What Are Halogen Ovens Good For?
Halogen ovens are a relatively new addition to the kitchen. They use halogen or halogen-type lighting to cook food. The light from these bulbs is much closer to sunlight than regular incandescent bulbs. I believe they are one of the most energy-efficient ways to cook your food.
The Halogen Oven can be used for cooking most foods including cakes, breads, pies, pastries, fish, chicken, etc. – anything that you would cook in an ordinary oven can be cooked in a Halogen Oven – and all at the same temperature as if it were conventionally cooked.
What are halogen ovens good for? They are good at cooking meats, especially chicken and fish that need even heat distribution around the item being cooked. You can also cook vegetables quickly because they will retain all of their nutrients.
There are two types of foods that work really well with this type of cooking method: frozen foods and leftovers. You can cook frozen chicken breasts or fish fillets without having them dry out because it cooks evenly throughout the dish. The same goes for reheating leftovers, which will leave them just as tasty as when they were first cooked.
What Is A Halogen Oven?
It is an oven that uses halogen bulbs to get heat. The halogen lamp gives off infrared light, which heats up your food. The best thing about this type of oven is that it cooks your food faster than other types of ovens. They are also great at preserving the taste, texture, and appearance of food. Most chefs will tell you that halogen ovens are the best thing to happen to the culinary world since the invention of fire.
Halogen ovens use infra-red technology that allows for improved functionality and flexibility. You can bake, toast, broil, roast, warm, or even boil all your favorite foods. Halogen ovens can be positioned anywhere in your kitchen.
The ovens come with a range of temperature settings and allow you to cook almost anything, including meats, fish, vegetables, casseroles, fruits, and desserts. Some models even let you make pizza! You are really only limited by the size of the oven which is usually compact and countertop in design.
Broiling steaks with the halogen oven is particularly convenient as it allows for perfect browning on both sides without overcooking them. Venison is another type of meat that does well in the halogen oven as it keeps shrinkage to a minimum while still allowing for sufficient tenderizing during cooking. Vegetables retain their taste and texture when cooked in this appliance which makes it ideal for preparing side dishes and salads.
- Many people who love using their halogen oven do so because they can get things done in less time. They are also easy to clean and maintain because they are made of stainless steel.
- The food cooked in these ovens has a great flavor because all the juices are locked in due to the tight seal formed by the aluminum sheets used in its construction.
- These foods also have a very nice presentation when served, since the halogen oven uses steam pressure during cooking that forces liquids into the top layer of meat or vegetables being cooked, for example.
- They are popular with cooks who want more precise temperature control than conventional ovens offer and do not require the large capacity of professional-sized convection ovens.
- Because halogen ovens cook food from the top and bottom simultaneously, they shorten cooking times and eliminate the need for turning or stirring foods.
We’ve already seen that you can cook just about anything in a halogen oven however let’s look at some specific questions people quite often ask and cover them in more detail…
Can You Cook Chips In A Halogen Oven?
Yes, you can do chips in a halogen oven. And you have two choices -you fry chips the easy way (can use store-bought ready to go chips)) or you can make them the harder way (homemade chips). Okay, it’s not really that hard. If making chips from scratch simply use the parboil technique.
I had to use that word to sound clever. Parboil just means to part boil – par (part). After you have made your raw potato chips put them in a pot of water and boil them for a few minutes. This just makes them soft and ready to go into your halogen oven. Either way (homemade or prepackage), chips are great with just about anything and are a great go-to snack for a party or a quick snack.
There are many advantages of cooking chips in a halogen oven, one being that it cooks better tasting chips than those cooked over traditional methods.
You can cook your chips at very high temperatures which allows you to cook the deep-fried chips quickly and easily. With a halogen oven, you can cook chips within minutes. It gives you the kind of results that are associated with deep-frying, but without the mess. And it is safe too.
Can You Cook Frozen Chips In A Halogen Oven?
Yes, indeed you can. This is where halogen ovens really excel. The ability to cook food (including chips) from frozen and they taste great. All you have to do is spread them out on the rack and start cooking.
