This is a somewhat addictive form of culinary voyeurism, though it also has the practical advantage of letting you see when something's going wrong. You'll occasionally find yourself crouched with your nose close to the glass. Because the oven is transparent, you can watch the food changing minute by minute. The best thing of all: halogen cooking is fun. Using the extending ring or a lowish temperature eliminates that problem. And if the top of the food is too near to the element, it may brown excessively before the inside is cooked. But you won't need to do it more than four or five times for a dish that cooks in 20 minutes. Abrasives are a no-no for the glass, but cleaning a halogen oven is a lot easier than cleaning a conventional oven.īecause of the top-down heat, some foods must be tossed or turned at least once. For best results, wipe with a soapy brush then wipe off. Cleaning the lid is more difficult, because the element shouldn't get wet. With all that food at a high temperature in a small space, the oven gets dirty – it needs washing once a week, and some would do it every time they use it.
And while it can get very smoky inside the oven, especially when the food is being cooked in a grilling position, it never flares into flames – probably because there isn't enough air. The power snaps off when you lift the handle, which is the only way to take the lid off. Those with young children might be worried about safety, but there's a clever mechanism in halogen ovens to eliminate the danger. If you are refitting your kitchen, you might find that you can replace your traditional oven with the halogen option.
Single people, and couples living on their own, can produce roast dinners or quick midweek suppers in a fraction of the time needed by a larger oven. For anyone cooking in a small studio flat, a boat or a caravan, it's a no-brainer. And I've produced meals for six in it without any trouble.Īnd some people can use the halogen oven as an alternative to a conventional oven. But consider: I've had my halogen oven for nearly a year and I've not used my full-sized oven since. But these cost little, and are sometimes included with the oven itself.ĭoes halogen eliminate the need for a large, built-in oven? If you regularly cook for eight or more, you won't be able to shed the big oven completely. Halogen converts need to buy a stand on which you rest the hot lid and a special extending ring which allows you to cook larger items such as whole chickens and joints of meat. You should also make sure there is nothing overhead which would make it hard to remove the lid. The oven should have a clear space around it, because you don't want to the hot element to be near anything that can burn or melt. Any kitchen with a couple of square feet of empty counter space can accommodate a halogen oven. Indeed, many dishes cook through a combination of grilling and roasting. And when you cook something close to the element, the oven acts as a turbo-charged grill.
Halogen stove full#
They reach full heat faster than a conventional oven, largely because of their small size but also because the fan circulates the air inside, distributing heat throughout. Halogen ovens cook far more efficiently than conventional ovens. Some hobs use the same technology to great effect.
The lamp powers up to create an instant, intense heat. The light comes from a powerful circular filament inside a glass tube, which is filled with inert halogen gas. You can see that from the moment you first turn one on and see the ring of light in the lid. Microwaves use very short radio waves to cause a rapid movement of certain molecules (mainly water and fat) inside food, and this movement makes the food heat up. The answer is no, though they share the ability to cook very speedily. The first thing people ask me when I start boring them about halogen ovens is whether they are a microwave oven.
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