Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crsandus]

I recently decided to open my miserly wallet and purchase an oven. I've always liked baking and miss certain foods I can't find here or can't cook here. While searching on gmarket, I came across two ovens:

http://tinyurl.com/278otxe

http://tinyurl.com/26b87lt

Both ovens are from the same seller and both are the same brand. The big difference is the the first oven is 20 liters in volume (~55K won) and the second is 33 liters (83K won).

I don't have a lot of space in my kitchen and I would have to put the oven away when it's not in use. I would generally use the oven for baking cookies/muffins/brownies/biscuits, warming up frozen foods from Costco, and cooking pizza. When I bake, I generally do it in large enough quantities so I can share with friends and family (maybe 2-4 dozen cookies in one session).

Anyone have any experience with either of these size ovens? I'm used to the stove/oven combo that is ubiquitous in America. Is the 20 liter just too small for real baking? Is the 33 liter too large? Should I just head over to Costco and eyeball their selection to give myself a better perspective?

[Illysook]

The air that blows through a convection oven will make some baked goods come out funny, so get one that allows you to turn off the blower. It will work more like a toaster oven. I've been getting a nice result with chicken breasts in a toaster oven. I usually brown them in a skillet with some olive oil and herbs and then finish them in the oven.

[Ruthdes]

I bought a DeLonghi oven 2nd hand from the buy and sell forum here about 18 months ago. It's been great but it's really temperamental when it comes to temperature control. Even on fan forced, the back is way hotter than the front and I have to reduce the temperature by at least 20 degrees C from the recipe (maybe I should experiment with out the fan). However, with vigilance and experimentation, I have worked out how to make decent baked goods.

The one thing I would recommend you consider is the size. I couldn't find a capacity in liters on mine, but it takes a tray with a diameter of 31cm (the same size as a large pizza). It has two racks, but I only ever use one, as the temperature differential is even worse with two. I get about 10-12 cookies on one pizza tray, so even I do three or four shifts in the oven to cook a decent sized batch.

Most of the cheap ovens you see a really small. The box makes them look way larger, so make sure you see it out of the box before you buy it. If you're cooking for friends, you'll be doing a lot of batches with an average size oven. Maybe, because of your space constraints, this is worth it, but I would be really frustrated with anything smaller than mine. It sits on top of the microwave, so it doesn't take up much extra space.

Hope this helps. Good luck

[gossipgirlxoxo]

I only opened the top link but for what it's worth - what I hate about my new oven is that it only has one rack. As shown in the first link, the second 'rack' is an oven tray - and mine is not flat so you can't bake cookies on it. I find this really annoying since I can only bake 4-6 cookies at a time even though the oven is large-ish. You may be able to buy an extra rack to use instead of the tray, but I haven't found one. Just an FYI because I hadn't thought about it before but am stuck with this semi-useless oven now. ㅠ