My Oven Experiences

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Often there are queries regarding selection of ovens for home needs. Following are the two posts which I felt like sharing with my viewers on the topic discussed in the blog

Dear Gayatri garu

I am regular visitor to your site. Your video recipes inspired me to purchase a microwave oven. Basically we are andhra brahmins. I need oven for daily basis usage like u use for small quantity cooking like that and also for making cakes and biscuits to my daughter aged 5yrs. Can u give me your suggestions which type i can select?? I do not have any idea on ovens usage so i need your help badly. After going through your kitchen aid i have doubts which i need clarifications from you. 1.If i purchase solo type oven ,will it work for baking cakes and biscuits ?or I have to purchase both solo and convention separately ??? As you rightly said i want to reduce repair costs to minimum. We can purchase an oven but cost of repairs also we should keep in mind at the time purchase itself is my idea.If i purchase solo and convection models separately then these two will work for my needs ?? gayatri garu kindly help me. with advance thanksChidambari

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Chidambari Garu,

I belive you are in India only and write the following.

Let me share my experience candidly. For day to day cooking for small families, micro-wave solo model is sufficient. Because the oven cavity is small, the quantity of food to be cooked is also small, the general 800 watts microwave capacity is sufficient. This oven in India costs around Rs 2500 to Rs 4000. After three four years when a magnetron needs to be replaced it costs around Rs 1500 maximum. Micro-wave oven can only cook, it cannot bake.

For baking we need a convection oven for good results. In convection oven air needs to be circulated inside the oven during baking for which we need a fan inside. Imagine an OTG oven with a fan inside. Such type of ovens are not available in India atleast at Vizianagaram where I reside.

Higher ranges of Micro-wave - cum - convection ovens only have a fan inside the oven. Nowadays many companies are marketing their lower range products as convection models even without a fan inside. You need to spend at least Rs 12,000 and above only for getting the lowest range of the microwave-cum-convection model with a fan inside. The baking in these ovens is a real pleasure, because the temperature and timings are electronically controlled and exact.

You get a mid-range OTG for Rs 4500 to Rs 5500. If you modify it as shown in my video "Dum-Biryani - 2" to some extent you would get a Convection type of effect. You need to experiment to arrive at the baking temperatures and timings with lots of patitence. OTG has very few parts which need maintenance for which the repair costs are almost zero.

If you spend Rs 12000 and above on the microwave-cum-convection ovens, you get everything neatly packaged into one. The negative features are, the micro-wave cavity is large for which a higher power magnetron would be used thus consuming higher electricity costs for daytoday use. Even if a small part goes out of order, both convection and micro-wave modes would not work and the repair costs are relatively higher compared to the solo models of OTG and Microwave.

I started with the biggest oven available in India with all the features after paying Rs 18000. Believe I use micro-wave every day and spent almost Rs 22000 for repairs in the last 6 years on this oven itself. Every time it looks promising that with this repair it would work excellently. During these 6 years I was forced to purchase a solo micro-wave which works without problem and the magnetron was replaced after two years. I purchased an OTG and modified it for my requirements. Click here to see. Thus I want to caution my viewers not be carried away by the features of all-in-one type of ovens. These are good for occasional use by not for daily use. Segregate your needs and purchase accordingly or end up buying three ovens like me. I don't set an example here, mine is a case of caution.

I hope you are more confused after reading the post!!! Be cool and take a decision which suits you best. I just highlighted the facts. With three ovens at home it has been long since I have gone to the market to see what new models are available. I am out of touch !!!

Smt. Gayatri Sharma

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SITA NATARAJAN said...

Dear Gayathri,

I went through your blog.it is really wonderful.Seeing your video regarding making of bread i am also tempted to try it myself.Actually I am thinking of buying an oven for the purpopse of baking bread, pizza cakes , cookies and also for roasting veg with less oil. we are tamil brahmins with four members in thefamily. you have written in your article that you had to make some modifications in the otg. Can you pls throw some light on that?kindly suggest if Bajaj otg 34L would be ideal can we bake two loaves of bread in it.Kindly reply

December 1, 2010 10:47 AM

Gayatri Vantillu said...

Sita Natarajan Garu,

I have both OTG and convection ovens. For bread, cakes etc it would be better if you buy a convection oven as it has a fan behind and a turn table. In India we get convection ovens along with micro-wave. I use the convection mode only while baking.

The OTGs in India do not come with a fan to circulate air inside for which we need to turn the pans at intervals. In spite of this the baking would not match the baking in the convection ovens.

While buying look for the model in which the fan is at the back only. Don't be guided by the salesmen and take the convection models with fans on the top or side. They don't work!!!

In my Dum Biryani video recipe I have shown the modification which I have attempted to the OTG.

I prefer to use OTG where one has to bake for long times say beyond 45 minutes.

December 3, 2010 7:28 AM

Anonymous said...

Hello Gayatri garu,

I like all your authentic recipes . i stay in tandur ( near hyderabad).

i am planning to buy a new oven . could you kindly suggest which one to buy for making cakes , breads etc.

recently my sister who stays in USA , has send a pound cake recipe which requires a baking time of 1 hr.

As i don't have any idea about ovens . kindly suggest which one to buy.

thank you

Deepa

August 5, 2009 8:14 AM

Gayatri Vantillu said...

Deepa garu

Thanks for your compliments. Your post encouraged me to put this page on selection of ovens for home needs.

August 5, 2009 8:15 AM

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