Casserole cooking time?

"Frogleg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time? I mean, you got y'r condensed mushroom soup and y'r cooked, diced chicken, and y'r
cooked noodles and y'r bread-crumb topping -- why does this take an hour in the oven? To evapotate
the water in wet ingredients and make everything sort of glom together? To make the water soak up
the starch ingredient and produce a thick 'sauce'? To keep the kitchen warm on cold winter
evenings?

Drink time, Froggy, drink time.

Felice

In article <[email hidden]>, Frogleg

Quoted message said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time? I mean, you got y'r condensed mushroom soup and y'r cooked, diced chicken, and y'r
cooked noodles and y'r bread-crumb topping -- why does this take an hour in the oven? To evapotate
the water in wet ingredients and make everything sort of glom together? To make the water soak up
the starch ingredient and produce a thick 'sauce'? To keep the kitchen warm on cold winter
evenings?

To heat it through and meld the delectable canned-goods flavors together. I usually do my hotdishes
for about 30 minutes at 350 deg F for a 1-1/2 quart size casserole dish. Heating it through will
take longer is a large container. Shape of the container will affect the time, too. Something baked
in a 9" square dish will take less time to heat through than the something in a container of the
same volume but deeper. My twenty cents worth.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> updated 1-31-04 A good friend will come and bail you out of jail; a
true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn,that was fun!"

Frogleg said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time? I mean, you got y'r condensed mushroom soup and y'r cooked, diced chicken, and y'r
cooked noodles and y'r bread-crumb topping -- why does this take an hour in the oven? To evapotate
the water in wet ingredients and make everything sort of glom together? To make the water soak up
the starch ingredient and produce a thick 'sauce'? To keep the kitchen warm on cold winter
evenings?

Why does it matter? You cook it till it's done - which means hot through and nice and golden brown
on top. Even though the ingredients may not be raw they are not usually already hot. They need time
to heat up and in the case of cheese, for example, to melt and blend with the other ingredients.
Casseroles are pretty thick and dense so it's no wonder it takes a while for them to get piping hot
throughout. Kate
--
Kate Connally “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.” Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that
smiles back, Until you bite their heads off.” What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all
about? "][email hidden]

In article <lF9Ub.174396$sv6.929256@attbi_s52>, "Felice Friese"

Quoted message said:

"Frogleg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time?

Quoted message said:

Drink time, Froggy, drink time.

Felice

Felice, you rascal! I knew I could count on you!
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> updated 1-31-04 A good friend will come and bail you out of jail; a
true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn,that was fun!"

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 15:37:37 -0500, Kate Connally <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Frogleg said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time?

Why does it matter? You cook it till it's done - which means hot through and nice and golden brown
on top. Even though the ingredients may not be raw they are not usually already hot.

Thanks for all input. I'm still a little puzzled by how it'd take 30+ minutes at 350F to thoroughly
heat cooked ingredients. I mean, if you layer raw potato slices (with milk and s&p and maybe some
cheese and onion, and..., it's going to take a while for the potatoes and onions to actually cook.
But how long does it actually take to heat a good-sized dish of tuna casserole?

I just looked up a number of Shepherd's Pie recipes on the web. Cooking time ranged from 20 minutes
to 1-1/2 hrs at temperatures between 350 and 400F. All ingredients were pre-cooked (except in the
case of adding eggs to mashed potatoes and needing to cook for 'puff'😉,

Maybe this habit is the source of ads for dishwashing liquid designed to "remove baked-on"
foodstuffs. Oh, for an instant-read thermometer!
:-)

Frogleg said:

Kate Connally said:

Frogleg said:

This was touched on peripherally in another thread, but I'm still wondering. How come so many
casserole recipes include mostly cooked ingredients, and then specify a 45-minute to 1-1/2-hr
cooking time?

Why does it matter? You cook it till it's done - which means hot through and nice and golden
brown on top. Even though the ingredients may not be raw they are not usually already hot.

