The Vaulted oven, The heart of your La Cornue

If there was to be only one reason for choosing a « Château » or a « CornuChef », it would have to be for its vaulted oven.
For almost a century, the vaulted oven has been central to our success.

In the kitchen, there is one fundamental rule: «meat roasted within a closed environment will retain the best of its flavour, of its juices and of its digestive qualities». It is, therefore, both extremely simple and highly complicated. The oven needs to be perfectly sealed on the one hand, and the hot air must be able to flow freely and uniformly around dishes on the other.

Within a traditional oven, the different surface areas of a dish are exposed to the unequal calorific action of the heat source, and this is determined according to the distance of the dish from the source and from the sides. Also, although traditional doors allow you to see the dish as it is cooking, they are only rarely sufficiently airtight, and this despite the use of seams, to maintain optimal and constant hygrometry, which constitutes the only guarantee against the serious problem of cooking juices drying up. 

In 1908, no doubt inspired by the vaulted ceilings of the new underground, and most probably by those of traditional bakers' ovens, Albert Dupuy designed the first gas oven model, which allowed the natural radiation of heat and uniform cooking within a homogenous atmosphere.

A few months later, he filed a patent for a revolutionary oven door. It was a solid metal door, able to withstand warping provoked by extreme variations in temperature and manufactured with tremendous precision so as to be perfectly airtight when shut, and all this without the addition of seams.

Thanks to its radiant vault and seamless door, La Cornue has been the owner of an exclusive oven, offering ideal cooking conditions, since 1908.

Of course, La Cornue vaulted ovens do not allow you to see what is happening inside the oven during cooking, and we advise against opening the door as this would let the humidity, an element so difficult to retain, escape. However, even if the dish is not watched at all, you will no longer need to worry about «hot spots» that carbonize the surface and spoil the flavour. As long as the oven door remains closed, all of the cooking juices will stay trapped inside your dishes. When you finally open the door, you will discover meat that it is incomparably juicier and full of rich flavour.

Over time, you will be able to determine ideal cooking times and temperatures according to the type of dish, its size and according to your own personal tastes.

While always respecting the principles of the first Albert Dupuy oven, La Cornue vaulted ovens have continued to improve over the years.
Today, the grill perfectly fits the shape of the vault and new ultra-rapid gas manifolds reduce cooking time.

When you open your oven, you will see discrete ventilation inlets on the edge of the door: this technical miracle allows a door to remain cold while roasting a capon inside.

Avec la voûte rayonnante et la porte sans joint, La Cornue possède depuis 1908 un four exclusif qui répond aux conditions de la cuisson idéale.

Certes, les fours à voûte La Cornue ne vous permettent pas de voir ce qui se passe à l’intérieur pendant la cuisson et nous vous déconseillons d’ouvrir la porte qui laisserait s’échapper une humidité si difficile à conserver. Pourtant, même en l’absence totale de surveillance, vous n’aurez plus à redouter « les coups de feu » qui carbonisent les surfaces et altèrent le goût des mets. La porte de votre four demeurant close, tous les jus et sucs de cuisson resteront prisonniers de vos mets. A l’ouverture finale, vous découvrirez des viandes incomparablement plus juteuses et toujours richement savoureuses.

Il vous faudra tout de même, sur la base de l’expérience, déterminer le temps et la température de cuisson idéale, suivant la nature, le poids de la préparation et votre goût personnel.

Tout en respectant à la lettre les principes du premier four d’Albert Dupuy, les fours à voûte La Cornue n’ont cessé de se perfectionner au fil des ans. Aujourd’hui, le gril épouse la forme de la voûte et de nouvelles rampes à gaz ultra rapides réduisent le temps de cuisson.

En ouvrant la porte de votre four, vous observerez de discrètes ouies d’aération sur le champ de la porte, c’est un prodige technique qui permet de conserver une porte froide alors que vous rôtissez un chapon à l’intérieur.
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