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Vivi makes it easy
This question splits: Oven door open or closed after baking?
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You ask yourself this question every time: Should I leave the oven door open after baking or should I keep it closed? Food columnist Vivi has the answer for you.
This question creates potential for controversy: Do you leave the oven door open or closed after baking? It’s an important question, after all, you ask yourself it after about every baking process. Small spoiler: Regardless of whether pizza, bread, cookies or cakes were previously in the oven, the subsequent cooling process has been done incorrectly in many households up to now. I will now explain why, why, and how to let your oven cool down properly.
Leave the oven door open to cool down?
The answer to this question comes as a surprise to many, but it says: better not. Although our grandparents or mum and dad often preached that by leaving the oven door open we would save energy because the residual heat would be suitable for heating the room, unfortunately they were wrong. Because the truth is that we can do more harm than good with it. Many oven manufacturers advise against leaving the doors open once the baking process is complete. Why? There are several reasons for this.
1. Modern ovens contain a cross-flow fan
I can take away your concern that the moisture that develops during the cooling process could damage the oven. Because ovens that are not older than 20 years have a so-called cross-flow fan. This ensures that the excess air is transported outside.
2. Risk of injury
By leaving oven doors open, you create a potential source of danger. Not only can you burn yourself on the hot steam or the hot oven door, the open door can also become a tripping hazard. I would advise against half-open doors anyway, because they only ensure that the humidity in the room increases and condensation forms in the oven. If you want to cool down your oven quickly, leave the oven door completely open for a moment, air the room and then quickly close it again so that the open door does not pose a risk of injury.
3. Escaping heat can damage adjacent furniture
Another reason not to leave the oven door open after baking is that the escaping heat can damage adjacent furniture over time. Although most kitchen fronts are designed to easily withstand the heat generated by ovens, foiled fronts in particular are sensitive to heat. If you’re unlucky, the foil surrounding the cabinets in your kitchen will eventually peel off if you constantly expose them to the hot air.
4. Food smells spread around the room
Another point that speaks against leaving the oven door open is the smell that comes out. Sure, cakes and pastries smell amazing, but what about fish or burnt fat? You won’t get that out of the apartment anytime soon. So it’s better to keep the oven door closed.
A little hint: Ultimately, it can be worth reading the manufacturer’s instructions in the operating instructions for your oven. There is often a description of whether it is recommended to open the oven door or keep it closed to cool down.
Vivi’s top tips
To really save energy, you should do the following three things when baking:
- Don’t preheat: In most cases it is not necessary to preheat your oven and you only waste energy. Except when baking pizza or choux pastry, where the exact heat is important, preheating is usually not worthwhile.
- Use the residual heat of your oven: Instead of wasting the heat on the room after baking, you can rather use it for baking. Because most ovens keep the heat so efficient that you can switch off your oven a good ten minutes before the end of the baking time and continue cooking your dishes in the residual heat.
- Do not open the oven while baking: Not only that some baked goods can collapse if you open the oven door in between, it also consumes a lot of energy if you keep opening and closing the oven door in between. You can follow the baking process well enough through the glass.
Sources used: oekotest.de, wa.de, utopia.de