Not because it's 89 degrees today, but because the oven is, in fact, on! Baking on hot days is, well, depressing, isn't it? You just can't get away from the heat. So, I have a system in place to bake as quickly as I can with my single oven, one sheet at a time... (maybe one day the baking fairy will bring me a new convection oven...so I can bake, like, 4 pans at a time...) Don't think I'm nuts - after having done it a few hundred times (ok, more...!) it really works for me!
First, pre-heat your oven, but beware... even though your oven may signal that it's ready, it probably isn't... Here my thermometer reads 325 even though my oven tells me it's 350. It takes another 15 minutes for it to get to 350... (my oven isn't even that old - most ovens are just fickle!)
Cutouts are chilling in the fridge... oven is (truly) ready - it's GO TIME!
- Fill pan #1 with cutouts (don't over-fill or they may spread, or burn.)
- Bake, set for half the bake time & turn at halfway point. Set timer for the rest of bake time.
- When timer signals 1-minute-to-go, take pan #2 and fill with cutouts.
- Take pan #1 out of oven when done - while oven is open, stick pan #2 in oven.
- When timer signals 1-minute-to-go-at-halfway move cookies from pan #1 to a cooling rack.
- Turn pan #2 in oven (this is halfway-point). Back to pan #1...
- Move pan #1 to a cool spot - wipe down any oils from silicone baking mat if using.
- By the time the timer signals 1-minute-to-go on pan #2 (baking), pan #1 is cooled - fill with cutouts.
- REPEAT from step 4, alternating pan #1 and pan #2.
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| don't forget... DON'T OVERFILL YOUR PANS! |
Too funny! That's exactly how I do it. And nobody better interrupt me or try to use the stove while I'm baking or they break my system! Having kids home for summer has made baking more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteOnly recently did I take on baking 2 trays at once and to my surprise it works! I just do the half-way turn around and switch upper with lower at the same time. Can your oven pull it off? It's changed my life!
LOL - I know what you mean - don't mess with my rhythm! So, when baking trays on top and bottom, do you need to change the baking time as opposed to baking one tray at a time? Or does your oven temp change at all? That's why I haven't gone there - afraid to ruin 2 trays finding out!
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