In the oven
For me, the oven is a scary place. I work a long time in preparation of the dish, and then tuck it away in a place I can neither get into nor control. Yikes! Once again, once you know your equipment and ingredients, it's easy. This section will help you develop the techniques that bring our symphony to a satisfying end.
A poultry baster can be either a big help or a dangerous weapon, depending on how it is used. Drawing hot juices from a pan in the oven requires care. If you are using a throw-away aluminum pan, remember that they may become a little unstable. Put a cookie sheet underneath. Pull the bird or roast completely out of the oven to baste. You don't want to be handling hot greases with the chance it might all slide. Insert the baster tube well below the surface of the meat's juices. Suck desired amount with the bulb end. While still depressing the bulb end somewhat, tilt the tube end out of the juices. This keeps the hot oil and juices from popping out the end. Locate the top of the meat with the tip of the baster and squeeze the juices out of the tube. You can also use a large spoon, but you will lose a lot of control.
This process can occur on the stove as well as in the oven. It is one of the wet heat processes as opposed to such dry heat processes as stir-frying. Since there is often oil or butter involved, you must be careful when basting. Generally, the meats or vegetables are covered and basted often. When basting, remember that oils can bubble up in the baster and pop out, so tilt the baster a little as you pull it out as mentioned in the section on basting procedures.
The meat will be only a few inches from the heating element, so remember that popping fats can start a fire. Leave the oven door ajar so that you can listen to the sizzle of the ingredients. Cook only the required time as set by the recipe. Wearing oven mitts to protect your forearms, remove broiling pan straight out from the oven. Do not tilt and spill greases. Have your destination in mind and be sure the path is clear.
Since most recipes call for a very limited number of settings, you can predict that you will need only 325, 350, 375, 400, 425, 450 and 475 degrees. Marking 350, 400 and 450 degrees with heatproof enamel or nail polish is useful. Many more markings than that becomes confusing. You can then use these benchmarks to hit other places in between. When applying the enamel, make sure the surface is scrupulously clean. Apply the dots and let dry. Repeat with several coats. Some people prefer to mark the dial with Braille dots, to use Dymo tape or to use an adaptive dial card. If you own the stove, try scoring the three places with a knife. Its permanent and easy to clean.
Larger birds that take a while to roast or bake should be covered with an aluminum foil tent to prevent the skin from browning too soon and drying out. Before putting the bird in the oven, loosely lay a piece of foil so that it covers the whole bird from stem to stern. It is okay if it is not completely covered from side to side. Then crease the foil slightly lengthwise and prop it up slightly so that it makes kind of a pup-tent over the bird. If it comes off while you are sliding the bird into the preheated oven, try to slip it in with the bird inside. Remember not to keep that oven door open too long. You will lose all the heat. Remove the tent the last half-hour of cooking so the bird will brown nicely.
Positioning oven racks for baking
You always want your baking foods in the center of the oven. Position your racks so that if you are baking cookies, the rack is in the middle, If you are roasting a turkey, the rack will be lower down so that the turkey is in the middle of the oven. Mess around with this while the oven is cool. You may even need to pull a rack out completely. Store it in an out-of-the-way place such as between the refrigerator and the cabinet. You can place the pans you will use in the cool oven to test out your theory.
Always make sure there is nothing in the oven while it is cold. People have been known to put some pretty strange things in there, such as spun-sugar flowers from a wedding cake. (Who me?) Check the floor to make sure there is no leftover globs or drips from previous escapades. Always check the size of pans for space needs. I always forget where to put the oven rack for the holiday turkey so I test the raw, unstuffed bird out in its pan before continuing. I am usually wrong and so glad I tried it out first. Whew!
Let cake, bread or muffins rest for 5-10 minutes after removing from the oven. Hold the pan with a hot pad or oven mitt and slide a table knife blade around the edges to release any part that might be sticking. Have a place in mind to which you are transferring the item. Tilt the pan at a 90 degree angle with one mitted hand. The other hand should be placed over the item to catch it. If it is very hot, protect your hand with a mitt or pad. Allow the item to gently slide out of its pan onto your hand. Put pan aside and grab the plate or rack which is the final resting place of the item. Bring the plate up to the item and let it catch the item as you bring them both to rest on the counter. In the case of muffins, quickly flip the whole pan onto rack or plate. Using muffin cup liners will make this easier. There are also foil muffin cups available that will keep the muffins hot. Just don't put them in the microwave oven!
These fresh little delicacies will make your recipes taste so much better, that you will come to agree that it is worth the extra 10 minutes over canned chiles. A toaster oven is a little more manageable if you have one. Otherwise, put the oven rack so that the cookie sheet will be as close to the upper element as possible. Put the room temperature chiles on a cookie sheet about 3 inches apart. Broil until you hear the skins popping after about 5 minutes. They may smell a little burned, but that's fine. Pull out after 7-10 minutes and put into a paper bag. Leave for 20 minutes...no peeking! When they have cooled, the skins will slip of easily. You can then slice them open and take the seeds and veins out. Depending on the picante quality (hot taste) of the chile, you might want to wear gloves. At any rate, you want to keep your fingers from your eyes. I have used chiles like chipotles, that were so hot it burned my lungs in preparation. The resulting flavor in the dish, however, was mild, smoky and flavorful.
There are about as many types of timers as there are preferences, including those with raised numbers. I always keep two. Rarely are you timing only one thing. I prefer the dial type. It is easily twisted around to one hour or any portion of an hour. Since it is exactly like the face of a clock, few errors occur. The hard part is paying attention to the timer and doing something about it. Set the timer a little shy of what is needed, so you can check things. Then reset the timer for the required remaining minutes. Don't trust yourself to remember what you have going.
Grasp the lipped end of the cookie sheet with one mitted hand and the spatula with the other. Holding the unlipped end of the sheet over the platter, tilt the sheet slightly so the cookies can slide, but not so much that they will careen off the sheet. Working from the lowest end, slip cookies off one or two at a time. Work your way up the sheet toward your mitted hand. Hope that one falls to the floor so you will have to eat it. Do not layer the cookies unless they are completely cool.
When trying a recipe for the first time, test breads, cakes, muffins, etc. 5 minutes before they should be ready. Stick a wooden toothpick straight down through the middle of the cake or bread. If it comes out clean, it is done. If it is damp or has batter sticking to it, return it to the oven. Remember that every time you open the oven door you lose 50 degrees of heat.
If using a thermometer, insert it into the center of the inner thigh muscle so that it does not touch any bones. Roast the bird until the thermometer reads an internal temperature of 180 to 185 degrees. The center of the stuffing should reach at least 165 degrees.
If not using a thermometer, allow 20 to 25 minutes per pound for birds up to 6 pounds. For a larger birds, allow 15 to 20 minutes per pound. For turkeys weighing over 16 pounds, allow 13 to 15 minutes per pound. In addition, increase roasting time by about 5 minutes per pound if the bird is stuffed. Other popular methods such as pricking the skin or wiggling the drumstick are just not as safe nor are they accurate.
A toaster oven is a little more manageable if you have one. Otherwise, put the rack so that the cookie sheet will be as close to the upper element as possible. There is a window of opportunity of about 15 seconds between toasted and burned nuts. The first time you try it, you might want to try a few to get the idea of how long it takes to burn them. Spread them on a baking sheet or in a pan so that they are in a single layer, not touching each other. When they are mostly toasted, you will hear them sizzle, and a few will pop. Remove from the oven and stir them around a bit. Then return for a minute. When you hear them sizzle again, they are done.