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Roasting with Gas?


MrsStick

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Hi...I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this...but I've had some veggie roasting fails. I've done roasted veggie mixes before I moved and they worked great! I loved me some roasted veggies (sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, mushrooms...all with whatever cooking fat I had on hand). Then I got a gas stove and they just don't...work anymore.

 

I usually roasted at 375 or so until fork-done. I learned to cut the carrots and parsnips way smaller than the sweet potato to even out cookign times. This hasn't translated well here, though, and I'm not sure why. I've upped the temperature, I've dropped the temperature, I've doubled the cooking time. I've cut everything into pieces so tiny it should've all been done in just a few minutes. What usually happens is that 35-40% of the pieces are done and the rest are absolutely 100% not. Hard to poke with a fork.

 

I'm starting to get frustrated, and am not sure what else to do. Roasting broccoli turns out okay, although it even is a bit more chewy than I'd prefer. Can anyone give me advice? I am having to set my oven in Celsius since I moved to Korea, but I did these mixes all the time with my electric stove in Germany and they worked fine!

 

HELP!

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No, it works fine. I can bake potatoes in it. I can bake everything else. Something about the dryness of the cooking compared to electric, I think, is what's causing this. I'm hoping someone out there can tell me how they roast veggies in a gas oven, because my attempts are failing rather horribly.

 

I also have tried extra cooking fat to try to keep it moist, not spreading them out on a baking sheet and just putting them in a 9x13 pan, and nothing has worked.

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I've never cooked with a gas oven, but since you think it's the dryness, maybe put a small enamel or metal cup of water in the oven along with the baking tray to create some moisture?

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I'll have to see if I can fit that in. My oven is TINY (my pizza stone, which I only use for baking potaotes/sweet potatoes anymore only fits on a slight diagonal, and my 9x13 is a bit difficult to get in there) but I might be able to work it. I'm really hoping someone else with gas can weigh in, but thanks for the suggestion!

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I have a gas stove. The problem with gas, it that you hot/cold spots. It took me a while to figure out where my hot spots where. I got oven thermometer and placed all around to figure it out. Also, my stove is on an outside wall, so during different seasons the hot spots change. Eg. During winter...hot spot in front of oven, during summer...hot spots in back. Hope this helps..there is definately a learning curve with gas.

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I roast with gas all the time and I don't have those problems.  In fact, I often get soggy veggies if I crowd them like I used to in my old electric oven and I attribute that to more humidity than electric.  

 

Anyway, I agree with rotating your pan, I do that at the 1/2 way point of most of my baking and found it's really helped even it out.  I do have a brand-spankin new gas oven though, so older models may have more issues than mine does.

 

Oh wait - what kind of gas is it?  I'm going to guess that it's propane in which case, that might be your problem.  My mom used to have a horrible time keeping a consistent heat temp on her propane stove.  I think it generally burns inconsistent/hot/cold.  I have natural gas which I think burns more evenly.

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I'm not sure the type (and translation services don't really help to clear it up) I have, but it doesn't roast through if I pack the veggies, let alone even make them mushy. Not the best stove/oven combo but it works-ish.

 

I saved my last set of not-cooked veggies by throwing them in a pot, adding about 3/4 cup of water, covering, and turning on medium-high heat. Maybe 5 minutes later, the veggies had steam caramelized (the ones on the bottom were the most caramelized) and were all cooked through. They were pretty good actually. Maybe that'll be how I deal with them from now on...

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