La Cornue CornuFé 1908 - 36 - Manual (Page 35)

33 Installation and User Guide CornuFé 1908 - 36" - USA / Can
08NOTINSTALFE8/USA-1
INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE The cooking principle
Of course, it can also be used for making excellent pastries, pies, quiches and vegetable dishes: the
choice of rack level and temperature required calls for just a little more thought.
When roasting, whether lamb, turkey, pork or large fish, place the oven rack on the lowest level
of the oven. Cooking often exceeds 40 minutes.
In this case, preheat to 250 °C (480 °F), for 10 to 15 minutes.
Place the dish in the oven, then lower the thermostat to 200 °C (390 °F) or 175 °C (345 °F) for white
meat; leave to cook for the time needed: the crust is formed, and in-depth cooking continues.
For a Roast or for a rack of beef, lamb, small or medium sized fish, place the grill tray at the
mid-level of your oven. Pre-heat at level 280 °C (535 °F) for fifteen minutes, then lower to level 230
°C (450 °F) for approximately 5 to 10 minutes once the dish has been placed in the oven.
Comply with the cooking times which are recommended in your recipe book or by your butcher.
We recommend paring all the fat from the meat before cooking.
If you have included a vegetable dish to accompany the meal, you can add a little butter or oil on
top to preserve its beautiful colours. In order to grill onions or any other vegetable around a roast
always add a bit of oil mixed with butter at the bottom of the dish before adding the vegetables.
If you choose to slice onions into rings, it is recommended to slice everything quite fine to suit the
required temperatures.
We suggest you do everything in moderation:
- too much fat and lard will create smoke and will splash grease,
- a temperature which is too high will carbonize all foods.
For pastries the height of the grill tray will depend on the type of cake and on the cooking time.
The most intense heat comes from the bottom of the oven. Never place a tray or a dish on this bot-
tom surface.
Apple pies require a top level tray heat in order to brown the apples and heat is also required from
below to cook the pastry. Temperature 200 °C (390 °F) on the thermostat and the middle positio-
ning work well together.
To cook a Tarte Tatin, which is generally cooked from the top, place the thermostat at level 175
or 200 °C (345 - 390 °F) and this should suffice; anything higher than this will burn the pastry befo-
re the apples have even had a chance to cook.
For a vegetable gratin or pasta, for the most part, the cooking time is 20 to 25 minutes with a
thermostat set at 200 °C (390 °F) (depending on the thickness of the gratin). Naturally, it is neces-
sary for the heat to penetrate from above and below. The lower level, however, will work appro-
priately for potatoes, pastries and the medium level will work well for fresh vegetables.
For the gratin, position the grill tray at the highest level and insert the gratin dish.
Position the simmerstat at maximum and keep a close eye on your dish.
Choosing from a range of closely-related temperatures or cooking times should not be guesswork,
but rather based on the size of the meat and your own personal taste.
The equivalents between thermostat indications and temperatures, expressed in degrees, are pro-
vided below as an indication only.