Working With a Busted Oven

patrick.peters

Our 25 year old oven has lost it's mind. After the last time we ran the self clean cycle, now the temperatures controls only adjust down from the starting temp of 350 degrees. I've got my thermoworks thermometer measuring the air temp in the oven and it seems to be doing what it says (+/- 15 degrees, but that's no surprise for this oven).

Yes, we need to replace the oven. I'm trying to figure out how we survive for now with an oven that won't go above 350. I've got my pellet grill, so that's an option (as long as the weather is reasonable). We've got an old roaster that we'll measure today )it says it can go up to 450, but I feel the need to measure and verify that). We've got crock pots, an instant pot and 2 sous vide circulators. We've got options. We *don't* have a toaster oven.

So, what am i missing out on if I can't get the oven above 350?

Thanks for your creative ideas.

Patrick

Brandon_Byrd_40557

Except for baking, I think you're mostly going to be alright. Your oven or even stovetop can handle braises (as can your Instant Pot) and your pellet grill can handle high temperature roasting (as long as you can maintain an indirect heat zone). I don't know if you cook a lot of casseroles or whatever, but 350F should be fine for those, though they may take longer than they would have at higher temps.

We have a perfectly good convection oven in our mid-tier electric range, but in the summer I try to figure out any other possible way not to fire it up. The grill has been my best friend in this regard, as it lets me go high and hot or low and slow. Even so, I really want a better countertop oven. They've gotten so good in recent years that using the large oven seems like kind of a waste. The Breville Smart Oven Air is a great less expensive option and the Anova Precision Oven is the hot-ticket, high-end version (though it apparently doesn't make great toast, so that's a bummer). I'm stuck with a fine but small Cuisinart toaster oven that we got when we were married and will probably never die. I keep hoping that it will crap out on us one day so I can replace it with the Breville or Anova, but I think it'll be around for many more years. Maybe by then Breville will have added steam to the Smart Oven and the Anova will be in version 2 or 3. In any event, I want something bigger than the Cuisinart (that can handle, say, a whole chicken) and also has convection. Precise temperature control would be a very welcome addition too.

Anyway, I think you'll be able to survive without an oven for a while, provided that you're not an avid home baker or something like that. Volume might also take a hit, since you can't roast off multiple sheet trays of product in a grill.