Do we usually use just the bottom heat of the oven to bake puff pastry, or do we use *both* the top & bottom heat? Please let me know. Thanks!!

I am thinking that the top element/ heat in your oven is what we call over here in Australia *the grill*
We would use that to make cheese on toast - cook chops etc.


The *bottom element* is what you would use to bake with - whether cakes or a quiche.

So you would use the bottom elemet Knightrised.
Not sure where you are placed on this planet -

Welcome to CC by the way.

Bluehue.

I am sorry are you baking puff pastry or cream puffs? Either way I think I would use "both". I am sorry, but I don't know exactly what that means. My commercial oven is a convect-a-ray so it is only on or off. My home oven has multiple settings bake, broil, etc., but I usually just use the "bake" setting when I am baking. Both puff pastry and pate a choux require a good amount of heat to set the proteins so I would guess that both the top and the bottom heat for your oven would make that happen.

Just don't set the oven on broil and to the right temp. and you'll be fine.

I used both they came out great.......here is a pic of the ones i tried. I'm not an artist but they were delicious! Hope this is what your were asking about. lol

Oh, those are eclairs made with pate choux. Not the same thing as puff pastry.

Excellent article w/ recipe and how-to on pate choux at Joy of Baking:

http://www.joyofbaking.com/CreamPuffs.html

chippi, now I"m hungry, those look SO good.

You might be thinking of cream puffs. Google, Napoleans that will show puff pastry.

Mike

[quote="Chippi"][quote="prterrell"]Oh, those are eclairs made with pate choux. Not the same thing as puff pastry.


I need to start my day over hahaha! (Duh moment!) You are correct prterrell and I do know what puff pastry is you can buy, thin layers of flaky pastry. I made Baklava few times and used it. Is that what your meaning?

Pate choux: a batter that is piped into desired shape, baked and usually filled before serving. Used for cream puffs and eclairs
Puff pastry: a dough that is layered with butter and rolled out and folded multiple times to create a flaky multi layerd pastry when baked. Also known as mille-fuille in french (eng translation: Thousand sheets) usually used for cream horns, vol-au-vents and tartes.
Filo: a paper thin pastry sheet that is layered with butter by the baker. Best known uses are in balklava and spanikopita.

All of these need to be baked in your oven, either convention or convection. DO NOT broil/grill.

No worries Chippi. There seemed to be confussion that needed to be cleared up.
BTW you can buy really quality puff pastry too, although I personally prefer to make it when i have the time/motivation