Tools I use: The halogen oven for curing polymer clay.

Helen White July 12, 2016

In today’s post I am writing about my new tool – the halogen oven. I use this oven to cure my polymer clay creations. I normally use my toaster oven for the job. The problem though is that the temperature of this oven fluctuates during baking and each brand of clay has their own curing temperature. Premo, Sculpey and Cernit cures at 130C, FIMO cures at 110C and Kato at 150C. If the temperature is exceeded the clay starts to burn and the smell is pretty toxic. I learnt the hard way twice and burnt my clay – despite having a kitchen thermometer in the oven (I now even use an additional digital thermometer which sits next to the oven).

When I use my toaster oven, which is situated in the conservatory next to our kitchen, I tend to tidy the kitchen while keeping an eye on the temperature. This is a bit annoying because I can’t really do much else. I always find baking my clay nerve wracking, not only because of the risk of scorching the clay, but also because you never know how the items turn out. Another problem with using my toaster oven is – you can’t put tall sculptures in there.

A few weeks ago I started a discussion about ovens in a polymer group on Facebook and someone recommended using a halogen oven because these types of ovens use a fan and distribute heat way more evenly than toaster ovens.

I found a reasonably priced one on Ebay. I first tested it without the clay. The temperature range is 125C to 250C. So I can’t use it with FIMO. I was first really worried because it just crept up to 150C. So I tried it a few times on the lowest setting, just before the 125C mark. It stabilised between 130 and 140, which is fine, because you can go slightly over the recommended temperature. My oven is a 12 litre oven which can be extended to a 17 litre oven by using the metal ring that goes on top of the glass bowl. This is great because it allows me to cure taller items. And the glass bowl has the advantage that you can actually watch the progress and maybe take the item out if you notice something going wrong. So far I have only used it with my latest creation (soon to be listed in my shop). It’s a kangaroo sculpture, inspired by Kangaroo Dundee (Brolga Barns). I originally planned it as a female kangaroo with her joey sticking out of her pouch, but the head of the baby turned out to be too big and I used it as the main head instead. This was a rather challenging sculpture, because it’s tricky to balance it properly. I hope you like it.

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17 Comments

Lesley Symons
July 12, 2016 @ 2:34 pm

Will be trying this for sure! Currently using my domestic oven, and would rather have something clay-dedicated. Thanks! 🙂
- Helen White
  July 12, 2016 @ 2:45 pm
  
  Thanks for your comment. This one is a SQ professional – I think I paid about £28 for it.
- Helen White
  July 12, 2016 @ 2:46 pm
  
  Thanks for your comment. This one is a SQ professional – I think I paid about £28 for it.
Kirsty
August 27, 2016 @ 11:51 am

What a great idea – I’ve always just used my normal oven but using a halogen one sounds much easier. I wonder if my mum still has hers?
- Helen White
  August 27, 2016 @ 2:10 pm
  
  Thanks for your comment Kirsty. What would you use yours for? I have no idea how good it is for actual cooking 🙂
Emma Parsons
April 11, 2018 @ 2:29 pm

Hi Helen,
I’m new to polymer clay and am using Fimo clay. I had the same trouble as you when trying out a mini oven for the first time. At it’s lowest setting of 100 deg C my oven thermometer was reading 150 deg C and burned my experimental pieces. Then I remembered that I had a halogen oven in the attic, just like the one in your picture. I was disappointed when I saw the lowest temp on the dial was 125 deg C; however, you can set the dial anywhere between the zero mark and the 125 mark and it will maintain a temp between 0 and 125 deg C. Bit of tweaking of the temp dial and I found 110 deg C … perfect Fimo clay baking!! Will leave the dial set there. Mine is a JML; been in the attic for years!!
Emma 😊
- Helen White
  April 12, 2018 @ 4:15 pm
  
  Hi Emma
  Thank you for your comment. I am glad you found your halogen oven works much better with your clay. Happy claying 🙂
Crazy Cat Lady
September 28, 2018 @ 5:10 pm

Can I ask, if using a halogen oven, do you need to put your piece on anything? I was told to use a tile and foil around my Fimo creations but I am too scared to start, so any advice would be wonderful!
- Helen White
  September 29, 2018 @ 9:56 am
  
  Hi Crazy Cat Lady – I put my items on a tile and that goes on an aluminium tray that fits the oven (you can buy them in Morrisons or other supermarkets) – I also try to cover
  my sculptures with aluminium foil but that doesn’t always work well as it gets blown off during baking and they are not easy to cover. The most important thing to do is actually to get a reliable kitchen thermometer you can place in the oven to make sure the temperature stays the same and doesn’t go over the stated temperature. I bought mine from Amazon from a Kitchen supplier (my second one as I managed to drop one and it broke (glass). So when I bake something I always check the temperature. And as I can’t completely cover it I can watch it while it bakes – that is useful as I have rescued things when I saw they were not curing the way I wanted them to cure! Good luck with your makes.
Sprinkle
July 7, 2021 @ 11:48 am

Do you use the halogen oven for the same amount of time as a normal oven?
- Helen White
  July 7, 2021 @ 12:04 pm
  
  Hi Isa
  I use the halogen oven only for the polymer clay and the time depends on what I put in – sculptures take longer (60 – 90 mins) to cure than small pieces of jewellery. Hope this helps. Helen
Ellie
August 28, 2021 @ 3:26 pm

Firstly I’m in love with your Kangaroo, bless, he did make me smile. I use my home oven at present but on the lookout for a halogen/convection as these tend to be more stable at holding temperatures. And it means I’ll be able to cook dinner and cure my clay so win win lol.
As for covering I use a small cardboard box with a piece of kitchen towel on the bottom, I’ve also fashioned stands to keep appendages and awkward areas in the desired positions from cardboard and paper, anything really delicate I tend to part cure then I can place more support without it leaving marks. I do tend to read everything I can then find a combination of advice and my own tinkering to get what’s best for me, the conditions (humidity etc) and the piece I’m working on. I found tin foil reflected heat and caused some spiking in temps, I do take everything from my oven, all trays except the one I place the box on, and no I am in no way an expert, I just love making things work for me. My work tends to be figure based. Fantasy and human based. Hugs to all, stay safe, stay happy, keep creating.
Ellie
- Helen White
  August 28, 2021 @ 3:38 pm
  
  Hi Elle
  Thank you for your comments. I mainly use the halogen oven for figurines and the toaster oven for flat and small pieces. I found the main oven too unreliable, plus I don’t want to bake my polymer clay in something I use for food. Sadly my toaster oven has developed a fault with the timer which is a pain, and it doesn’t close properly, so I tape it shut. Long term I might have to replace it, but currently I spend more time painting and printing rather than making polymer clay sculptures. Have fun with your clay. Helen
Mandy
October 29, 2022 @ 8:30 pm

Thank you.i have a halogen oven and cured my fimo in it tonight after reading your blog. I have itnin a 20min at 110 deg cel. It worked brilliantly as I potted around kitchen while it baked.
- Helen White
  October 30, 2022 @ 3:47 pm
  
  Hi Mandy
  Thank you for your comment. I am glad you were successful with curing your clay in the halogen oven. For more tips and tutorials – check out my YouTube channel.
Paula McNulty
February 2, 2023 @ 4:39 am

Thank you, I just bought a glass halogen oven at a tag sale for 10.00! So glad that I can use this for polymer clay.
Paula
- Helen White
  February 4, 2023 @ 12:53 pm
  
  Hi Paula – thank you for your comment. I hope your oven won’t disappoint you. Make sure to put a thermometer in and check the temperatures regularly while curing your pieces. Helen

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