Recommended cooking times

M0nica

Allira

We had duck breasts yesterday, they are supposed to be served pink according to Masterchef but I cooked them right through!

Exactly waht i would do, and will do when I cook the duck's breastss currently in my freezer.

I have cooked for people who like their steaks blue!

Slightly pink in the middle for steak is ok but poultry - never.

Ovens vary. I bake Victoria Sanwich on 160 degrees (instead of 170 as recommended by Mary Berry) my oven, learned the hard way.

Totally agree — a lot of packaging timings seem way off. I’ve found the same with chicken and beef; if you follow the instructions exactly you often end up with dry meat. Now I always start checking much earlier too. Ovens vary, but some of these recommended times feel overly cautious and end up ruining food!

A Jamie Oliver cake. I baked for the time and temperature stated, I should have relied on my own instinct. It was soggy when cut

My oven had a perfect temperature for my Delia Christmas cake, I checked with an oven thermometer after the Jamie experience. Delia cake was perfection

In the kitchen I keep an indexed notebook. When I find something needs a time different from the instructions I make a note. Some food packages don't give a setting for an air fryer, as they can vary a lot, so having a note of the successful heat and temperature is a help for next time.

Flip: I am not experienced with an air fryer at all but have successfully roasted pork, lamb and beef in mine. Obviously, they are smallish joints but even so it is much faster than a conventional oven. The temperature needs to be lower and I probe the meat several times during cooking with a thermometer.

Sorry MO, we are bleu meat eaters, so dinner is ready in a nano second!!!

If it is of any use, I read that the roasties can be pre-cooked and just re-heated whilst the meat is resting, when they crisp up. I have tried it and it actually works!

Allira

We had duck breasts yesterday, they are supposed to be served pink according to Masterchef but I cooked them right through!

My favourite duck is the Chinese crispy half duck that comes in a pack with rice pancakes. Cooked until it falls apart, you eat it in the pancakes with hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onions. Yum!