How Ovenable Trays Help With Oven Cooking
A good quality tray is an essential item for even and safe oven cooking.
Even Heat for Better Browning
A rigid metal tray is perfect for distributing the heat from the oven via the base of the tray. Pastry cases and pizza bases can therefore cook evenly and quickly, ensuring that the bottom of the pastry is crispy and golden rather than pale and soggy. To achieve the best results, place the tray on a shelf in the oven.
Supporting Liquid-Heavy Dishes
Lasagne or deep quiches are typically cooked in a foil dish. These dishes can buckle when you remove them from the oven and the hot food can spill out of the dish. This is why ovenable trays with strong, reinforced sides are ideal for these types of dishes as they provide the necessary support to keep the dish upright and allow for easy transfer to the table.
Handling Safely at High Temperatures
Use oven gloves to lift the tray and ensure that it has a wide rim that allows you to easily hold it. The Food Standards Agency provides guidance on the safe handling of food at home, including details of the correct temperatures to which to heat food in order to reach safe internal temperatures.
Containing Drips and Spills
Roasting fatty meat or a fruit pie on a tray with a rim to the top will catch any drips or overflow before they can burn onto the floor of the oven, making a nasty clean up job a thing of the past.
A good tray is the simplest way to get the best out of your oven.
