The Little-Known Oven Feature That Helps Make Perfect Roasted Veggies
July 17, 2019
source: Betty Crocker
Whenever I use my oven, I almost always put every dish on the middle rack. I tend to use the bottom rack only if space is limited. I think it’s safe to assume that most of us use both of these racks when cooking food in the oven. But apparently, there’s one built-in oven feature that we all should be using — we just don’t know about it yet!
This technique surfaced in Carolynn Carreño’s book, Bowls of Plenty. She learned this trick from “a chef friend who had gone from working in restaurants with super powerful ovens to cooking at home.” This trick is perfect for roasting vegetables to charred perfection without having their insides turned to a soggy mush.
“The oven floor provides the hottest, most even and direct heat possible, which means you can get your vegetables nice and caramelized without overcooking them,” reveals Carolynn. She recommends baking two pans of veggies, with one on the oven floor and the other on the middle rack at 500 degrees fahrenheit for about 20 minutes, switching the position of the pans halfway through. This will leave you with perfectly roasted veggies that are a combination of tender and crispy.
Before trying this hack, you’ll want to read your oven’s manual or contact the manufacturer to ensure your oven is equipped to hold a heavy tray on the bottom. If you’re not able to place a tray directly on your oven’s bottom surface (because that’s where the heating elements are located), try to position the rack as close to the bottom of the oven as possible. I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely keen to try this trick for my next family dinner!