Slow Oven Cooking...

[creative]

Like most any kitchen oven out there I assume your oven has an "on" thermostat light. As long as it doesn't come on too frequently it is maintaining your pre-set temp pretty well. You're burning gas only when that thermostat/indicator light is on.

Ah...my cooker doesn't have that facility.

I am exploring other ways of finding this the info in my OP. It's not a burning issue but it would be nice to know the answer since it is stopping me trying out some long slow oven cooking recipes.

 

[Caslon]

Gas ovens tend to be not so good at long term cooking...heat loss. Why is that?

 

[Andy M.]

Gas ovens tend to be not so good at long term cooking...heat loss. Why is that?

I've never heard that before and never noticed it either. The effectiveness of the oven's insulation has nothing to do with the heat source.

I cook pot roasts and such in my oven all the time and they come out fine.

 

[RPCookin]

Gas ovens tend to be not so good at long term cooking...heat loss. Why is that?

I used a gas oven for my above mentioned cooking - worked just fine. I suppose that there must be some sort of circulation in a gas oven to support combustion, but I also assume that the oven design supports that need without losing efficiency.

If we are talking efficiency, in much of the world electric ranges are far less efficient overall. To make electricity, the power company first boils water to make steam to run the generator. To convert the electricity thus generated back into heat is extremely inefficient. Much more effective to just use gas directly to make the heat one time.

 

[Caslon]

Here in So. Calif. the oct/nov bill is $16. It's good for 2 months in the fall and 2 months in the spring.

 

[creative]

The cost of gas here in UK is rising quite alarmingly to some. As mentioned, this is not a burning issue for me but something I hoped I might get a quick answer to. (There are several recipes I would try, requiring long slow oven cooking e.g. drying out tomatoes). I still await replies from my contacts elsewhere.

 

[creative]

Ah...finally found my gas cooker handbook! Whilst it has a slow oven setting (S) it says to cook joints of meat/poultry "for at least 6 hours" I would have thought it depends on the size of the joint (but it has a limit of 6lb/2.75kg anyway). So that's that - cooking for 4 hours was beyond what I felt comfortable with!

Thanks for your posts anyway.

 

[Mad Cook]

Gas ovens tend to be not so good at long term cooking...heat loss. Why is that?

I worked for many years for British Gas both before and after de-nationalisation. I can assure you that gas ovens are perfectly good for long or short term cooking unless the appliance has developed a fault in the oven thermostat which is very rare and could happen equally well with an electric oven. Assuming the oven parts are still in production the thermostat is replaceable by a properly qualified gas engineer.

I've cooked on gas for all my life (including on a cooker dating back to 1949) and never had problems. With all types of oven - gas, electricity. oil or solid fuel - it is worth using an oven thermometer to check the oven temperature from time to time to check that it is still accurate but there is no reason to think that thermostat faults are any more likely with gas than any other fuels

 

[Mad Cook]

How do I ascertain if it is well insulated? Presumably this means more than being at the correct temp - I have an oven thermometer.

If it bears the British Standards Kite Mark it will be suitably insulated. What make is it and I'll see if I can find out.

Insulation ensures that the oven maintains the required heat throughout to cooking time by raising or lowering the flame as required. The thermostat regulates this

 

[Mad Cook]

Like most any kitchen oven out there I assume your oven has an "on" thermostat light. As long as it doesn't come on too frequently it is maintaining your pre-set temp pretty well. You're burning gas only when that thermostat/indicator light is on.

Few if any gas cookers will have an on/off thermostat light and the flame does not go on and off to regulate the heat it merely raises or lowers in order to regulate the heat in the cavity. You are confusing your fuel types.

 

[Mad Cook]

I used a gas oven for my above mentioned cooking - worked just fine. I suppose that there must be some sort of circulation in a gas oven to support combustion, but I also assume that the oven design supports that need without losing efficiency.

If we are talking efficiency, in much of the world electric ranges are far less efficient overall. To make electricity, the power company first boils water to make steam to run the generator. To convert the electricity thus generated back into heat is extremely inefficient. Much more effective to just use gas directly to make the heat one time.

Yes there is and yes it does.

In a standard (ie not fan assisted) oven with the burners actually IN the cavity at the bottom rear of the oven cavity (not under the oven base plate as some foreign makes are) the heat circulates round the cavity and varies from top to bottom of the cavity. As heat rises the temperature is hotter at the top and cooler at the bottom and the temperature you set the oven to cook at will be in the middle of the cavity which is why you can cook items requiring different cooking temperatures in the oven at the same time.