TurboChef Technologies Tornado - Manual (Page 31)

21 RECIPE DEVELOPMENT AND COOKING TIPS
Recipe Development and Cooking Tips
DEVELOPING RECIPES
TurboChef ovens use a combination of hot air and
microwave energy to cook food. While experience
with a convection or microwave oven will reveal
both similarities and significant differences, the key
to creating good recipes for a variety of different
food items is to understand the following rules:
1. TurboChef ovens use a moving shroud of hot air
to surround the food and lock in moisture.
2. The hot air provides most of the heating and
browning of foods. The higher the air velocity,
the faster heat energy is transferred to the food.
3. The microwave provides heat to the center of
the food. Do not try to do all the cooking with
the microwave.
4. The weight of food determines the Total Cook
Time required. The more weight, the longer the
required Total Cook Time. (Most medium thick
crust pizzas cook in about 100 seconds.)
5. Thick and dense foods may need to be flipped
half way through the Cook Cycle.
6. The microwave tends to work best in the earlier
stages of cooking, then use hot air to finish off the
cooking process.
7. Color develops primarily at the end of a Cook
Cycle. Higher velocities of air in the later stages
of cooking will strongly control the food’s color.
Development Methodology
When developing a recipe, it is important to keep
the following in mind:
1. The Total Cook Time depends heavily on the
weight, portion and makeup of a product.
When developing a recipe for the Tornado, a
good starting point for the Total Cook Time is to
divide the item’s conventional cook time by 10.
2. The two main components of an Event are the
Percentage Microwave and Percentage Air. Each
affects a product differently.
†
Air provides color, caramelization, and texture,
when moisture is not active.
†
Microwave rapidly cooks a product and keeps
the product’s moisture moving.
Although the Tornado oven is a speed cook oven,
thinking in terms of conventional cooking methods
can be a great help in establishing a good starting
point from which to begin testing and refining a
recipe’s settings.
By looking at the cooking process behind three
different types of products, the following examples
highlight the connection between traditional cook-
ing methods and the world of speed cooking.
Example 1: Frozen Pizza
A frozen pizza will have to be defrosted, cooked
and then finished. These three stages – defrost, cook
and finish – correspond to speed cooking as follows.
Defrost:
High microwave to bring the item out of the
frozen state.
Cook:
Microwave and air are used to cook the Item.
Depending on the item, cooking may need to take
place over several Events to maximize the quality.