Cooking Ovens

Sploke,

Without writing a novel, an infrared oven uses radiant energy, much like what the sun emits, to cooks its food.
Convection ovens use natural gas or electric heating with a fan circulating, while infrared ovens cook food with infrared light waves.

There's a lot of advantages to using infrared. One, since food cooks much quicker than a convection oven, you'll notice a decrease in your electricity bill (not sure how much you would use it here, but in America we use our ovens a lot so the difference is noticeable). Also, there's no smoke involved when using an infrared oven, so you'll never have to turn on your ventilating systems, nor would you ever have to deal with clouds of smoke in the kitchen.

One of the selling points that manufacturers of infrared ovens try to make is that food turns out more moist and in turn better tasting (because the infrared waves penetrate, let's say a whole chicken, and cooks from the inside out, as opposed to a regular convection oven, which will cook the outside first). But as someone who has roasted a lot of chickens in his life in a regular convection oven, I didn't notice much of a difference.

They do sell them here. I believe I've seen them in Nguyen Kim.
I could be mistaken, but if you buy one in America, it would already have a built in converter. A lot of higher end electronics do. Just double check the voltage and you'll know whether you would need a converter even before buying it.

Hope that helps

Jerry

JVo18 wrote:

...
One of the selling points that manufacturers of infrared ovens try to make is that food turns out more moist and in turn better tasting (because the infrared waves penetrate, let's say a whole chicken, and cooks from the inside out, as opposed to a regular convection oven, which will cook the outside first). But as someone who has roasted a lot of chickens in his life in a regular convection oven, I didn't notice much of a difference.
...

Well written.  I learned something new about infrared ovens today.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

JVo18 wrote:

...
One of the selling points that manufacturers of infrared ovens try to make is that food turns out more moist and in turn better tasting (because the infrared waves penetrate, let's say a whole chicken, and cooks from the inside out, as opposed to a regular convection oven, which will cook the outside first). But as someone who has roasted a lot of chickens in his life in a regular convection oven, I didn't notice much of a difference.
...

Well written.  I learned something new about infrared ovens today.

Thanks THD,

They claim that because the infrared waves penetrate the inside and cook from the inside out, you can place a solid frozen chicken in it without defrosting and it will cook in the same amount of time as a regular oven, even faster, although I've never tried that. Their big marketing scheme is that it's extremely useful for large families who are so busy with work and are always on the go because it's extremely time efficient, and like I said you can put frozen steak or anything in there, and not have to cook it any longer. You put a frozen chicken in a regular oven and it would take forever to cook, and by the time the inside was done, the outside would be burnt to a crisp.

Jerry

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

JVo18 wrote:

...
One of the selling points that manufacturers of infrared ovens try to make is that food turns out more moist and in turn better tasting (because the infrared waves penetrate, let's say a whole chicken, and cooks from the inside out, as opposed to a regular convection oven, which will cook the outside first). But as someone who has roasted a lot of chickens in his life in a regular convection oven, I didn't notice much of a difference.
...

Well written.  I learned something new about infrared ovens today.

Thanks JVo18, good information.  I was looking to buy an oven for cookies and cakes.  The I just google stove top cakes and found out it was possible without an oven.  Now if I could only teach my girl to do this...

Ditto good info. Myself I was clueless about infrared. I've had several convection. Learned something new today. Of course, you don't have to be on here long and you will learn a bundle.

Dear Jerry : Cam on nhieu, anh or Em... A lesson well worth learning..cheers

Sploke77 wrote:

Dear Jerry : Cam on nhieu, anh or Em... A lesson well worth learning..cheers

The formal title for a man that is around your generation is Anh, regardless if he's younger or older than you.  After you meet "Anh Jerry" and you guys are chums/buddies you can switch to the informal.  If it turns out he's younger than you, then you can use "Em Jerry".  And he would start calling you "Anh Sploke77" to which you now have the duty and responsibility of paying for every meal/drink since you are the older and must take care of the younger.  The reverse would work if Jerry is older than you, to which you just sit there and let him pay for everything...but you must protest and offer to pay at least once.

I found that it is considered an honor to pay so that's why you see a bunch of guys fighting each other to pay the bill.  Especially when they go drinking.  The women love this stuff. Oh my the alpha male wolves are at it...who's the strongest, most resourceful? ooooo, wonder if he's still single!

This Confucius crap is awesome!

Hello THD: based upon his photo (assuming that is really Jerry),yours truly is definitely more senior. Thus, whether anh or Em equally admissible! To stretch things, I could even call him Chau, and I think I will still be on safe territory, ahem.... Nothing much to do with ovens!!

