Hi have just been bought a new oven, would like to try and cook jacket potatoes. Is it best to part cook first or cook from raw. Does anyone have any tips on how best to cook them.

Hi Michelle,

I cooked jacket potatoes from raw and ended up with a "crust" round them. Next time I will try part cooking them in the microwave as this will reduce the time in the Halogen Oven and should stop them drying out quite so much. Also, if the temperature is too high they will dry out anyway. Probably a temperature of about 175C should be OK - I did mine at 190 as per normal and think that is why they dried out.

Hope this helps. If anyone else has suggestions I am sure they will let you know - they're a good bunch on here.

Happy cooking

thanks will give them a go

Hi, I am also new to Halogen cooking but also tried jacket potatoes. I par-cooked them first in the microwave and then put them on the high rack and put on 175 degrees and they turned out great, nice and crispy skin and soft innards. So, definitely par-cook the potatoes first I would say.

I've also now cooked a bread pudding in the oven and it turned out great! Have tried roast chicken and you definitely need to cook it breast side down first - a tip I picked up on this brilliant forum! Thanks one and all!

Hi Thinlizzy,

Would you put your recipe for bread pudding up on the forum please? I love bread pudding and have not found a recipe yet - apart from my mums and I got that wrong ha ha ha.

Thanks

Hi John,

Yes I certainly will put my bread pudding recipe on...mine was also my mum's, but I modified it a bit along the way. It will have to be tomorrow now though as it's a bit late. The one I made in the halogen oven was much appreciated today by a couple of workmen who are currently doing some work for us....so it must've turned out okay!

I'll post the recipe tomorrow then.

Hi John,

As promised my bread pudding recipe. I have always previously cooked this in a fan assisted electric oven but I just simply put my ceramic dish on top of the low wire rack and cooked it at 175 degrees for the first hour and then 160 for an extra 20 mins approx. and it turned out beautifully. I guess you'll just have to try it and see and I hope it turns out as good for you

Bread Pudding:
Ingredients: 1lb bread - can be white or brown but cut off the crusts if they are particularly thick and hard - 1 pint milk, 4 oz melted butter, 6 oz soft dark brown sugar (you can use white if you can't get soft brown),
4 level TEASPOONS mixed spice, 2 beaten eggs, 12 oz mixed fruit - can be currants, raisins, sultanas or mixed fruit with candied peel in it. 3-4 oz chopped dates and about 6 or seven cut up glace cherries plus a large TABLESPOON of black treacle (but this is an optional extra).
Grated rind of a large orange & finally some freshly grated nutmeg.

Method: For a normal oven only - Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F). Grease a 4-5 pint baking dish - this will probably be about the size of the 10" baking tin but I use a square pottery lasagna dish.
Begin by breaking the bread into pieces and place them in a large bowl. Pour over the milk, give it a good stir and then leave it for about 15 mins so the bread soaks up all the milk.
Then add the melted butter, the sugar and the mixed spice and beaten egg. Beat the mixture well making sure that there are no lumps remaining then stir in the mixed fruit, chopped dates and glace cherries and grated orange rind.
Spread the mixture into the prepared baking dish and grate some fresh nutmeg over the top.
For a normal oven only - Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 1/4 hours, middle shelf.

As I said above, for the halogen oven I simply put the dish onto the low rack (to aid circulation of the heat) and cooked for approx. 1 hour on 175 degrees then lowered the heat to 160 for about another 20 mins.

Hope you have success and enjoy the fruits of your labour!! :cheers:

Hi Thinlizzy,

Would you mind if I copy your recipe into the Favourite Recipes section? It looks absolutely fabulous. Very different to the one my mum does - but she doesn't like dates.

I cant wait to try it out. Will have to do about half the size because my oven is only a 7 litre one and that looks a bit too big to fit in there. Cant wait to try it.

Thanks ever so

Hi ThinLizzy,

Thanks for the bread pudding recipe. It's like the one my mum used to make, I did have her recipe but lost it, and she's dead now so I can't ask her for a copy! I shall certainly be having a go at that very soon. Mo

Hi John, Hi Mo,

John, no worries please feel free to put the recipe on the Favourites section, hope you enjoy it and please let me know once you've tried it out.

Mo, glad to be of service, hope it turns out well

All the best,
Marion

Hi Thinlizzy,

I've been working through some recipes etc. Can you confirm, with your bread pudding recipe, are you sure its 1lb of bread and not 1kg? seems to be not quite enough bread - This is just a confirmation, not a criticizm just to make sure that when I try it I have everything right. I'll be doing that next weekend (after I have had my back waxed for the Haiti disaster fund - see the general chat tab for info) and am really looking forward to trying it.

Look forward to hearing from you

Hi John,

Just checked my recipe and it's definitely 1lb bread, it does make quite a soft mixture but as I always put masses of extra bits (cherries, dates, nuts) then the moisture gets soaked up by the extras. It's more like a rich fruitcake than a stodgy bread pud I guess. Everyone seems to like it tho' (especially the workman who just finished the sofits and facias on our house!). Anyway, give it a go and let me know what you think

All the best,
Marion

Hi, having read previous posts I cooked my baked potatoes from raw in my new oven. (I want to use the HO in my touring caravan and do away with the need to carry a microwave.)
I rubbed them with a little oil, placed them on the lower rack and cooked them at 180C. I turned them to brown them evenly and they turned out perfect. Slightly crisp and brown on the outside and light and fluffy all the way through.
They took almost as long as they would have in my standard oven but, with the lower temperature and output of the HO, they were still more economical.
All the best, Junie

I agree Junie, that's just how I do mine and they are absolutely delicious, so crispy outside and fluffy inside. We have a motorhome and we may decide to get a smaller one to keep in that, but I want to do some more experimenting at home first. Great fun isn't it? And on the forum, don't you meet a nice class of people!

Hi Mo, yes it is fun and you certainly do meet nice people.
It's the 7 litre one that we bought with the caravan in mind. The baked potatoes were the first things I have cooked in the new oven and I'm very encouraged. I toasted crumpets for lunch today and they were lovely too. I am looking forward to experimenting more but I had to start somewhere!!!