Question about baking in a toaster oven

[merci_me]

The oven on my stove bit the dust and I can't get a new stove for awhile, since it will be part of a major kitchen remodel, which is currently hinging on the economy. Sooooooooo, I bought a really great Cuisinart toaster oven (plus we have a small oven in our outdoor kitchen, small but larger than the toaster oven and I have a big roaster and six slow cookers, so it's not as sad as it could be).

However, I haven't tried baking cakes and brownies in the Cuisinart. Mainly, because it won't take two layer pans, or a 9x13. The oven is 11 1/2 inches wide and I have the 7x11 pans, but they have side grips. After much searching, I was at IKEA this week and bought a glass 7x11 pan with smooth sides, which slides in beautifully. So now what?

Has anyone baked a cake or brownies in a glass pan, adjusting for the glass, the close proximity of the heat AND the conversion of a cake or brownie mix, to 7x11? I've checked the brands at the groceries and they show 9x13, then down to 9x9, but none show 7x11. Between that and the close heat source and glass, I'm confused about what time and temp to try. I plan to use a mix, since it's easier and I figure I'll be over baking or under baking a few times to test it. But if anyone has been there, done that, I'd love some feedback.

[Phentex]

1. My toaster oven is Miley Cyrus - it cannot be tamed!

The boys and I have tried to kill it but we have to figure out a way to do it so that my husband cannot fix it. It was a gift. From him.

It burns most all toast. It has to be babied.

Anyway, it's big and it's convection so I have baked in it. I think it runs hot even if I adjust the temps. And there are only two rack settings, one very close to the top, one very close to the bottom. I have rigged it at times to make a center rack and that helps. I've had okay luck with mini cupcakes, cookies, etc. as long as I watch it like a hawk.

I think you'll just have to experiment!

[grasswire]

2. first I suggest checking the temp

...with an oven thermometer. My new GE convection-toaster oven will not get above 350 even when the dial is set at 450. I'm extremely disappointed in it.

So I think you want to make sure of the temp before you bake.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. I've been baking in toaster ovens for years...

and a certain amount of experimentation is necessary but I've been able to do everything from bake bread and cakes to roast chickens in the five or six I've owned.

The temperature control is merely a suggestion in most, and good thermometers are necessary for some things. I always test the internal temps of meats, and have a large collection of bamboo skewers I use while watching for the burning of baked goods. Even if the temp is way off, you can usually compensate somehow.

The one I have now is a ginormous Hamilton Beach convection oven that I found on sale at K-Mart. (Actually, the only place I've ever seen it was at K-Mart.) Temps aren't much more accurate than others I've had but it comes with a rotisserie gadget and is big enough to hold two normal cake or cupcake pans or one Bundt pan. Sometimes, one pan will be too close to the top element and the other too close to the bottom, so it's a pain but switching them at some point is often necessary. If using just one pan, I can usually adjust the rack far enough from the bottom element to not have to worry.

Don't worry about what the brownie packages say-- when I've used brownie mixes, even the better ones like Ghirardelli, I use the recommended time as a very general guide.

[Warpy]

4. Toaster ovens heat from top and bottom

heat unevenly, and can be challenging as hell. I've done biscuits in mine, but I've slipped a sheet of foil over the tops halfway through. They're much better at bagels or chicken breasts than they are at baked goods. My own is the cheapest Black & Decker out there. Maybe if you paid Cuisinart prices, it'll heat evenly enough to do some brownies.

[merci_me]

5. The Cuisinart is fantastic and yes I did overspend

but I knew the full kitchen remodel is getting farther away than we thought, since our income is tied to gulf coast exploration, yikes!! If we were planning on replacing our 30 wide range with another 30 inch, I'd do it now and work the rest of the remodel later, but we have a 38 inch in mind and that's going to mean reworking the cabinets and counters at the same time, so now we wait until British Petroleum cleans up the disaster they've given the industry and we can get back to work.

Anyway, the Cuisinart was about $120. We've had it about 3 months and it works like a charm for baking/roasting/broiling, does very well with baking frozen roll and biscuits, too. My husband does his chocolate chip cookies and they bake just fine. I don't know why I'm so squeamish about brownies and cakes.

Our 13 y/o grandson is staying with us Mondays thru Fridays 24/5 while school's out, so he doesn't have to get up at 6am for his mom to bring him here before work, and he's been hinting at "homemade" brownies and cake. LOL, yesterday I was at Krogers and even bought the 13 y/o a "day old" Shrek birthday cake on the mark down table. That ought to hold him til his mom takes him and the rest of the cake home Friday. Then this weekend, I'll do some experimenting with the oven, while he's not around to get his hopes up. hahaha

[Warpy]

6. I do have a recipe that fits in a 7x11 pan

It's a stick and a half of butter and 4 squares of unsweetened chocolate melted together (sounds great already, right). Once they're well combined, take the pan off heat, beat in 2 cups of sugar then 4 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of flour, a teaspoon of vanilla, half a teaspoon of salt and nuts or chocolate chips (for the truly decadent chocolate overload). The recipe calls for a 9x9x2 pan but I find it works just fine in the 7x11 pan, albeit making thicker brownies.

If the Cuisinart works that well, I might be tempted. My problem isn't a dead oven, it's the fact that it heats the house too efficiently in a desert summer.

[cleveramerican]

7. only tip for toaster oven baking I have

keep an eye on it.

I have burnt too many things to ever walk away again.

[canetoad]

8. Spot on.

I bought one about 18 months ago and use it continously...but you have to watch the temperature.