Talk to me about ovens please

[ComradeJing]

We have a smeg in our (rented) house. I always use the fan oven because, having grown up with an Aga, it is the only symbol I could recognise.

I find it impossible to make good gravy because the delicious meaty juices the Jamie et al tell me will be at the bottom of the pan are burned and horrible. Food sometimes dries out and I find I have to cover things with tin foil then whip it off for the last 10 minutes to prevent it from burning.

What am I doing wrong? Is my oven too high? Should I try using a different setting? Should I bother using the fan force at all?

Fan ovens run hotter so you need to set it for lower than your recipe says, for example, if it should be at 190, turn it to 170. Also, buy an oven thermometer so that you can get a more accurate idea of what temp it runs at. Have you thought about putting a glass of water/wine/stock in the bottom of your roasting pan, might help with dried out food and burning.