Team-BHP - The Home Appliance thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 2629873)

Thanks.

I see the large OTGs( mostly over 28 litres in size) have a convection function in them - essentially a fan to circulate the heat.

Would this be useful ?

Not sure. Never used one with this feature. However, for my 17lt oven, I never felt the requirement of even heating as it has heating rods both at top and bottom.

Regards,

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 2629873)

Thanks.

I see the large OTGs( mostly over 28 litres in size) have a convection function in them - essentially a fan to circulate the heat.

Would this be useful ? Googling says that a convection oven helps in evenly distributing the heat and allows cooking at lower temperatures. While this may be true with large ovens , not sure if if this applies to the medium sized OTGs ( ~20 litre ), and if there would be a noticeable different in the taste/quality of food with and without the convection utility.

Any oven, what ever its size, would benefit from uniform heat distribution. If there is uneven heat distribution, you will have say, one end of a Pizza burnt while the other end under done.

When the food is baked evenly, its tastes better as there are no under cooked/over cooked parts.

The ultimate idea is to cook food uniformly. Large thick pieces take time to cook, while small thin pieces cook faster. If you use high heat for thick pieces - meat roasts or cakes you will end up burning the outer parts while the inner portions remain uncooked, hence you use lower heat for longer time. For thin pieces like pizzas or biscuits, higher the heat faster the cooking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 2630483)

Convection ovens are preferred in the west. Faster cooking, uniform heat distribution, etc. Over here due to erratic power electric ovens are not that popular.

I am not sure if erratic power supply has anything to do with it. Bombay has electric supply as good anywhere in the world, but ovens are still not popular - I think the reason being Indian cooking doesn't have a lot of baking or other forms of cooking which involve ovens. The only baking which used to be done in India is cakes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carboy (Post 2631251)

May be.We are enthusiastic about baking. When we were in the IIT Campus I was on the lookout for a convection oven. Now off campus with the power situation I may be able to bake successfully may be 25% of the time. This is a Tier II City with about 3 million population.

Sirji, you will be better off with a conventional oven, not convection, for your needs. With most convection ovens, convection dries up the item being baked because of the high fan speed. Cakes from such ovens usually have a distinct charred flavor on the surface even if the insides are not cooked through. Reminds one of "cake kabab".

Convection works well on large stuff like turkey (with skin) or leg of pork. For smaller gentler veggie stuff it is disastrous.

I have been using a gas oven for over thirty years. I stay away from electric ovens due to two reasons
1. Cost of 'fuel'
2. Unpredictable supply. Imagine loosing power half way through a cake bake.

As I bake quite a lot of things - cakes, potatoes, chicken and mutton, I find a large oven heaven sent. For small jobs I tried the microwave but that requires totally different preparation and method.

Regarding convection - it will be a nice to have accessory as one corner of my oven is hotter than the the rest so I have to be careful how I arrange my pot(s) in the oven.

Now that I am thinking I have also been on Gas since 1977 when we bought our first cooking range (K-Chef). The only time I used electric was from 1989-91 when we were in the UK. Of course as pointed out by Thad the temperature gradient does have its advantages and uses.

Folks, please suggest a good fully automatic washing machine, it should be reliable and after sales service should be very good. Should last longer and at time should be able handle the load more the specified load occasionally.

I had a Onida fully automatic washing which served me for 12 yrs and gave up yesterday.

Am buying this today evening.

Thanks in Advance.
Rajesh

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2500cc (Post 2632448)

I am extremely satisfied with my IFB front load, but I have heard horror stories of service outside NCR. From what I have read, LG direct drive seems to be the best.

One note of caution. With washing machines err on the side of a lower load rather than higher load. Lower load washes perfectly, while higher load inhibits the tumbling action, hence clothes do not come out that clean. When ever in doubt use two cycles - first one full load and the next half load. Half load consumes less soap and much less water.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2500cc (Post 2632448)

Folks, please suggest a good fully automatic washing machine, it should be reliable and after sales service should be very good.
Rajesh

Bought a LG 6 kg front loading washing machine (1256NDP) about ten days back from Reliance. Have other products in the home from both LG & Whirlpool & neither has disappointed on the service front till now.

We bought a samsung last month for my mom. Best fit and finish in the top loading <15k variety. Bought the 82BSL for 12700 cash.

whirlpool/LG have good enough service but didnt like their TL machines in that budget. even panasonic was nice but doubts on service given it was for mom made us ditch it