I’ve had my Wolf steam convection oven for over six months. I continue to try and learn how to make maximum use of this cooking tool. One area that I have shied away from using is the “Wolf Gourmet” setting.
The user guide says the “Wolf gourmet cooks food perfection; simply tell it what type of food you are putting inside of the oven. The climate Center knows the amount, shape and consistency and adjust time, temperature and humidity so no baking instructions are required.”
It’s hard for me to trust that this is actually true. Well, this weekend I tested it by baking a Marbled Blueberry Bundt Cake using the Wolf gourmet A13 (cake) with the medium browned setting.
True to its word, there were no visual instructions on the temperature or steam setting. The timer was automatically set for one hour and six minutes.
I kept a close eye on the cake. I opened the oven once about halfway through the cook time to insert a test probe to make sure the cake was already done. The cake was not done.
I left the cake in the oven until the timer finished. While I cannot verify it, it seemed like the oven automatically changed the amount of time left in the cooking process. Unfortunately, I did not watch it the whole time so I cannot document that change.
The result? The cake came out great! See for yourself…
The result of this experiment actually gives me encouragement to try other Wolf Gourmet settings.
Following is a recipe for the bundt cake in case you’re interested.
Yes, this has been my experience also. I just tend to ignore the auto settings. I have tried it on frozen appetizers but it also tends to cook too long or with a too high temp.
A13 setting is cooking my cake at 400… this is crazy…. my cake was burnt half through the cooking process.
To the best of my knowledge, you are not able to choose multiple gourmet modes that will run at the same time. Each mode is run independently. I will have to review the A7 setting but generally you set the probe temp using the panel. Just touch the temp and it switches from oven temp to probe temp. The symbol changes depending on the mode. I’ll try and research this a little more to see what I can find out and add to this comment.
With the Wolf Gourmet modes can you use more than one at the same time? For example, if you were cooking meat and potatoes; could you choose A5 (potatoes) and A7 (meat) so you could put both items in and have them finished simultaneously? For the A7 setting, how does it know what kind of meat or what temp for the probe? Thanks!
Anne, I ‘m so glad the information was helpful. I will continue to post information I discover on how to best use the Steam Oven.
Steve,
Thank you for posting this info. I used the info you posted to use our new Wolf Oven today to bake cookies for a party I am going to. The cookies were perfect. It would have totally been confusing without your blog!
For example when I set the temperature to 375 it went down to 210. It was so much easier to know this from your blog. I can tell I am going to love this oven!!
Will try some of your recipes as well.
Aloha from Hawaii.
– Anne
Ken, again thanks for sharing this recipe. I will add this recipe into a separate recipe post.
Yes, having to wait until you press start to find out how long the cycle is is very backwards. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to start this site, to try and document exactly what goes on with the various modes available in the oven.
The problem with Gourmet Mode is you put everything in and set it up, then it tells you when it will be done. That’s backwards.
I usually want to know how long something takes before it will be done.
PASTRY COVERED ICE CREAM BALLS
Ingredients:
3 cups high moisture, low fat ice cream
6 whole fresh strawberries
½ box phyllo dough sheets, thawed
¼ cup butter, melted
For each pastry covered ice cream ball:
Make ahead:
1. Shape about 3/4 cup ice cream round balls and freeze. (Ice cream that is higher in moisture and low in fat freezes the hardest.)
2. Slice fresh strawberries 1/4-inch thick
Method:
1. Place 1 phyllo dough sheet on cutting board. Lightly coat the sheet with melted butter.
2. Place another phyllo dough sheet on top. Cut the dough into a square of phyllo dough (about 9-inches).
3. Coat the edges of the phyllo dough with melted butter. Place 2 to 3 strawberry slices in the middle of the dough.
4. Place the frozen ice cream ball on strawberries. Bring opposite corners of phyllo dough together and squeeze the edges together to form a seal. Repeat with other corners. Freeze solid.
When ready to bake:
5. Preheat CSO oven with no oven racks to Convection Steam at 445°F.
6. Place parchment paper on solid pan that comes with the CSO oven. Place desired pastry balls on pan. (Up to 6 balls per batch.) Slide pan on rack position 2. Bake 3 minutes or until lightly browned on the outside.
Makes 4 servings