New oven

I got my fantastic new oven today – it is a Neff to match my gas hob and unlike the previous crap one where there was no way of differentiating between 150C and 190C from the dial – this one has a precise digital thermostat which even distinguishes between the temperature outside the oven and inside it.

There is a big thick book with it which I have not read yet – but by way of trial I tried making scones using a known good recipe (Paul Holywood’s).  These used to turn out perfectly in our oven at Donich Lodge, but with the awful Hotpoint the heat was so uneven and sporadic that sometimes they would not rise at all, and sometimes they would be up and blackened at one side and flat and under cooked on the other.

The Neff cooked them beautifully – I tried it on their pre-set recipe for scones and it was just a question of selecting it and pressing “Ok” (once I had worked out that you don’t kick the process off until you actually have them ready to go in).

So they were lovely, well risen and evenly brown.  I put butter and homemade strawberry jam on them and the three of us greatly enjoyed them.