Combi steamer roasting table

Well it’s still Winter here in Australia so it’s time to use your combi oven for one of its best advantages – roasting meat!

I have had a lot of response to the ‘Bread baking table’ here so thought that you are all crying out for a quick reference guide for cooking the perfect roast! It is as simple as weighing your meat, seasoning it and setting the combination setting to allow for radiant heat and moisture.  This will give you mouth watering results and a crisp top.  Yes, the best roasts you have ever had!

Many brands have lots of Automatic functions and these are great too.  Sometimes it is difficult to decide “Do I use this auto program which is one hour” or “Do I add the times manually myself, which if I work it out on the table below would be 1.5 hours?”.  The answer is simple; it depends on the weight of the meat.  The auto programs can only be designed around joints or cuts of a certain weight so if you have a piece of meat or a chicken of that size then by all means use the Auto program but don’t try to put a huge chicken in it as it will not be cooked.  My Miele oven has the ability to add or reduce the ‘browning’ but not the time.  Adding browning does not add time either so be aware of that one…. If you have small, expensive cuts of meat then don’t chance it to an Auto program.  Have a look at my Perfect Rack of Lamb recipe here for a guide for the weight/cooking time.  You can find other recipes in the Combi steam cooking section and I will be adding more from time to time.

My best advice apart from using your appliance as much as possible would be to make sure you cover the fan.  If your combi comes with a fan cover – use it!  The oven will get dirty cooking roasts.  See cleaning the combi here.  Don’t leave it too long before cleaning in the traditional way (check your manufacturers instructions).  I would do a soak cleaning program and a traditional clean after say three roasts.

Now weigh your meat and work out the time per kilogram from the timing in the chart and then convert that to the Combination settings from the table.  The general ‘roasting weight times’ however are based on cooking in a moderately hot conventional oven so reduce the time or temperature in the combi.  You can always add another stage of cooking if it is not cooked enough which is better than overcooking.  Have a look at a few of my recipes for a guide.  For example I have used different temperatures for roasting chicken and both had great results.

It is easy once you get the hang of it as you can see which timing is starting (Stage 1), main cooking time (Stage 2), resting time if there is one (Stage 3).  Remember to always rest your meat before carving.  Some people say it should be rested for as long as you cooked it but with the combi you don’t need to do it that long.  On slow roasting settings like the lamb here you don’t need to rest it at all.

This table has been adapted from Miele’s book and general roasting times and temperatures so obviously check your manufacturers times and recommendations that apply to your combi steam oven.  It is meant as a guide only.  Some of you may find that you need longer cooking times and this also applies to how you like your meat (rare, medium or well done?).

I would love to have your feedback whether this table made it easier for you?

Image: www.donaldrussell.com