Help with Ovens? (Miele, but any fan oven useful)

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, my new oven got fitted yesterday. It's a Miele. I don't really understand the settings it has, frankly, and what they're for.

It's got:

• Conventional oven. Ok, I understand this one.
• Grill. Got that, fine.
• Gentle bake. For things that need a crispy finish. How does this work? Should I use this for making muesli? Or cakes? Or biscuits? Does this use the fan?
• Fan plus. Fan plus what? This is for baking? Or only for multi-level cooking?
• Fan + Grill. Is this for roasting a chicken? Or what?
• Rapid heat up. What? Huh? Is this with the fan? Heat from above? Below? Both?

Any help welcome. I do have the manual, but it's not that helpful. Any understanding of how these different settings work would be useful.

(I'll be doing the same thing about the Smeg combi oven, that is incomprehensibly multi-function, but I can't muster up the energy.)

Not a clue NQC - but bumping for you!

It took me 3 months to work out that the reason I kept burning things in my new oven was because the thermostat was fitted incorrectly and the oven just heated up and up and up and up!

Oh goodness Littlefish, that sounds unpleasant.

My new oven definately works fine. I just wish I knew what all the options were for. I did try "fan plus" today, to make muesli, and it seemed to work very well - it didn't burn at all, and seemed to cook more evenly than in my old (very very shite) oven. It used to just brown, then burn, on the top, and the underneath would still be uncooked. This came out much better. If the new oven makes making muesli much faster and better, that alone will be worth it, as I make the stuff about once a week.

I'm looking forward to trying out making several trays of cookies at once, too.

do you cook muesli? is that to make oats crispy and crunchy?

I have a fan oven which has a rapid heat up ,it just means it heats the oven up ..erm ..rapidly.then you switch to whatever function ie. fan oven or conventional, you want when the light goes off.

gentle bake..no idea sorry
fan grill ,could be just the top of the oven on aswell as the fan .

fan plus...no idea.

am off to cook some muesli now! never thought of doing that!always eat the oats raw.
learn something every day

Ggirl, my recipe for muesli (which I got off F&Z here) is (from memory):

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup linseed
1/4 cup sunflower seed
1/4 cup sesame seed
(I always add 1/4 cup pumpkin seed, and included 1/4 cup hemp seed, also 1/4 cup some kind of nuts.)
Some ground almonds, a couple of spoonsful.
Mix these together.

Then mix, separately: 1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp barley malt
a bit of hot water, to melt the above
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil

Mix wet + dry

Roast the whole thing at 180 or so.

Then add 1/2 cup coconut
1 cup dried fruit.

I live on this stuff.

thanks nqc

haven't got any barley malt (what is it),or wheat bran.

and what no raisins!

I've done it without barley malt (used a bit more molasses, it's nicer than barley malt anyway), and the wheat bran isn't necessary.

The raisins fall into the category of dried fruit, added at the end.

The recipe is pretty changeable, I'm only writing what I remember, and I don't really measure precisely. It's hardly like baking a cake.

Oh, and you want to cook it for about half an hour at 180 I think? I tend to cook it at a lower temperature for longer, and stir quite a bit. (Although I never ever make a single batch, always a double. Not worth it, otherwise. And I might consider moving up to quadruple or something, to save time.)

Hi NQC - I work for a kitchen company and the Miele service people do a home demo on your new products (they do charge but it is worth it). If you call Miele service number on 01235 554466 and speak to someone there (be patient, these are not a bright lot but the service is fab) they will either put you through to technical or help you themselves. They will also arrange the home demo for you.

When you call, you will probably need the following codes: -
ENR - this should either be on your instruction manual or in the door of the oven (they will direct you if you can't find it)
FD number - this is your oven's individual number. It will be in the same places as above.

Hope this helps!

Oh, thanks Jen. I'll have to try that, at least to have a chat. I don't think I'll need a demo. (Do you know how much they charge?)

The manual isn't very detailed. There's a huge cookbook, but it seems to assume you have a bit flashier oven than I've got.

Hi NQC - the home demo (which takes into consideration that all your appliances are Miele) is about £135 + VAT. I think Miele also do cooking demos in their showrooms (I know Gaggenau do) so you could enquire about that too?

Glad to help!