When to cover food in the oven

[CoolCat]

I've been getting more enthusiastic about roasting vegetables lately, but I don't understand when you should cover them and when you shouldn't. I generally cover things like brussels sprouts and cauliflower that I want to get brown and crispy. What about things like carrots and potatoes that take really long to cook? Will covering them help speed up the cooking time by trapping the heat, or will it just inhibit caramelization by making the heat less direct? What's the rule of thumb on covering food?

 

[Morning Glory]

I've been getting more enthusiastic about roasting vegetables lately, but I don't understand when you should cover them and when you shouldn't. I generally cover things like brussels sprouts and cauliflower that I want to get brown and crispy. What about things like carrots and potatoes that take really long to cook? Will covering them help speed up the cooking time by trapping the heat, or will it just inhibit caramelization by making the heat less direct? What's the rule of thumb on covering food?

I generally wouldn't cover them if your aiming for a caramelised and/or crispy result. If you cover them you are part steaming them. I'm going to post a recipe for really crispy roast potatoes...

 

[Berties]

I rarely cover foods in the oven ,only long cook braising or pot roasting
Roasted veg I season in a bowl and coat with oil and put in a hot tray,and keep turning till starts to soften ,then leave to crisp on top and caramalize

 

[CoolCat]

I generally wouldn't cover them if your aiming for a caramelised and/or crispy result. If you cover them you are part steaming them. I'm going to post a recipe for really crispy roast potatoes...

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the breakdown.

I rarely cover foods in the oven ,only long cook braising or pot roasting
Roasted veg I season in a bowl and coat with oil and put in a hot tray,and keep turning till starts to soften ,then leave to crisp on top and caramalize

I think my problem with the slower-roasting vegetables is that the outside gets crispy and caramelized before the inside is cooked through. I'd rather not cut them into tiny pieces, so I think I need to try leaving the covered until they are mostly cooked, and then uncover them at the end to brown and crisp.

 

[Morning Glory]

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the breakdown.

I think my problem with the slower-roasting vegetables is that the outside gets crispy and caramelized before the inside is cooked through. I'd rather not cut them into tiny pieces, so I think I need to try leaving the covered until they are mostly cooked, and then uncover them at the end to brown and crisp.

With slower cooking vegetables like potatoes you can par-boil them first as described in the Recipe for roast potatoes which I posted. For carrots, par-boil for 10 minutes, drain and pat dry. They should take about 35 mins in a hot oven to roast.

 

[CoolCat]

With slower cooking vegetables like potatoes you can par-boil them first as described in the Recipe for roast potatoes which I posted. For carrots, par-boil for 10 minutes, drain and pat dry. They should take about 35 mins in a hot oven to roast.

That's a great point. (One day, I will have a house and the ability to pick out my own appliances. My stovetop is terribly under-powered. I have only one burner that can boil a large pot of water, and it must be covered and still takes at least half an hour to get to boiling. I have to use a small pot and cook things in batches if it requires boiling water, or use my electric kettle to heat water to go on the stove.)

I'm planning on doing some carrots today, so I will try the par-boiling method if I can get the water boiling soon enough.

 

[Morning Glory]

Gosh, having one burner is a bit restrictive. But re boiling the kettle first, I generally do that anyway to save money and time. Its a good idea.

 

[CoolCat]

Gosh, having one burner is a bit restrictive. But re boiling the kettle first, I generally do that anyway to save money and time. Its a good idea.

Sorry if I was unclear. I have four burners, but only one of them is capable of bringing a large pot of water to a boil. It's a standard 2 large/2 small configuration, and it's not uncommon for one of the large burners (typically the back one) to go up to a higher heat and/or have the option of heating a larger surface (for ceramic cooktops).

I tried your blanching first method for some carrots on Sunday. I blanched them for 7-10 minutes (it took a little while to get the last few out of the water) and then put them in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes. (They were cut pretty thin so I reduced your recommended cooking times.) They came out wonderfully. No crunchy bits or hard centers.

