option that is most commonly used in homes. It basically a device which bakes, toasts and grills using the heating rod on top and bottom on the oven. Its pretty close to the age old baking done using heat. Like I said there are rods on top and bottom of the oven and the mode of cooking is controlled by which rods are heating. In case of baking only the bottom rods gets heated, in the grill mode its the top rod which gets heated and both the rods work in the toast mode.
Note : Read this intersting bit on how OTG came into existence actually from a pop up toaster 🙂
Convection Microwave Oven : Microwaves traditionally cook food by using electro magnetic waves and not heat rods. Convection Microwave is a fusion product which uses a combination of the standard microwave and the convection oven which uses the circulation of hot gas for cooking/baking. Convection microwaves are not a very old product in the market but they are making quite a leap already. It can be used for heating food, cooking, baking and grilling too.
Gas Tandoor : This is the oven my mom used to bake in. I have eating many soft cakes baked in it. One keeps it on top of the gas and puts the cake tin on the wire rack provided along with. It also works with the heat just as OTG. However this one is not so common anymore because safety is a major issue with it, also one can’t control the temperature we set in it accurately which is a big negative point for baking.
Cooking Ranges – They come with both electrical and gas options for the Oven, the oven in this works brilliantly well however the constraint usually is the space and the prize.
So these are more or less the options you have for home baking. There might be some more but these are the most common ones. And there are pros and cons in all of them as I mentioned above.
So unless you are setting up a new kitchen and want to buy a cooking range, your options more or less are to choose between the convection microwave or an OTG. I use an OTG have been using it for past 7 years now. I also have a convection based microwave and I have experimented my baking in both the options. Personally I think nothing beats the results of baking you get from the oven and microwave doesn’t really stand anywhere close to it. However I have several friends who say they bake in the convection microwave and are happy with it.
So in a nutshell, my suggestion is, if you are going to be an occasional baker and space is a constraint convection microwave oven will do for you. Buy one device and use it wisely but if you are thinking of taking up baking as a hobby invest in a good OTG, they are not very expensive anyway. There are many sizes available and buy the one that suits you, for most home users anywhere between 18 ltrs to 25 ltrs should be a good enough size.
I am using a morphy richards from 7 years and apart from one time recently it hasn’t given me any trouble so I strongly recomend that (and no they haven’t paid me for this post :P)
Coming up Baking basics 2 – Pans and more.
Fabulous log 🙂 Shall be a regular now. Loved it.
Thank you so much. I am definitely one who is clueless about where to start 🙂
and you also addressed my confusion about buying convection microwave oven and OTG. One quick question though; Do you need to consider watts when I am looking for OTG ?
Using a non-branded OTG which has convection for the last 5 yrs. Happy with what it bakes
Nice one Mons!:)
Its always confusing with all the gadgets available in the market. I use a m/w convection oven. I just want to share my experience, that having used both otg and the convection oven, I can vouch that there’s no difference in the end quality of the baked product. Many people get confused thinking they are using the mw to bake because it’s a combination product. But in the convection mode, the oven turns into a regular oven.
Good one Mona….thnx
thank you from the bottom of my heart. I really want to begin, and have an OTG, hoping to learn it from here now! I haven’t baked ever in my life!!!
Mon, thanks!!
I think even I bugged you with this Microwave & oven connudrum 🙂
I use a convection microwave and it bakes just fine. Its like a regular OTG in the convection mode like Arundati said
oh I dont know how I missed replying to arundati but I have baked in both OTG and covenction oven and I swear there is a clear quality difference. I am not saying convenction is bad its just not as good as OTG and it cant be,there is a difference in the way of heating and it makes whole lot of difference, just as a bread baked in OTG can never match upto one baked in woodfired oven a cake baked in microwave can never match up to cake baked it OTG
see my reply to sups arundati sorry for the late reply
in convection mode it DOESNT turn into an otg there are no rods up and down remember per se yes it just tries and heat the oven like the OTG
I have actually did an experiment once at home let me see if I can fetch the pics and post, same batter same temp same times etc and the texture difference in the end products was so evident and the texture difference becomes higher in the following order
brownies->cookies>muffins->dense cakes->sponge cakes
sponge cakes never ever come as good as they in OTG and I am very sure they come even better in the big wood fired or proffesional ovens
no wattage is not to be bothered about when buying an OTG
yeah I have heard non branded work very well too
chandu so glad to be helping u, u start from the next post
pots, pans and more 🙂
thank u so much
LOL no bugging sweetheart
Even public shaming is not working, I want the part 2 already :/
dont kill me yet it will be up today evening promise 🙂
Hi I’m want 2 buy a OTG 9ltr . But I’m confuse some says its very small, plz suggest me I want 2 buy Morphy Richards 9lts OTG .@ 2595
Thanks a lot for a lovely article. from a long time i was in dilema whether shuid i buy an otg or a microwave with connection mode
glad to be of help pratibha
my cake is not properly baked….please give me the temperature and time for baking a sponge cake…I have a morphy richards OTG…
hey mam pls reply….its an eggless sponge cake
Thanks, helped me in confirming my thought on OTG 🙂
hi, I cannot thank you enough for this post. I have a microwave oven and been wanting to upgrade to either convection or otg. I have searched the ocean of google a grain of sand at a time to compare them to make my decision. Most reviewers had either , therefore were biased, and hence not of any help. since u won both your review and comparison is invaluable. thanks again.
Hi, I have just decided to start try my baking skills and looking to invest in an OTG. I wasnt sure which one to buy. I looked up online and its starts from 7litres onwards. Could you suggest how much capacity should I look for?
Thanks
Hi I am planning to buy An OTG but someone told me that electric tandoor is the better option . What will you suggest? Becuase I am still convinced with OTG But still cant decide please help me
Please tell me which is beter option to buy Electric Tandoor or OTG??
Hi i have Morphy Richards 40 SS with convection fan option, for baking, they asked us to use bottom heating element with crumb tray on ( i.e it is above the heating element), please advise if the crumb tray should be inside or to be removed while baking, i checked with demo guys and they said it should be inside. but my cakes are not getting baked. please advise
I am a hobby baker and I am planning to set up my new kitchen. I want to decide on whether to go for cooking range or OTG.
I do grilling also occasionally.
Currently I am using a conventional microwave for my baking and I am not very happy with it. So dont want to have that as an option
Thanks in advance!!!
I use a OTG and I find that to be sufficient for a hobby baker
i was planning to buy morphy richards otg with a fan inside the 52 litre one as there are very few alternatives in india. i bake pretty much for family and friends. but reviews for morphy products and their service are really scary. i want to buy a professional oven or otg that will run smoothly for years. can go up to 50k also with the price. i have no clue who can help me with this as i have never used any other oven than my mother’s old round shaped oven that is 30years old. please help!!!!!!
Hi I just bought an otg . I have been baking since a while but in microwave convection mode. Since the heating isn’t even I shifted to otg but the bake mode in oven is burning my cakes and cookies at the bottom. I placed my pan in the centre rack. Don’t understand Th problem
Actually mam i am using prestige otg and i want to know the exact temperature of baking and time period. Moreover mam my otg even shows the side options that heat should come from sides or not.
Time and temp would depend on the recipe