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

This Confucius crap is awesome!

We agree once again! Life here is awesome!

With all the restaurants and bakeries that are available in Vietnam, wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy baked goods only when you have that craving vs investing in an oven?

Sploke77 wrote:

Hello THD: based upon his photo (assuming that is really Jerry),yours truly is definitely more senior. Thus, whether anh or Em equally admissible! To stretch things, I could even call him Chau, and I think I will still be on safe territory, ahem.... Nothing much to do with ovens!!

It's not that simple.  We'd probably need to ask an expert but I know the system is not based entirely on age.  I'm sure if it was a formal/business setting and you walked into a room calling everyone who looks younger than you "Em" and the young intern "cháu", you might not go very far.  In fact, they may get offended that a foreigner tried to act like their brother or uncle.

It's kinda like how blacks call each other "Bro" and a white dude walks in and says "hey what's up bro?" they get a little miffed.  "You aint my bro..what the f*** you want?"

For foreigners in a formal setting, it's safe to follow this guide that I've studied from reading the news...

Ông / Bà  - above 60 years old, CEOs or important people
Anh / Chị  - young adults to middle age adults
Em - under 18

Additional titles based on the occupation that the person does can supersede these titles.  Like Doctor, General..

It's tricky with foreigners because foreigners are not part of the family...not in the "IN circle".

There is a bigger ballgame when it's family/relational.  It's interesting because they also call each other differently depending on the part of the country.

ancientpathos wrote:

The I just google stove top cakes and found out it was possible without an oven.  Now if I could only teach my girl to do this...

My girl does it that way and I was in awe the first time she did it. And the cake came out super moist.

MIA2013,
  Perhaps your correct about buying the baked goods instead of the oven. Yet some of us love to cook, bake, roast etc. Myself I would love to have the oven. Plus I know what I put into my food, and I don't know what they put in. We go to a cooking school and they seem to think everything is better with MSG. Try and tell them MSG is not a food enhancer but a mind altering drug and you get a confused look.

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Sploke77 wrote:

Hello THD: based upon his photo (assuming that is really Jerry),yours truly is definitely more senior. Thus, whether anh or Em equally admissible! To stretch things, I could even call him Chau, and I think I will still be on safe territory, ahem.... Nothing much to do with ovens!!

It's not that simple.  We'd probably need to ask an expert but I know the system is not based entirely on age.  I'm sure if it was a formal/business setting and you walked into a room calling everyone who looks younger than you "Em" and the young intern "cháu", you might not go very far.  In fact, they may get offended that a foreigner tried to act like their brother or uncle.

It's kinda like how blacks call each other "Bro" and a white dude walks in and says "hey what's up bro?" they get a little miffed.  "You aint my bro..what the f*** you want?"

For foreigners in a formal setting, it's safe to follow this guide that I've studied from reading the news...

Ông / Bà  - above 60 years old, CEOs or important people
Anh / Chị  - young adults to middle age adults
Em - under 18

Additional titles based on the occupation that the person does can supersede these titles.  Like Doctor, General..

It's tricky with foreigners because foreigners are not part of the family...not in the "IN circle".

There is a bigger ballgame when it's family/relational.  It's interesting because they also call each other differently depending on the part of the country.

I went to a language school and this was what they taught me.
Then on, I started to address all the staff there as 'chau' and in turn, they all addressed me as 'Chu' every time we met. In the in laws place, I was initially surprised when my wife called her parents, Ong and ba, but got used to it eventually.
Again, not on ovens

bta87 wrote:

MIA2013,
  Perhaps your correct about buying the baked goods instead of the oven. Yet some of us love to cook, bake, roast etc. Myself I would love to have the oven. Plus I know what I put into my food, and I don't know what they put in. We go to a cooking school and they seem to think everything is better with MSG. Try and tell them MSG is not a food enhancer but a mind altering drug and you get a confused look.

My mom also likes to put MSG in the food she cooks. Now that explains why I am the way I am. .....

MIA,
  You are just fine. Try tasting MSG by itself though. You will be surprised. The drug alter how your brain processes inputs from your tastebuds on your tongue. I'm not willing to eat anything that alter me to make something taste good. Yeah, they will put MSG in your coffee…just kidding…I think.

MIA2013 wrote:

With all the restaurants and bakeries that are available in Vietnam, wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy baked goods only when you have that craving vs investing in an oven?

