3 Tips on dealing with differences between Electric or Gas ovens and Charcoal Ovens

 In this post on our Baking with A Charcoal Oven Series, we want to give you a few tips on getting past the differences between charcoal ovens and gas or electric ovens.

Charcoal Oven

We hope this helps you in getting used to baking with your charcoal oven.

1. Lighting your oven
   While lighting a gas or electric oven, it’s as easy as flipping a switch, turning a knob or pressing a button. A charcoal oven requires lighting a jiko then lighting the oven burners with the coals from the jiko. Click on this link for more details on lighting your charcoal oven. This is a bit more time-consuming but once you get used to the small routine, it’s a matter of organizing yourself and it will be very easy for you. It’s worth it since a charcoal oven is more economical.

   Lighting a charcoal oven is not so hard ^_^

2. Temperature Control
   The other difference on the ovens is temperature control. Gas or electric ovens have an in-built temperature gauge that makes it easy to set the temperature. The charcoal oven takes a bit of getting used to when it comes to temperature control. To get a high temperature, you just add a bit more coal to get more heat on the burners. For low heat, you put less heat (coals) in the burners for a lower temperature. You can get used to the kind of heat you prefer to use with regular practice. However, a sure way to have a perfect temperature every time is to purchase a high temperature thermometer and place it in your oven while preheating to get the correct temperature for the oven. You can purchase a high temperature thermometer from Cookswell, 0r check Cake supplies shops such as Topserve Ltd on Accra Rd in Nairobi CBD they sell them for about Kshs. 900.

   You can use a high temp thermometer for temperature control

   If you would like to get practice on getting used to it, you can sign up for one of our classes to learn how to bake with a charcoal oven.

3. Safety
   While baking you should make sure you use oven mitts while handling the oven and baking pans at all times.

   Use Oven Mitts for kitchen safety

   While baking with a charcoal oven, it is important to make sure you have them since a charcoal oven can get very hot (hotter than a gas or electric oven gets) and even the doors can burn your skin with very little contact. Just make sure you avoid touching any part of the charcoal oven with your bare hands, or without oven mitts, and always wear a long sleeved top or chef coat while baking to avoid burns.