Today I tried my favourite ANZAC Biscuit recipe in our Metters Canberra Wood Stove. These need a “slow” oven, which means about 150 degrees. I was able to get the temperature of my oven to sit nicely in the slow zone, so I mixed up a batch and popped them in.
My recipe makes two sheets of biscuits, so I put one sheet low in the oven, and the other at the top. I found that the top sheet cooked in a little less time than the recipe required, but the bottom sheet looked like it needed more. So I moved it up to the now vacant top oven rack. I gave it 3 minutes and when I came back they were burnt!
Temperatures ain’t temperatures
I found that the biscuits closest to the fire side of the oven were considerably darker than the other side. I think that is pretty logical, and probably fairly easy to manage in general. It would just be a matter of rotating the food mid way through cooking, I assume. It may present more of a problem with cakes though, as opening the oven to rotate a cake would not end well! I will have to do some more research before I attempt a sponge cake!
My next cooking attempt is going to be a fruit cake. I think these are quite suited to wood stove cooking, as they also require a slow oven. They are also much less finicky than a sponge cake when it comes to opening and rotating!
All in all, I’m happy with most of the biscuits. I think next time I make ANZAC Biscuits, I will rotate both trays mid bake though.
Wood Stove Cooking Lesson 1:
As the oven has no fan, the temperature inside varies depending on placement. Higher and closest to fire = hottest, lower and further from fire = coolest.
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