Yes it is cheaper, maybe much cheaper, but what fun would that be? Back home I was an avid fisherman. We'd go out for stripers, marlin, tuna, snapper etc. By the time we fueled the boat, bought tackle, fishing supplies, and food, the cost for the fishing trip would be several hundred dollars each time, if not much more. I could have easily just went to a fish market and spent pennies compared to what I spent but it wouldn't have anywhere near the same or fun. The act and accomplishment afterwards is extremely rewarding and priceless sometimes..

Yes Sploke, that is me in the picture lol.

Hmmm!! looks like Tiger Woods to me.

No longer on ovens..Yeah, Jerry, I have always been fascinated by those shows that showed you American guys on a speed boat and having all that tackle (3 or 4 lines) and really fishing those biggies! I love watching how finally one gets caught and the real action follows to reel the beauty in. Wonder whether you could do that here in this country too?? Surely, this is what you really miss, too?

bta87 wrote:

Hmmm!! looks like Tiger Woods to me.

No, Tiger Woods looks like Jerry!





It's the hat...that poser Woods!

THD,
   You got up from your nap. For awhile there I thought it was a clear day in VT and you had the dog take you for a walk. Welcome back.

Is there a way to attach a picture that's already on your computer?

I see the icon, but it keeps asking me for a URL. I don't think my picture will load that way

JVo18 wrote:

Is there a way to attach a picture that's already on your computer?

I see the icon, but it keeps asking me for a URL. I don't think my picture will load that way

No there isn't because when you turn off your computer, the link will be broken.  What you need to do is upload your image from your computer to the Internet (a server computer that is always on).

Here's the google search...take your pick.

http://www.google.com.vn/search?sourcei … gistration

After it is on the Internet on one of those sites, they'll give you the Uniform Resource Locator (URL).  It looks like a web address: for example, the URL for your avatar picture is https://www.expat.com/forum/img/avatars/185281.jpg .  You can then copy and paste the URL on this Forum so it could point back to that uploaded photo.

Thanks THD! Let me give it a shot now..

Tran Hung Dao wrote:

Sploke77 wrote:

Hello THD: based upon his photo (assuming that is really Jerry),yours truly is definitely more senior. Thus, whether anh or Em equally admissible! To stretch things, I could even call him Chau, and I think I will still be on safe territory, ahem.... Nothing much to do with ovens!!

It's not that simple.  We'd probably need to ask an expert but I know the system is not based entirely on age.  I'm sure if it was a formal/business setting and you walked into a room calling everyone who looks younger than you "Em" and the young intern "cháu", you might not go very far.  In fact, they may get offended that a foreigner tried to act like their brother or uncle.

It's kinda like how blacks call each other "Bro" and a white dude walks in and says "hey what's up bro?" they get a little miffed.  "You aint my bro..what the f*** you want?"

For foreigners in a formal setting, it's safe to follow this guide that I've studied from reading the news...

Ông / Bà  - above 60 years old, CEOs or important people
Anh / Chị  - young adults to middle age adults
Em - under 18

Additional titles based on the occupation that the person does can supersede these titles.  Like Doctor, General..

It's tricky with foreigners because foreigners are not part of the family...not in the "IN circle".

There is a bigger ballgame when it's family/relational.  It's interesting because they also call each other differently depending on the part of the country.

I was called 'em ' one day, I had to ask the wife , why is he calling me a women's title, she explained as you have. ( but I was still a little confused, or should I have been flattered because I looked so young?, LOL
  But back on subject, they used to say a microwave oven also cooks from the inside out, I really look forward to that first mouthful,  from the MIDDLE of the plate, now I always give the tucker a good stir, and it's all the same temp then.
  I've been using a Turbo Oven for over 10 years, ( not the same one of course ), ( from 600k --1.2mil VND), excellent for heating/cooking things like Banh Mi rolls, pastries, etc, you can cook/heat roasts, grill stuff, ( the fat/oil drips off ), you can cook practically anything in one, I've even seen an egg cooked in it's shell, without water, without exploding. Only thing I dispute about the manufacturers claims, is that it takes forever to clean itself.

Sploke77 wrote:

No longer on ovens..Yeah, Jerry, I have always been fascinated by those shows that showed you American guys on a speed boat and having all that tackle (3 or 4 lines) and really fishing those biggies! I love watching how finally one gets caught and the real action follows to reel the beauty in. Wonder whether you could do that here in this country too?? Surely, this is what you really miss, too?

