Brianschef
Senior Cook
- Joined
- Nov 24, 2003
- Messages
- 142
Hello folks! Well I have been alloted the task of trying to get a conversation or debate started on the uses of these two cooking methods.
Well having the oppurtunity to live in Europe for the last 4 years and renting various homes, I have had full use of both.
Hard to decide on a preference as the convection oven cooks faster, displays the heat better, and tends to leave more moisture in the foods. Even when baking a cake or a pastry.
But then if roasting a nice rack of lamb or a beef roast I like direct heat from the conventional oven. And nothing is better than a beef and pork roast together in a roasting pan with a few onions, potatoes, carrots, celery bits and some cabbage to round off the aromas carousing through the house. The vegetables do not get mushy and unpresentable when tabled, yet the meat temperture can be easily controlled by slow roasting and almost melt in thick slices on it's own.
I do prefer the convection for baking, it leaves the moisture in the baked goods, causing a good rise. And when baking breads with whole grains it allows the flours and yeasts to hold on to the grain, no crumbling here. A pound cake baked in a convectoin oven is perfect as is a sponge cake.
So as I talk this through, I guess for me it is a convection oven for baking and a conventional oven for everything else.
But I will also impart this note, when we arrive back in the States next fall we will build our first home. It will come equipped with and AGA stove...a whole new cooking adventure! ; )
How about you?
Well having the oppurtunity to live in Europe for the last 4 years and renting various homes, I have had full use of both.
Hard to decide on a preference as the convection oven cooks faster, displays the heat better, and tends to leave more moisture in the foods. Even when baking a cake or a pastry.
But then if roasting a nice rack of lamb or a beef roast I like direct heat from the conventional oven. And nothing is better than a beef and pork roast together in a roasting pan with a few onions, potatoes, carrots, celery bits and some cabbage to round off the aromas carousing through the house. The vegetables do not get mushy and unpresentable when tabled, yet the meat temperture can be easily controlled by slow roasting and almost melt in thick slices on it's own.
I do prefer the convection for baking, it leaves the moisture in the baked goods, causing a good rise. And when baking breads with whole grains it allows the flours and yeasts to hold on to the grain, no crumbling here. A pound cake baked in a convectoin oven is perfect as is a sponge cake.
So as I talk this through, I guess for me it is a convection oven for baking and a conventional oven for everything else.
But I will also impart this note, when we arrive back in the States next fall we will build our first home. It will come equipped with and AGA stove...a whole new cooking adventure! ; )
How about you?