A question of OVEN - need advice from those who love baking please :) | ExpatWoman.com
 

A question of OVEN - need advice from those who love baking please :)

120
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 08 August 2012 - 17:48

Hi guys
Yet another strange obstacle I find here in Doha...
The compound we are moving into requires that we buy our own appliances.. Which means we have to buy our own fridge stove oven etc..

Our dilemma lies in the fact that if we are to purchase a gas cooker with an oven
All ovens here are not fanforced !
They seem to have a upper and lower heating element only but no function for fanforce
So how does one bake cake or cookies
Cakes ESP need circulating heat to rise properly
A few of the electric stoves have fan forced ovens with them but none of the gas cookers do unless I get the wider heavy duty one 90cm
Which I am ok with but will have cough up about 3500 instead of 1900 for 60cm size

Could the bakers on this forum pls have a look at their oven and see If there is a fan in heir oven or do they use a 'normal' upper and lower heating element and does this work fine for cakes?
If u do have a fan forced oven could u pls advise me of the brand to allow me to hunt this down
So far in Carrefour and lulu they only have this one gigantic 90cm heavy duty gas stove oven combo which I did have in Australia
But am thinking do I need such a large size here or can I get by with the typical sizes here of 60cm wide

Hope I am making sense - many thks for your help!

120
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 14 August 2012 - 02:27
thanks \Twinnie will give that a shot now that i workig out how to drive in doha this new place ion rayyan rd shd be a new trip.... catonclan thats hilarious but so like eveything else in doha...for instance i have just found out tha tmost of the cheaper ovens cant be used for baking or grilling without the oven door closed or they ruin the dorr...hmmm why is the door there in the first palce...what century do we live in??? with all these flahsy cars and tlall bulidngs - couldnt they get the basics right? and i cant belive that eveyrone would simply buiy cakes here cakes and brownies here taste awful too sweet too choclately and the choc is right either... wheree does one go for a decent cake here?? yup i cant wait to do breads here - moving into our place on 26...have almost settled on a cooking range but will chk out this place on rayyan rd thks again guys :)
124
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 12 August 2012 - 13:35
Our apartment has the most awful oven, which I thought of changing, but we aren't allowed too. My hubby asked in the oven shops, and was told, oh, you don't need a fan. Hmmm, so that will be the man who has never baked in his life before!!! Anyway - I baked quite successfully with the benefit of an oven thermometer(from C4), and a piece of foil to stop the top element cremating the cakes. It is all rather a balancing act, foil in, foil out, tweak the temp, but can be done. No such thing as leaving the cake in and wandering off though - good luck!! Just another thing - self raising flour is quite rare, so get wise with the baking powder to plain flour ratios! Bread baking is a pleasure, because the yeast goes bananas in the heat. And you've never to worry about hard butter or melting temps for chocolate - 10 mins on the balcony sorts it out! Good luck on the oven hunt ......I think our ovens were specially selected to be mega cheap.
34
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 11 August 2012 - 18:12
I have an electric oven in the UK with a fan and I never use it for baking. The results are always good. I'm actually slightly nervous about baking with the fan though I'll give it a go one day. The only problem I had with the oven in Doha was that it took longer to bake than the time indicated in a recipe. I don't know if that's because the oven was actually cooler than the control indicated. I usually needed somewhere close to double the time than a recipe called for. Once I got used to that I had no problems.
331
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 10 August 2012 - 23:03
Go and have a look in Al Mana on the Rayaan Road. They have a good selection of ovens.
120
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 10 August 2012 - 01:11
thanks guys for your feedback seems like without the fan forced i can make good cakes once i work out the temp timing etc...trial and error :0) but thanks for letting me know about the megmart mart and barwa village might go chekc them out too one thing i have relaied here jsut coz three diff customer service poepl say no doesnt mean that the fourth wont have a diff answer...its all about persistence but great to know u guys r using the <normal> ovesn for baking as well and it turns out ok.. many thks :)
37
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 August 2012 - 09:11
My oven is Miele brand and electric, I always use the option for top and bottom element with no fan force for all cakes, biscuits etc. My first home here had an older electric oven with no fan option, once I adjusted to this oven and its temperature it also gave good results each time. I have always cooked in ovens without the fan force and have not had any problems ( I do bake a lot). Good luck with your search.
157
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 09 August 2012 - 08:24
The oven in our villa is electric fan forced - Electrolux. It is very average, and cooks unevenly, which is what I thought fan forced was supposed to eradicate - those at the back are very light, and at the front are dark. I think you might find ovens at Jumbo near MegaMart, or there are a few places out at Barwa Village with cookers as well.
676
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EW GURU
Latest post on 08 August 2012 - 19:13
We have an electric stove with a fan forced oven (Indesit brand) so can't help you there, but recommend you also check Giant in Hyatt Plaza for more alternatives