Sploke, I definitely miss fishing a lot here in Vietnam. I know you can catch tuna, sharks, and other large fish off the coast of Da Nang and other areas around there, but I don't know if its for  recreational fisherman. I believe it may only be commercial. I know there's some fishing around in Saigon, but I just don't get any thrill catching little fish. Even if you are not the one catching it, it's extremely exciting. Like you said, watching the fish jump in and out of the water and the anticipation in seeing how big the fish will really be is quite a rush.

Here is a picture of my brother catching a marlin the last time I was home.. These are the fish I like to go after!

[img][/img]

JVo18 wrote:

...
Here is a picture of my brother catching a marlin the last time I was home.. These are the fish I like to go after!

[url]http://s9.postimg.org/gopielm0b/Marlin.jpg[/url]

Why is that image small?  You grabbed the thumbnail.  Try using this code

(img)http://s9.postimg.org/5p4b2zvlb/Marlin.jpg(/img)

where (img) = [img].     .   (otherwise program will execute) as

Now I know who to talk to when I don't have a clue how to do on a computer. I envy you THD. This stuff has just passed me by.

bta87 wrote:

Now I know who to talk to when I don't have a clue how to do on a computer. I envy you THD. This stuff has just passed me by.

It's okay, I'll get my turn.  When I'm an old fart, there'll be some punk kid who'll run circles around me too.  But for now I'm just a punk kid who at least helps old farts.

Hey you like the Tiger Woods thing?  I edited it that post and put a top/bottom picture for comparison (There isn't an option for a side to side, unless I photoshopped it).

When I first saw Tiger Woods, I thought DAMN, he looks just like Jerry.  That poser even has the same hat too! 

Hello, folks, back to the oven topic again. I did some further research and found that infrared oven is actually called Halogen Infrared Oven in the US, but over in the UK, it is called simply Halogen Oven, while in Australasia, it is called Turbo Ovens. And for those of us budding cooks, this portal could be interesting, cheers

http://besthalogencooker.com

Sploke,
  Interesting, thanks. Now I've used that. Just never heard of the infrared.

Sploke77 wrote:

Hello, folks, back to the oven topic again. I did some further research and found that infrared oven is actually called Halogen Infrared Oven in the US, but over in the UK, it is called simply Halogen Oven, while in Australasia, it is called Turbo Ovens. And for those of us budding cooks, this portal could be interesting, cheers

http://besthalogencooker.com

Oh, we've been using one for years. Didn't know it  was same as an "infrared oven" tho.

I would just rather get a microwave. Much easier to clean than a oven.

Oh MIA ,I must hold my tongue. Your reply begs a male chauvinist reply!

They did claim that such tabletop induction ovens are much easier to clean, they come with a cleaning function. They use less electricity than conventional ovens with added disadvantages of the latter needing a space for built in units. Men like to explore innovative gadgets..the modern women like to get OUT of the kitchen.

MIA2013 wrote:

I would just rather get a microwave. Much easier to clean than a oven.

I bought an LG 20cm plate Microwave here, it had 1000W on the box , but it is actually only 700W , noisiest microwave I've ever heard, plus the plate inside is very easy to get off balance, another Chinese reject I suspect, or could even have been assembled/made in VN.( Still cost about 2mil , buy one in OZ for the same price now ).

bta87 wrote:

Oh MIA ,I must hold my tongue. Your reply begs a male chauvinist reply!

Well, if you still live in America, your reply would be chauvinist.  However, in Việt Nam, the woman's place IS in the kitchen (which is an essential part of the home).  If you apply western thinking to this statement and reply to me saying what a pig I am, then you obviously do not know Vietnamese culture (I am fascinated by this).  The view here is, both husband and wife are like Ying and Yang. 

 

The men are proud to go work out in the hot sun ("hunter/gatherer") to provide substance to feed and care for his family.  The women are proud to be able to work inside the house ("homemaker") to look after the welfare of her family.

This does not say that husband and wife do not help each other.  I've seen plenty of men go slaughter the chicken, pluck it, grab herbs and help cook, but the chef is the wife.  He follows her instructions.  Outside where the man rules, the wife follows his instructions for fixing the house, digging ditches, etc. 

Knowing your place in the home as well as society makes life living here easier.

Oh yah, an Oven's place is in the kitchen (so there, we're on topic).

MIA,
   O.K. I apologize, now I know why you want the microwave, your Yin. Thanks THD. Why does the img show up as just a "?" now? Are the police on to you or what. And yes I did, and do understand the cultural differences in this regard…not enough plugs in the kitchen for a microwave! The question is did Yang get to much sun and just not think on the day they were doing the electrical or was it Yin fault. Id this akin to the men/women venus/mars thing?