[bumblebee]

I have a breakfast casserole assembled and chilled in the refrigerator. It usually takes about an hour to reheat at 350. The casserole contains pre cooked potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon and shredded cheese. I want the casserole to be ready at about 11am but I have to leave the house from 9am-11AM to accompany our guests to a community event. If I want the casserole hot and ready at 11am will I need to be home at 10AM or could I leave it in the oven for 2 hours on a lower temp? I don't want to risk it drying our or over heating. Thanks for any guidance.

 

[sgsvirgil]

Will anyone else be home while you are gone? I hate to be captain obvious here but, leaving food on a hot oven unattended with no one home is not a very safe thing to do.

But, setting that aside and not to encourage you to leave your food unattended, you can drop the oven tempt to around 200'f - 225'f and you should be ok. Cover it with foil so it doesn't dry out.

However, I encourage you to not leave your dish in a working oven unattended.

Good luck.

 

[phatch]

Does your oven have a timed bake feature where it comes on and turns off at set times?

The oven I'm still using from the 1980s has that handy feature. I use it routinely to preheat the oven in the morning automatically for popovers and for my cheesecake which i let coast to completion in a falling oven.

 

[brianshaw]

Until mine broke I was addicted to the timed-bake feature. It is a wonder feature. But I have few concerns about running an oven through a night, as I sometimes do when slow roasting meat or making baked beans... or when away from the house for a while. My logic is that if the equipment is in good working order it’s no more or less safe than operating while I’m there. Sometimes I wonder if someone would turn it off in time if I do something silly like drop dead suddenly.

As far as reheating... what sgsvirgil said. When heated you can remove the foil and crank up the heat for a nice crust if you want.

 

[meezenplaz]

Trying to time it to be piping hot when you walk in is tough.

I would cover with foil, put it in a cold oven set to 300.
And try to get back in enuf time to heat-bump it if its not hot enuf.
Leaving an oven isnt a good idea, but if yours isnt in the habit
of making you put out fires, I doubt its suddenly gonna get ornery
just because it knows youre gone for an hour or so.

 

[drirene]

I use it routinely to preheat the oven in the morning automatically for popovers and for my cheesecake which i let coast to completion in a falling oven.

My year-old oven no longer lets my cheesecake cool down slowly. It quickly cools itself after use. Haven't been able to figure out how to turn that feature (feature?) off.

 

[phatch]

Sounds like a convection feature. I don't know if it could be disabled. Maybe unplug your fans prior to cooking the cheesecake?

 

[drirene]

Sounds like a convection feature. I don't know if it could be disabled. Maybe unplug your fans prior to cooking the cheesecake?

It happens even when the oven is on conventional bake. I need an IT guy to navigate the electronics, so I give up.