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With the return of The Great British Bake Off I have noticed on Facebook and Twitter that friends and companies are all getting in on the action by following the themes/ challenges set each week.  Last week was Bread Week and a group of bloggers including myself were invited along for a baking master class with Currys and Neff led by none other than the fabulous Lyn (the lady who briefs the actual show contestants on how to use the Neff ovens on Bake Off and Neffs Senior Home Economist!).

We were shown how the ovens worked and then let loose to run amok, opsy, did I say that, I meant cook a variety of dishes.

I loved the slide n’ hide feature on the ovens it’s a brilliant idea.

My oven opens to the side and if the cupboard next to it isn’t completely closed the oven door bounces back at me, not ideal then I’m trying to pull something hot out of the oven!  I thought initially that by opening the way it does the Neff oven would lose heat but it doesn’t.  Anyone know why?  My daughter thinks it is because they are ‘Magic!’.  Well she isn’t far off, they have a super feature called CircoTherm which works by drawing air in from the oven, heating it up and then forcing it to the back of the oven and through strategically placed ducts.

So instead of letting air out like a normal oven it sucks it in, like this:

Click me to see why you don’t lose the heat!

Having the CircoTherm function means that you not only don’t lose heat when the door is opened but you can also cook a range of foods and not have to worry about smell transference meaning your pavlova won’t smell of sausages if you cook both in the oven at the same time.  The oven doesn’t need to be preheated as it reaches the programmed temperature fast and you can use a lower heat than required in other ovens to cook food.  This super oven doesn’t end up with splatter all over the from door as the air is all sucked to the back with any oils that come off of the food.  For those thinking well then that means the back will be covered, think again.  These guys are a step ahead and have incorporated self clean (high temperature cleaning 400 degrees).  I know by now you like me are thinking I WANT 1!

Between us we made a gorgeous selection of tasty dishes (lunch):

This was then followed by a crash course in bread baking.  Ok so a slight cheat as a bread mix was used but hey we all like shortcuts when they work so well.  This really helped to demonstrate how great the oven really is as it even has a warming draw that is great for warming plates and proving bread.  There is even a baking option on the oven.

As Lyn prepared the bread for the oven she explained that the base of the oven was slightly concave.  This allowed for water to be added when baking bread.  There is also a nifty little compartment at the front of the oven where you can add water for baking and cooking.  Adding water to the oven helps to add moisture to foods otherwise lost during cooking so it’s great when cooking meats for example as it ensures they stay nice and juicy and thus prevent shrinkage.

The moisture added to the oven here ensured that the tear and share cheese and prosciutto developed a beautiful golden crusty outer and light fluffy texture within.Perfection!

Afternoon tea ended a lovely day with the savoury bread shown above and a cinnamon, nut and apple bread and of course scones with clotted cream and jam.

Thanks so much to Currys, Neff and of course Joesbloggers for inviting me to come and join you at this FAB event.

This is NOT a sponsored post.