 

[Morning Glory]

Sorry if I was unclear. I have four burners, but only one of them is capable of bringing a large pot of water to a boil. It's a standard 2 large/2 small configuration, and it's not uncommon for one of the large burners (typically the back one) to go up to a higher heat and/or have the option of heating a larger surface (for ceramic cooktops).

I tried your blanching first method for some carrots on Sunday. I blanched them for 7-10 minutes (it took a little while to get the last few out of the water) and then put them in a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes. (They were cut pretty thin so I reduced your recommended cooking times.) They came out wonderfully. No crunchy bits or hard centers.

I sometimes forget I have a microwave! You can also use the microwave, if you have one, to "par-boil" the vegetables. Now you're going to tell me you haven't got a microwave!

 

[CoolCat]

I sometimes forget I have a microwave! You can also use the microwave, if you have one, to "par-boil" the vegetables. Now you're going to tell me you haven't got a microwave!

Ha ha! No, I have a full, modern kitchen, complete with microwave. The stovetop just annoys me sometimes, but I think I prefer it to having the opposite problem. I had super cheap gas stoves in some of my college apartments that wouldn't allow the flame to go low enough to only simmer something; it would always be a full boil. I thought I'd unlearned how to make rice! My mom thought I was just incompetent until she came to visit and tried to cook a dish she'd made a thousand times before, and couldn't get the flame low enough.

My mom does carrots in the microwave all the time and she generally gets good results. I may just do that next time and skip all the drama!

 

[CoolCat]

Okay, so I did some carrots in the microwave yesterday because I was short on time. (I meant to cook them Sunday for my lunches this week, and didn't get around to it so I was trying to get a veggie cooked in the morning before work - bad idea!) They turned out terrible. The texture was fine, and they were cooked through. I normally just put butter on my carrots, though, and they didn't take on any of the flavor like they do when I cook them in the oven. I'm guessing it's some combination of not enough time for the butter to penetrate and something weird happening with the butter because it was probably boiling or something.

 

[Morning Glory]

Okay, so I did some carrots in the microwave yesterday because I was short on time. (I meant to cook them Sunday for my lunches this week, and didn't get around to it so I was trying to get a veggie cooked in the morning before work - bad idea!) They turned out terrible. The texture was fine, and they were cooked through. I normally just put butter on my carrots, though, and they didn't take on any of the flavor like they do when I cook them in the oven. I'm guessing it's some combination of not enough time for the butter to penetrate and something weird happening with the butter because it was probably boiling or something.

Microwaving vegetables is like steaming. You won't get any flavour other than the vegetable themselves unless you add some herbs or spices. Butter wouldn't have time to work. But its possible you overcooked them. Its so easy to do that in the microwave! Thats one reason I don't use mine as much as I perhaps could. Timing is so critical. You could try cooking them in the microwave in a little orange juice instead of water.

 

[summerdays]

I sometimes cover some things like sweet potato or squash to begin with to keep some extra moisture in at the beginning, and then lift off the cover part way through.

 

[CoolCat]

Microwaving vegetables is like steaming. You won't get any flavour other than the vegetable themselves unless you add some herbs or spices. Butter wouldn't have time to work. But its possible you overcooked them. Its so easy to do that in the microwave! Thats one reason I don't use mine as much as I perhaps could. Timing is so critical. You could try cooking them in the microwave in a little orange juice instead of water.

They weren't overcooked, they were still a tad firm.

I sometimes cover some things like sweet potato or squash to begin with to keep some extra moisture in at the beginning, and then lift off the cover part way through.

Good point! Moisture content would be an important consideration as well.

 

[winterybella]

I don't usually put vegetables in the oven unless I am making some kind of vegetable pie and I never cover those. Outside of that I cover all meat that requires cooking time of more than an hour. It speeds up the process for me and where I want a nice brown finish I uncover once the meat has been partially cooked. On the odd occasion meat might be overcooked but we all prefer that.