- What temperature do you cook your chips in a halogen oven? Most agree that 220 degrees are the best setting. But you might have to experiment as some go as low as 205 while others go as high as 300.
- How long does it take to cook frozen chips in your halogen oven? A lazy 15 minutes should do the trick. You will see them go nice and golden brown.
Can You Use Oil In A Halogen Oven?
You can liberally cover your chips in oil with no issues. Most recipes call for it as oil will help in adding that wonderful golden glow to your chips. Not to mention added flavor as well.
So you can fry your chips in a halogen oven and get excellent results. Plus… It’s fast!
Can You Cook A Pizza In A Halogen Oven?
The halogen oven is ideal for cooking pizza as the top of the pizza comes out crispy and brown but the bottom remains soft and delicious. In a conventional oven, pizzas take much longer to cook as the top burns before the bottom has cooked through. In a normal microwave, pizzas tend to come out rubbery as it is hard to prevent them from drying out completely.
In a halogen oven, pizzas cook quickly and evenly – this is because the halogen heating lamp distributes heat very evenly around its target area. Pizzas are ideal for halogen cooking as they are cooked right up close to the element so they are heated through, without being scorched on top.
Can You Cook Frozen Pizza In A Halogen Oven?
Once again the answer is a big yes! But… there is one critical thing you have to be mindful of and I know it should be painstakingly obvious but you would be surprised at how many people get caught out with this.
What is it?
Check that the size of the frozen pizza you are buying actually fits into your halogen oven. (Rocket science – right). But your halogen oven is much more compact than normal ovens. Although you could cut up a bigger pizza and cook in pieces.
- What temperature do you cook your pizza in a halogen oven? About 175 degrees seems to be the magic number.
- How long does it take to cook frozen pizza in your halogen oven? A frozen pizza can take about 15-20 minutes. It’s best that you closely watch your first few attempts (especially after about 10 mins). The beauty of these ovens is that they are galls and you can watch the action.
Can You Put Foil In A Halogen Oven?
You can put aluminum foil in a halogen oven. The foil will not burn or melt. You can use tin foil to wrap food, you can use foil pans, foil trays, and even metal trays inside your halogen oven.
Halogen ovens work by heating a metal filament inside a quartz bulb. The filament glows brightly and heats the air inside the bulb to high temperatures. Aluminum foil is a good reflector of heat, so it reflects much of the light from the bulb back into the bulb, making the filament hotter and brighter. The foil does not absorb heat from the filament, so it does not get hot enough to burn or melt.
The same is true for any other shiny metal surface. You can use a tin-foil lid in a halogen oven to reflect heat onto food below. Or you can use a stainless steel pan, which will reflect light from the bulb back into it and help cook your food more quickly.
- The foil reflects light, as well as trapping the heat inside. This means that it is useful as a cover for baking food, and also that the food will be cooked more evenly.
- The foil also reflects heat back towards the halogen bulbs, which reduces the energy that otherwise would have been needed to heat the food. This makes the oven a little slower, but not much.
- It is safe because aluminum has been used in cooking equipment for many years.
The following video kills 3 birds (and yes she is cooking a bird – no pun intended) at once answering the following 3 questions. Can you use foil when cooking in a halogen oven? Can you cook chicken in a halogen oven? Can you cook chips in a halogen oven?
As you can clearly see from the video using foil is perfectly fine in a halogen oven. Indeed, she was using quite a large amount of foil as well just to really drive home the point.
Can You Cook Steak In A Halogen Oven?
Absolutely! And you can you don’t even have to preheat the oven. Just slap the steak in the rack and start cooking. You will find that cooking with a halogen oven is so easy and fast. The halogen oven uses about half the energy of a conventional oven; it is also much less expensive to run. The halogen oven is unique because it is able to cook food in an incredibly short time without drying it out.
Not only can the halogen cook steak, it can cook entire roasts, burger patties, pork, chicken, bacon, and even beef stews.
Can You Cook Frozen Steak In A Halogen Oven?
