I haven't tried to bake a cake yet.

I thought I'd wait until I was more used to the temperature settings.

It's a chocolate and raspberry cake sort of day (rainy) here though so I may just try it later.

I made a first cake and it didn't turn out very well and that's a shame under the circumstances. I think I had the oven too high at first and may have needed to put in the extender to make the oven higher. I had to put it down on the bottom rack as the top rack was too high with a cake tin on it and almost touching the lid. It's turned out more of a mud cake instead of a lighter sponge-like cake. It looks ok now that it's iced and has raspberries on it so the test will be in the tasting later today.

edited to add: forgot to mention why it took so long to make a cake.
Daughter and I have not been eating wheats or grains or rice or pasta, but it's her birthday today and we love this particular cake and need something delicious. Not sure how we'll deal with it, but I'm sure it will taste good LOL eeek

Ok, after mistakes with sizes of bakeware my Ex finally baked a Toffee sponge in a 20cm silicone mould. 150 for 50 minutes on the low rack with the extender ring on was a little off. Slightly crispy on the top, with a sliver inside undercooked because there is no heat in the silicone. Will try 140 for 60 minutes next time she tries a cake - cupcakes next, about 15 mins I hear.

Dave.

I'm learning from your tips!

I haven't used the extender as yet but I need to get it out of the box and wash it and have it there to try it.

I've not made any more cakes since the one and only. Yesterday daughter and I made a bean chilli type concoction and baked sweet potato (the Kumara) in very thin slices in the oven. Just seasoned them with a light dusting of spices to make them savory. They were used instead of corn chips. Delicious, but the oven is a bit small so we needed to cook them in several batches. No drama.

I'm thinking I'm using the high rack too much. I find it difficult to get the top rack out of the oven when it's really hot is the problem. Working on that.

Lara,
My extender is never off my oven - and it's a convenient place to store it. Did you not get tongs to lift the rack out? They are like wide-opening grips. Or use 2 oven gloves.
Another idea we are in the process of doing is cutting a rectangular silicone baking sheet into a circle the same size as the outer circumference of the rack. A perfect fit, air convection will still get around the bowl and it will maximise area for oven snacks such as you describe, oven chips, nachos…

Dave.

Good morning/evening to you Dave.

No tongs. That's what I need though.
It's so difficult without them. I use oven mits but it's not quite as easy.

Great idea about the tray.

Another thing that works too Dave is a pizza tray. They have holes in the metal base so the air circulates. You just need to find one that is of a size that will fit on the top rack.

Well, I just received my Winter electricity Bill after the first comparable Season using the halogen oven. And believe me, the thing is never off. My Daughter uses it to cook my Grandson's teas, then it is usually back on for ours - rather than the hob, grill or main oven. In fact, our oven usage, in total has probably doubled, equivalent to probable use of main oven.

So, what has this excessive use done to my kwh over the Season? It has CUT it by 10% - and the reduction in prices means my Bill is 24% cheaper a month! All from the only change, a little halogen oven - I love it

Dave.