Thanks for all input. I'm still a little puzzled by how it'd take 30+ minutes at 350F to
thoroughly heat cooked ingredients. I mean, if you layer raw potato slices (with milk and s&p and
maybe some cheese and onion, and..., it's going to take a while for the potatoes and onions to
actually cook. But how long does it actually take to heat a good-sized dish of tuna casserole?

I just looked up a number of Shepherd's Pie recipes on the web. Cooking time ranged from 20
minutes to 1-1/2 hrs at temperatures between 350 and 400F. All ingredients were pre-cooked (except
in the case of adding eggs to mashed potatoes and needing to cook for 'puff'😉,

Maybe this habit is the source of ads for dishwashing liquid designed to "remove baked-on"
foodstuffs. Oh, for an instant-read thermometer!
:-)

Tee hee hee! You could be right, but I never thought it odd. I just made my favorite grits
casserole. I made a recipe of grits in the microwave so they were hot and I browned a pound of hot
sausage, so that was hot. Mixed it all up with 3 beaten eggs, a can of diced green chiles, 2 cups
shredded cheese, 1 tsp. cumin. Poured into a large glass oval casserole and baked about 40 minutes -
recipe said 50 minutes - at 350F (except that my oven is a little high so it was probably really
375F. The insides were piping hot and well blended and it was just nicely browned on the bottom and
sides and the top was just barely golden brown. The contents of the casserole were about 3 inches
deep in the center. I think you really need that amount of time to get everything hot and browned.

Now if I'd made it in my rectangular casserole it would have been more spread out and only 1 1/2 to
2 inches deep over all so it might have been done in 30 minutes. But even with all the 2 major
ingredients already being piping hot I think it still needed that amount of time.

Why don't you experiment and try a casserole that you think shouldn't take that long to cook
and make several of them and cook them for different lengths of time and see which ones come
out the best.

I agree that they Shepherd's Pie that calls for 1 1/2 hour of baking would probably be way overdone
for my taste (read "burnt"😉 but I think anything between 30 minutes and 1 hour is reasonable for
most casseroles.

Kate the bottom
--
Kate Connally “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.” Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that
smiles back, Until you bite their heads off.” What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all
about? "][email hidden]

On Thu, 05 Feb 2004 16:51:25 -0500, Kate Connally <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Frogleg said:

On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 15:37:37 -0500, Kate Connally <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Thanks for all input. I'm still a little puzzled by how it'd take 30+ minutes at 350F to
thoroughly heat cooked ingredients.

<snip good-sounding recipe>

Quoted message said:

I think you really need that amount of time to get everything hot and browned.

Quoted message said:

Why don't you experiment and try a casserole that you think shouldn't take that long to cook
and make several of them and cook them for different lengths of time and see which ones come
out the best.

Good idea, except that I cook for 1 or 2, and the freezer's already full. :-) I was sort of relaying
someone else's query. I suppose it's more practical to say "cook for 50 minutes" than "cook until
the interior is piping hot and the topping is browned, however long that takes you in your oven and
with your dishes/pans."

[That grits, chile, cheese, egg thing really *does* sound good. Will save.]

Frogleg said:

[That grits, chile, cheese, egg thing really *does* sound good. Will save.]

I use quick grits and use the proportions for the stove top version for 3/4 c. grits and 3 c. milk
but I do it in the microwave in my large glass mixing bowl. Remove when it starts to thicken. Then I
can add all the other ingredients and mix well before pouring into the buttered casserole dish. The
original recipe calls for less sausage and regular breakfast sausage but I use Bob Evans bulk hot
sausage. I think I gave the amounts of the other ingredients. I don't add any salt as with the
sausage and you don't really need it. Also the recipe calls for 1 c. cheddar and 1 c. jack. I just
buy a 2-lb. bag of Mexican mix and use that. The original recipe says to serve with salsa and sour
cream. I don't bother as I like it just fine plain. The hot sausage gives it enough oomph that I
don't need the salsa, but you might want to try it that way.

Boy, I'm getting hungry just writing about it. Luckily I have a lot left from last weekend in the
fridge and I'm going to have it for breakfast tomorrow. Hoo boy!

Kate
--
Kate Connally “If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.” Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that
smiles back, Until you bite their heads off.” What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all
about? "][email hidden]