Oven - when to bake & when to grill?

Azbubu

Azbubu

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As far as i know, grilling cooks by using direct heat whereas baking cooks by using hot air.
I usually use the grill function on my oven when cooking things like fish & chicken. I assume baking is more for cakes and biscuits etc, correct?

As for oven chips for example, would you bake or grill? I find grilling makes them crispy. I haven't tried baking them but would that result in softer, fluffier chips?

Basically, when should you use the grill function and when the bake function?

Edit: I just realized that I actually broil not grill. Broiling is when the heat comes from above the food and grilling is when the heat comes from below the food. This just complicates things even further.

So when to broil, grill and bake?
 
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Way I was told as a kid:

Bake - uses the bottom element to generate all round heat in the oven.
Grill - uses the top element to char via infrared or direct heat.

Don't worry - someone will come along will a scientific explanation later!! :D
 
Thanks. I just want to find out which foods are better off grilled, broiled or baked. The chips/wedges for example, i'd like them soft instead of hard & crispy which broiling does.

/waits for DJ :D
 
abzo said:
Packets usually have both grilling and baking options. The baking option is usually longer from what I've seen.
Click to expand...

If I'm presented with both options I usually go for baking. Grilling will cook fast but since
The food is so close to the element it can get burned easily and/or only the top of the food will get warm.

With baking it heats all the way through.
 
** Slightly slightly off topic **


Abzo - if you want nice wedges/chips/roast potatoes, try making them from scratch. I find the bought ones always come out a bit dry. Anyway, to make the perfect soft-but-crispy wedge/chip/roast potatoe, blanche them first (Blanching is a cooking process wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval, and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water to halt the cooking process.). Then you put them in the hot oil. I have also baked chips that have been blanched and if you do it right, they can come out yummy (and healthy, hehe).
 
you cook the "chicken" till done, then to brown it or make it crisp, grill for eg 10 minutes.
 
Thanks will try that blanching technique.

Are frozen chips/ wedges usually precooked then frozen? I don't believe that they're entirely raw.
 
The frozen ones are very definitely precooked..

All you're doing is crisping up the outside and heating the inside.
 
Looking at this chicken I bought from Woolies it says roast in oven. Waht does that mean, turn on both bake and grill?
 
MickeyD said:
Way I was told as a kid:

Bake - uses the bottom element to generate all round heat in the oven.
Grill - uses the top element to char via infrared or direct heat.

Don't worry - someone will come along will a scientific explanation later!! :D
Click to expand...
Wow, seeing that in this thread has now made me sad again.

Why @Rouxenator, why.
 
Ninja'd said:
Looking at this chicken I bought from Woolies it says roast in oven. Waht does that mean, turn on both bake and grill?
Click to expand...
Yes, fans moving air and the heating element, like using grill in the oven. Plus Grill means it is moved around, you will see the ovens they use rotates the chickens around.

cook (food, especially meat) by prolonged exposure to heat in an oven or over a fire.
Click to expand...
 
Wow didn’t even realize this was my thread. I’ve come a long way since then. I’m pretty much a masterchef now.
 
Ninja'd said:
Looking at this chicken I bought from Woolies it says roast in oven. Waht does that mean, turn on both bake and grill?
Click to expand...
The grill is just when you want to grill the top of something crispy or brown fast. For example if you want to melt cheese on bread or something like pork/lamb chops. You just grill them quickly each side and they will be cooked.
Bake is for things that take longer to cook, like a whole chicken or a roast etc. No need to put on grill with bake, because its in so much longer, the outside will still be brown and crispy.
If you Woolies chicken is just pieces, I would set the heat at the highest possible and bake it, because its not going to take more than 20/30min to cook and you still want the crispy outside, For whole chicken or roast you normally set to about 180C
 
abzob said:
Wow didn’t even realize this was my thread. I’ve come a long way since then. I’m pretty much a masterchef now.
Click to expand...
So, masterchef, when to bake & when to grill?
 
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