Yes, and it’s oh so easy. Just grab your steak straight out of the freezer. Place it on the rack inside your halogen oven. Coat it with your favorite oils and seasoning. Put the lid on the machine, set the temperature, set the timer for 15 minutes, and wallah – all done. So easy!
Here is a great video showing just how easy it is to cook frozen steak in a halogen oven…
- What temperature do you cook your steak in a halogen oven? About 480 degrees seems to be the ideal temperature for cooking steak, especially if frozen.
- How long does it take to cook steak in your halogen oven? About 15 minutes is all you need (from frozen so unfrozen may be quicker). Of course, if you like cooked beyond medium rare just add a few minutes.
Can You Bake Bread In A Halogen Oven?
The answer is yes if you are prepared to accept incremental changes. You can’t make a loaf in the same way you would in an electric oven. But you can make good bread with a halogen oven, and it has advantages over traditional methods, especially for people who want to bake occasionally at home.
Baking bread in a halogen oven is actually easier than baking in a conventional oven because there is no need to pre-heat the machine. The halogen oven will reach the required temperature when the bread is placed into it.
Although bread making is generally something that takes place over several hours, baking bread in a halogen oven does not take much longer than in a conventional oven.
The most important thing to remember when baking bread in a halogen oven is to check on it regularly so that you can remove it from the machine once it has reached the desired level of browning. As with all cooking, practice makes perfect so you may find that this becomes easier with time.
- The Halogen Oven is so efficient in its energy that you are able to use the same temperature as if you were using a conventional oven.
- The Halogen Oven also allows you to cook with less oil, butter, margarine, etc. when baking your cakes, breads, and pastries. This is because when baking in a conventional oven, steam builds up inside the oven.
- The Halogen Oven creates an environment where this steam cannot build up and therefore there is no need for extra fats to stop your cake or bread from becoming dry.
- TIP: Make sure you bake your bread on the bottom rack so leave room for it to rise.
- Can You Cook Garlic Bread In A Halogen Oven? – Most definitely and you can even find plenty of halogen oven-specific garlic bread recipes online for free.
Can You Cook A Turkey Crown In A Halogen Oven?
Yes, again. (Do I ever say no? – I can’t the halogen oven can do everything) In fact, many halogen ovens even provide recipes books with turkey crown being one of the options.
The trick is to not overcook it. The breast of the turkey is the most tender part of the bird so it needs to be cooked at a lower temperature and for a shorter time than other parts of the turkey. But this is wear a halogen oven really excels in helping with this issue!
What is a turkey crown?
It’s not exactly a standard dish, but neither is it unheard of. Turkey crowns are easy to make and pretty to serve: the breast still attached to the bone makes a nice centerpiece, and you can carve the meat off in solid chunks.
With a turkey crown: you get the bones and skin and dark meat of the wings and legs, but also the light meat of the breast. And it’s easier to carve than a whole turkey. So even if you only have six people coming for dinner, get a crown instead of a whole bird; it will be enough.
When it comes to cooking a turkey crown in a halogen oven, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, since the breast is partially attached to the bone, it won’t cook as quickly as a boneless breast. You can either take the crown out of the oven when it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees F, or you can leave it in longer, to 175 degrees F. Either way, let the crown rest for 20 minutes before carving and serving.
Other Things You Can Do In A Halogen Oven?
There are many, many questions people have about using a halogen oven, and as you would have already clearly seen you can do almost everything with one of these cooking devices. Nevertheless, let’s look at some more specific queries that people have…
- Can You Use Silicone Bakeware In A Halogen Oven? – Yes, you can use silicone bakeware in a halogen oven. There is no reason why silicone baking ware cannot be used in a halogen oven. Silicone is heat resistant and will not melt or warp when used in a halogen oven. Silicone baking ware is also dishwasher safe which makes it easier to clean. (Of course, stay within the maximum heat range that the manufacturer of your silicone product states is safe)
- Can You Cook Yorkshire Puddings In A Halogen Oven? – Can You Cook Yorkshire Puddings In A Halogen Oven. And you can also cook frozen Yorkshire puddings in your halogen oven. There is no issue cooking batter inside these units either. There is a number of Halogen oven Yorkshire pudding recipes you can find on Youtube.
