Twenty-four inch oven....

[Tussiemussies]

I am used to a range and when we move for quite a while I will have to deal with having a twenty four inch wall oven, boy is that ever tiny. Does anyone here have one? Any tips on using it? I heard the heat doesn't circulate well around the pans because it is so small making for uneven cooking. Even with small pans. Eventually we will put a range in but not for quite awhile.

[SteveinMN]

My mom had a 20" freestanding range in her place before we remodeled (and put in a "standard" 30" range). Maybe it's better at the higher end of the model range, but, yes, it was hard to cook food evenly. She had to turn pans manually and monitor carefully to make sure food cooked -- and didn't burn. It may be possible to find an oven that has true convection (or at least a fan) to circulate air better, but it probably won't be cheap. :(

[Tussiemussies]

Thanks Steve for letting me know about how your Mom handled it. I don't think this will be too fun. A concession (sp?) we had to make on this house...

[Float On]

Well you learn something new almost daily on these boards. I always assumed that a smaller oven would be less expensive to run because it always seems like a lot of wasted space in my oven when there is just one pan in there. Never considered there would be air flow and uneven heat issues.

[sweetana3]

A small oven is not necessarily a bad oven. Usually they are cheaply built and not well insulated. Our 50+ year old Chambers had a tiny oven but due to cast iron construction, it had even heat and cooked perfectly.

It is wise not to put huge pans in that restrict airflow but they might not fit in a 20/24 inch range oven either.

If I was building a house just for me, I would have one or two induction burners and a very good convection oven with great insulation. That should cover all I ever need.

[awakenedsoul]

[QUOTE=sweetana3;111283]A small oven is not necessarily a bad oven. Usually they are cheaply built and not well insulated. Our 50+ year old Chambers had a tiny oven but due to cast iron construction, it had even heat and cooked perfectly.

It is wise not to put huge pans in that restrict airflow but they might not fit in a 20/24 inch range oven either.

I love those Chambers stoves. I have a 1950's O'Keefe and Merritt that I bought used and had brought up to code. I love it! The ovens were smaller back in those days, but this one browns things so evenly! I can't fit in my larger cookie sheets, but I have adjusted. My aunt had the same range, and I remember one time her Thanksgiving turkey was too big to cook in the oven! She had to leave the door partway open! It still cooked, and tasted delicious.

The newer ovens don't last nearly as long. My mom has a top of the line stove, and she already had to have it repaired. I donated my 1960's Magic Chef to our Salvation Army. It was the first model with the safety. I had the thermostat replaced and it worked like a charm. I hope someone who needed it found it for a good price and is cooking their dinners on it now. It's fun to read up on the history of those old companies.

[Suzanne]

When I lived in a caravan, my stove had a very small oven. I doubt it was as big as 24". I baked bread in it every second day for my family, 2 loaves at a time. I did have to turn the loaves and switch their places halfway through the cooking, but it wasn't much of a hassle. When baking just one item, say a cake, or roasting a chicken, there was no need to move stuff. I just put them in the centre of the oven's only shelf, set my timer, and went away. Currently I use a small countertop oven, with fan assisted convection cooking, and it's fine as long as I don't use a pan that doesn't leave an inch free on all sides.

[Dhiana]

I have a very small oven in my Japanese apartment here and have no trouble making everything from pizzas to whole chickens to breads and cobblers. A 13" pizza stone just barely fits inside.
As Suzanne mentioned there is no need to move stuff around if it isn't stuffed full. I use a 9 x 7 glass pan to bake brownies and also for baking a 5lb chicken with some vegets. No need to move it or turn it because there is enough space around it thoroughly bake it. My stone bread pans work just fine in it also.

It should all work out fine for you :)

[Tussiemussies]

Thank you all for letting me know your experiences with small ovens...I feel more confidant now that I will be able to make good use of this oven. After some time I will let you know how I made out!
:)

[jennipurrr]

I have a 50+ year oven that is small...not sure if it is 24 inches. I think it might be smaller...maybe it is 22 inches? It is brown and original to the house. The kitchen is too small for a range, and it isn't really a size they make anymore... so it would take a major rework of the kitchen to change it :/

The thing cooks like crap. It burns everything. I have had to adjust cooking temps downward and watch it like a hawk. That generally works for me and somehow I've been living with it for over seven years. I never have thought that it could be because of lack of circulation...learn something new every day!

I have wondered if it might be a good thing to replace it with one of the convection oven/microwave combos of one of those would fit.

[Tussiemussies]

Hi jenn, hope you remedy your situation with your oven...maybe the temperature is off? You can always buy an oven thermometer To see if the inside temp is matching what is on the dial. I plan on doing that just to be sure. Christine

My sister bought a convection/microwave and wishes she had just bought a second oven and a microwave instead...

[Gregg]

In the past people would put fire bricks in the ovens of small wood stoves to help provide some mass and keep the temperature more even. Perhaps you could do that here maybe on the lower rack if there is two. In lieu of fire bricks a pizza stone would at least be enough mass to help.

[Tussiemussies]

Thanks Gregg, since it is electric and the element is on the bottom, I think I'll try the brick on top , this way the air can still circulate around. That seemed to be one of the biggest issues from what I have read. Things would burn on the bottom and be uncooked on top. What do you think? Thanks.

[Gregg]

The trick with brick or other things used for thermal mass is that you want it close to the heating element so it will essentially soak up the big blast of heat you get when the element comes on and help radiate it more slowly to the food. To get a benefit out of it you have to pre-heat your oven for long enough that the bricks (or stone) get up to the oven temperature before you put the food in. What causes uneven cooking is the element turning on and off. When that happens your oven may go from 250* to 450*. It averages out to 350*, but is a lot different than maintaining a constant 350*. The mass is used to hold that heat so the element doesn't have to come on every time you peek at the cake or baste the bird.

[Tussiemussies]

Thanks so much Gregg for this information. I will try this and when I start baking, will let you know how I made out.
Christine

[daisy]

A small oven is not necessarily a bad oven. Usually they are cheaply built and not well insulated. Our 50+ year old Chambers had a tiny oven but due to cast iron construction, it had even heat and cooked perfectly.



The Chambers oven is deceptively small. It's about the same size as our 30" wall oven, but turned sideways. I can fit commercial half sheet pans in there.

As for the 24" oven, yes, that is tiny! My sister has one of those and she has trouble finding baking pans that will fit it. She had to buy tiny little cookie sheets when she moved into her home. Oddly enough, the oven isn't all that old, so whoever remodeled the kitchen in the 1990s, must not have been much of a baker.