Q&A for How to Use an Oven

When you broil something, you're just heating the top. It's useful for toasting break, melting cheese or chocolate on the surface of a dish, or drying out the surface of a meat to help seal in flavor and moisture. When you bake, you're heating up the item to a set temperature.

Hi! Electric ovens do usually take longer to preheat, but if your food seems to be taking excessive time to cook, it's probably best to contact the manufacturer or an appliance store to diagnose a problem

Avoid using things like plastic or thin glass cookware. Other glass cookware like Pyrex dishes are usually safe to use, but don't place these directly under the broiler.

Unplug it from the wall, or wait until the self-clean feature has finished. In some cases, you may need to lift the stovetop unit to manually unlock the oven (use your manual to find the proper entrance/latch), but never do this while the oven is on.

Set the temperature to 425, or turn on the broiler for barbecue meats. Cook them for 20-30 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked.

Ovens use 1000 to 5000 watts, with an average modern oven using around 2400 watts on medium to high heat.

The method for preheating will depend on the type of oven you have and what you're cooking or baking in it. A detailed article with pictures on what to do can be found here: How to Preheat an Oven .

Use either heat-resistant Pyrex or a metal oven dish.

You can dry herbs, make ornaments with clay or dry gloves/socks quickly (with the elements turned off, just using residual heat).

No, since the heat escapes and makes baking completely inefficient.

I would suggest reading through wikiHow's recipe for sweet biscuits , which are made in an oven.

Yes, but the temperature needs to be higher if you want to do this. The heat ventilation will be disturbed, so make sure to preheat it to 325*C for 15 minutes. The essence will also mix, for example, you may smell a bit of ham from the pies, and the other way around. Other than that, it will work perfectly fine.

Rotate the tin half-way through cooking, or cover the part that gets burnt with tin foil and remove the foil half to three quarters of the way through cooking time. You could also try a different location on the shelf or cook the cake on a lower shelf.