- Can You Cook Potatoes In A Halogen Oven? – Yes you can. Too easy! You can cook jacket potatoes (only takes about 15 minutes – place them on the top rack at 220 degrees), you can roast potatoes, and once again you can even cook frozen roast potatoes in your halogen oven.
- Can You Cook Fried Eggs In A Halogen Oven? – Yes you can fry eggs in a halogen oven. Not only can you fry eggs you can also boil eggs, poach eggs, cook omelets, and make the more fancied scotch eggs as well.
- Can You Heat Pies In A Halogen Oven? – Of course. You can reheat any food in the halogen oven. You can cook a pie from frozen even. In fact, you can cook any ready meals with this oven. Meat pies, apple pies, and all sorts of pies. Even chicken nuggets reheat great in this thing.
- Can You Use Roasting Bags In A Halogen Oven? – Okay this is the first thing we’ve come across that is a little bit iffy. In principle, there is no issue with roasting bags going in a halogen oven however they are designed for larger ovens and if your halogen oven is a countertop or compact size the bags may touch the sides which is a definite safety issue. So… if your oven is large enough – yes. If it is compact – no!
- Can You Cook Vegetables In A Halogen Oven? – Yes and in a number of ways as well. You can even steam vegetables in a halogen oven if you want.
- Can You Cook Toast In A Halogen Oven? – Sure can. Just use the top rack and you can use the oven as a grill to cook toast. heck, you can even make yummy cheese on toast in these units.
- Can You Put A Pyrex Dish In A Halogen Oven? – If it’s oven safe it’s halogen safe. So yes you can use any oven-safe pyrex or glass dish in your halogen oven.
- Can You Cook Soup In A Halogen Oven? – Once again the answer is yes. You can create your own fancy concoctions, heat up store-bought ready-to-go soup, or even cook frozen soup.
- Can You Cook Toad In The Hole In A Halogen Oven? – Yes, no issues with this one either. Except for perhaps the size you can make. Once again, there is no shortage of halogen oven toad in the hole recipes you can find on Youtube to see how easy it is.
- Can You Dehydrate In A Halogen Oven? – Yes you can even dehydrate in a halogen oven. This one is worth seeing watch the video below…
- Can You Cook Rice In A Halogen Oven? – Yes, you can. Once again you can find plenty of recipes online showing you how. You just need a rice dish and away you go. You can even cook pasta in the halogen oven as well.
- Can You Slow Cook In A Halogen Oven? – No. The whole benefit of halogen heating is to cook much quicker than other methods.
- Can You Cook A Gammon Joint In Halogen Oven? – Yes you can. In fact, fans of cooking gammon joints in the halogen oven say it tastes much better when cooked in a halogen oven.
- Can You Make Scones In A Halogen Oven? – Affirmative. It only takes about 12mins. Put the scones on a baking sheet and watch the golden brown creation develop.
- Can You Make Popcorn In A Halogen Oven? – Yep. Great for movie nights, kids love it, or for yourself for a healthy snack.
And what more can I say? Halogen ovens can just about cook anything. Sausages, chicken, brownies, cakes, rice pudding, onion, wedges, spaghetti bolognese, and you can even boil water. They are very versatile cooking machines.
In summary, a halogen oven is a type of oven that uses a small amount of gas and electricity to heat a large amount of halogen. Halogen is a chemical used in the making of some types of light bulbs and is found in several types of crystals, such as quartz and galena.
It is a great way of cooking and a quicker way of cooking. The oven is designed to cook from both the top and the bottom. While you can get full-size halogen ovens the compact ones do an excellent job without taking up too much space in your kitchen.
You may also be interested in… Is Nuwave A Good Brand? (Appliances For Ultra-Convenience) and Can You Put Aluminum Foil In The Freezer? (What About A Fridge?)
