[Yorkie]

First time I've cooked a cake in this oven.  It was my usual choc courgette traybake.

The top was colouring (i.e. pre-burning) and it looked risen but after I'd got it out and cooled it a little, it had sunk quite a bit and it wasn't cooked all the way through.

What did I probably do wrong?  It's a fan oven and I'm not really au fait with how they work by comparison to non-fan ovens.  I did decrease the temperature on the dial a little to prevent it burning, and cooked it for the recommended time.

On a related note, the oven setting dial has several settings.  The piccie for the fan oven is a fan shape with a circle outside it.  The previous setting on the dial is a fan shape without the circle.  Is that likely to be oven without fan?  The other two settings appear to be grill of some description.  I don't even know the make of the oven, let alone model so can't google for the destruction booklet.  Any ideas? 

[Ice]

Post a piccie, someone might recognise it.

[Yorkie]

Thought for a moment you meant a piccie of the cake  :blink:


Oven:




Dial (couldn't get it any clearer, might be too fuzzy):




Edit: it doesn't really look that dirty either!!

[Ice]

Mine is a double oven and the symbol with two parallel lines is the same as the one that relates to my conventional oven, ie not fan assisted.

[Yorkie]

Thanks, Ice.  I've always thought it is a fan oven - you can hear something fan-like going round for some minutes after you switch the oven off 

Might try some googling for oven manuals to see if anything similar crops up.

[Junie]

It may be worth investing in a oven thermometer, I had a whirlpool oven when we moved into our brand new house about 12 years ago, which had an actual temp of 200 when I had set 180.  It just needd tweaking each time I used it.  A complete pain, but I got used to it and it was cheaper and easier than a new oven!

[Yorkie]

I think that's a good idea, Junie, it had crossed my mind but it's useful to know that they're not just a gimmick.  Lakeland do one at a fiver so I'll be popping in to get one 

[Junie]

It's also worth moving it around the oven in case your fan is not working very well.

[purplebean]

what temperature did you cook it at? I find that 150 is about right for almost all cakes in my fan oven,any hotter and the top cooks too quickly

[Yorkie]

Thanks PB.

I don't think I cooked it as low as 150.  I think the recipe called for 190 and I knocked it down to about 170.

I have now the thermometer and will just have to experiment 

Eggs bought ready for the experimentation, just don't tell the healthy living lot 

[joyfull]

I won't tell the others if you promise to post me a slice   

[Yorkie]

You're on 

[cob nut]

what temperature did you cook it at? I find that 150 is about right for almost all cakes in my fan oven,any hotter and the top cooks too quickly

When I cook a fruit cake I have to reduce my fan oven to 140º otherwise it cooks too quickly on the top.

[Yorkie]

Gosh, that is quite a difference.

Have stocked up on eggs so will try the second cake this weekend!

[Ma Lowe]

You need to reduce the tempreture of a fan oven as the heat is fanned around the oven so that the whole oven should be the same tempreture where as normal ovens are hotter at the top. A thermometer is a good idea as not all cokkers give out the correct tempretures in correspondence with the dial

I cook all my sponges on a low heat as this gives me a paler and flatter sponge. I also use gas  which I find a lot better than electric.

I cook sponges on gas 2 and fruit cakes on either 1 or simmer. Never had a problem yet (croses fingers and toes) :happy: