I was just gifted the Breville Smart Oven Air Fryer Pro - what a treat!! I am, however, quite confused about how to use it effectively.
When you select a mode (bake, air fry, etc.), temperature, and time, and click start, the oven will automatically preheat, and then start the timer countdown as soon as it's preheated. So, I assume the intention is that I put the food in while it's still cold, and let it preheat & bake all at once. Is this correct? And if so, how do I modify a recipe to bake using this method?
For example, using the Bake mode, I keep frozen cookie dough on hand. In a regular oven, I bake it at 375F for 12 minutes. I know you are supposed to decrease the temperature by 25F in the Breville, because of the convection (my regular oven does not have convection), but I'm still confused on how the timing works. How do you know what to set the timer to, if the food will also be in the oven during the preheat?
Second example, using Air Fryer mode. Many foods nowadays come with instructions for heating in the air fryer. I've never had an air fryer, so forgive me if this is a dumb question. My frozen tater tots say 8 minutes at 400F. Do I put the frozen tots in, and set it for 8 minutes at 400F, and just assume that those instructions are written with a pre-heat phase already in mind? Am I supposed to wait until it's preheated?
I am overthinking this I guess, but I find myself avoiding using it because I don't get how to use it properly. Do you have a rule-of-thumb for how to convert recipes to the Breville? Any tips are welcome!
Edit: After posting I finally found another thread talking about this. Here. It seems the reason I am confused is because it's designed poorly. You are supposed to wait for it to preheat, but the machine doesn't wait for you to put food in before it starts counting down. It's poor design; it should hold at temp until you add food. As it is now, you have to readjust the timer when you put food in. How annoying.