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Gas oven that starts at 170

Darina's picture
Asked on 24 Sep 2019 by Darina

I'm cooking Delia's Christmas Cake but my gas oven starts at 170 degrees! Help

Lindsey, Food Editor's picture
Lindsey, Food Editor replied

Hello,

That’s quite unusual. Do you have, or can you get an oven thermometer to check the temperature?

If not, I would use the lowest temperature setting and the bottom shelf.

Make sure you have plenty of brown paper (or newspaper) wrapped around the outside of the tin to prevent it catching and a double layer of parchment over the top of the cake (not touching the cake mix).

Best wishes

Lindsey

Darina's picture
Darina replied

Thanks for the advice - yes, I have a separate oven thermometer and it confirms that Gas Mark 1 on my Beko Gas oven is 170 degrees! So, I'll do the cake on the lowest shelf and double the brown paper. I found a similar recipe (from Scotland) which gave 170 as temperature and cook for 2.5 hours.
(I made the (Irish Whiskey) cake twice before in a better oven and it was gorgeous.)
I managed to cook meringue last year by watching the oven thermometer like a hawk and opening the door a smidge every so often to drop the temp - but I think that's dicey with a fruit cake mixture...

Lindsey, Food Editor's picture
Lindsey, Food Editor replied

That sound’s great. It’s important not to undercook a rich fruit cake as well because it will crumble when you cut it.

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