Tips for cooking in a gas oven?

[crazymuseummumtobe]

Hi all - Can anyone give me any tips for cooking in a gas oven? It's the sort where the element is enclosed at the bottom of the oven - I've had others before where the element is at the back. There is no fan.

We're getting on ok with it (it's in a new rental property), but I can't quite get my head around where to best place things. We had two pizzas in there last night, and the one nearest the bottom started to go black within about 4 minutes. We're also struggling to get things to brown properly.

Any general tips at all? I'm thinking of trying to make a small Christmas cake tomorrow, but not sure what will happen!

Buy an oven thermometer and get to know what the temps actually are in the top/bottom/middle independently of the controls. . I have a new ‘posh’ gas oven and it’s consistently about 50 degrees hotter than the control dial indicates. That was the time I realised you can actually have an oven too hot for a good Yorkshire pudding. The heat was so fierce it was forming a crust before it had a chance to rise - I was producing what amounted to slightly puffy crispy pancakes. Once I realised that I was able to work round it and my Yorkshire’s are perfect again.

I've the same type (also in a rental), I've found in the middle of the oven is best, plus a rotation halfway through, as mine does heat unevenly. Things don't always brown properly but if it's cooked, then I'm not bothered now! A flat baking tray seems to help with browning though, and turning. Depends what you are cooking as to that being practical. Best advice I can give is test, and maybe suffer a few bad meals until you get it right. Or buy cheap pastry, lay it out flat, just to see if you have uneven heating as well haha

To bake a big fat cake in gas ovens, you have to be a magician or you need a good fortune. It’s always easier to bake flat things in a few minutes, than big things for hours, if you know what I mean.
Because gas ovens tend to have more moisture in the air, it can take longer — sometimes a lot longer — for food to brown on top. Move the tray to the top of the oven or put a baking sheet directly above the food. The heat will bounce off and help brown your foods. Alternatively, you can run the food under the broiler for a minute or two. Be very attentive if you do this, though — it’s very easy to go from lovely golden-brown to scorched and burnt in just a few seconds under the broiler.
If you want a evenly browned cake, just turn it 90 degrees at half time.
A pizza stone holds heat incredibly well and also radiates it outward at a very even and steady rate. Cook your food on another rack just above the pizza stone.
If you can, avoid using dark-coloured metal tins, as this absorbs more heat and speeds up cooking. Light-coloured metal, glass, and silicone are better.