Can A Miele Oven Owner Pls. Explain Surround Mode?

13 years ago

This oven setting confuses me. In school I learned that for optimal baking (not convection)the heat source should be from below. The baking process commences from the bottom up allowing the top of the item the maximum time to rise before the heat creates the baked seal which stops the item from rising. In Surround, oa the heat is distributed from top and bottom. I understand it's a non-convection mode, but doesn't this produce an item which can not rise to it's intended potential. Greatly appreciate if you could explain this to me.

Featured Answer

rococogurl

13 years ago

It would be so nice if Miele produced a competent oven manual with explanations about how to use the cooking modes that made sense or more accessible user information on their website. These questions come up again and again here.

Anything they say that's working for anyone is fine with me. I'm happy to share what works in my kitchen with my oven.

Lucypwd - For crusty yeast breads or rolls, pizza, calzone, two-crust [apple pie, above] or lattice pies or cobblers I use intensive. I have a pizza stone and use that for pizza and certain breads, also on intensive and I preheat the stone for 40-45 mins. Since many yeast breads are glazed or misted during baking, I don't find the fan to be a problem.

When I do the no-knead Sullivan St Bakery bread [above] in the Le Creuset casserole I preheat and bake with intensive. Again 40-45 mins.

For more delicate baked goods such as cookies, quick breads, angel food cake, bundt cake, brownies I use convection bake. For more delicate blind-baked single-crust
pie (my fresh strawberry pie) and french fruit tarts or doughs with high fat content but not much to cook in the center I also use convection bake.

Auto roast is a super mode that I also use a lot. It jump-starts the oven by heating with the top element until it gets up to temperature. That one saves a step for recipes where the oven starts hotter and then gets turned down. I find it does a great job on chicken.

Comments (8)

rococogurl
13 years ago
Think of surround as a casserole setting basically. It will brown the crust and heat the casserole through at the same time -- you won't need to wait for it to get dry before it browns.

Surround is not for anything that needs to rise. No combi setting in a European convection oven that has the top element going should be used for baking yeast bread or any type of pastry that needs to puff. Yeast breads rise most in the first 12 or so minutes of baking. You want the top moist or slit or glazed so it can expand and not be held down by a dry crust forming and heat coming from the bottom only.
lucypwd
13 years ago
So, rococogurl, what setting do you use for A) yeast breads, or rolls, B) pies, C) quick breads- like banana etc, D) pies, E) pizza or pita bread
2 years into this and I'm still confused on which settings to use.
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weedmeister
13 years ago
Seems we both like pie...;-)
risotto
13 years ago
I have had a Miele Chef series oven for almost exactly a year now. I believe the settings work the same in the chef series and the master chef series. I always use surround for my breads. In fact, I was having trouble with my bread when I first got the ovens and used convection. I called Miele and they told me to use surround. I think the fan used in the convection dried out the top of my bread and prevented oven spring. I don't have that problem using surround. I actually just took out two loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread baked at 375 using surround.

For pies and pizza we use intensive. For cookies and quick breads I use the regular convection bake.
sasafrass
Original Author
13 years ago
Well I thank you all, but honestly I'm still confused. I'm thinking of looking at the instruction manuals of other ovens with similar settings and see what they say. Thanks again to all of you.
HU-777977571
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I got my Miele long time ago. I have tremendous trouble using them. I could not bake almost all cakes at all. To me, this machine is useless after paid so much. They never rises, and collapses like a pan cake after all the work of whipping into a nice form and carefully folding. Can anyone have any idea what mode to use, or how to use, to bake angle cakes, Genoise cake, and muffins with baking soda/powder agent.
L Sorren
2 years ago
I would go on the Miele Live cooking events and they are free. They cover lots of baking/cooking and most importantly the Miele chef gives contact info so you can email or call any questions directly.