HearthKit simulates baking in a brick oven
Advertiser Staff and News Services
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| Installing a ceramic hearth kit inside a conventional home oven was demonstrated last month at a hardware store in Rockford, Ill.
Gannett News Service |
A solution for average cooks may be a new product that promises similar results. It's the HearthKit oven insert, and it is a three-sided ceramic device that slides into your oven and is meant to duplicate the effect of a brick oven. The $200 HearthKit comes in three sizes to fit most conventional home ovens and includes three inch-thick pieces (bottom and two sides) with rack and thermometer.
Cheaper options recommended for baking crusty breads include lining the bottom oven rack with commercial baking stones, pizza stones or quarry tiles, but this provides heat to three sides instead of just the bottom of the item.
What's the difference between your oven as it is now and with a HearthKit? A modern oven uses only ambient heat (the temperature of the surrounding air) and some radiant heat (heat that's emitted as radiation), according to HearthKit press materials. When baking in a hearth oven, three principles are at work: conductive heat (conducted via another material), radiant heat, and ambient heat. When designed properly, these three heats work together to form a "hearth" environment.
A normal oven cycles the heat source on and off. You don't hear it, but once your oven reaches the desired temperature, it turns off the heat source. Five to 12 minutes later, when your oven cools 25 to 50 degrees, it heats up again. Because the HearthKit retains heat in its bricklike floor and sides, the temperature remains more constant and the food is cooked from all sides. The constant, conductive heat also allows you to bake or roast food 50-150 degrees higher than normal without burning, which contributes to a crisp exterior and moist interior.
While the HearthKit can be used for slow-cooking, most foods will bake in 25 percent less time than in a conventional oven.
Find the HearthKit in hardware and home centers or at www.metro-hearth.com. Mail orders include a free cookbook and free shipping in the United States.
