Convection vs. conventional ovens

[honeybee]

I am remodeling my kitchen. I am going to have a GE Spacemaker microwave above a thirty inch free standing stove. I think I want a conventional oven (in my household are my husband and me and our third child goes away to college this fall) as I'm doing less cooking than in years past and I don't make multiple trays of cookies or meats that require precise cooking/browning. Any ideas pro and/or con about the different types of ovens that go with a thirty inch freestanding stove???????????????!!

 

[norgeskog]

HB, I now live alone and use my toaster oven daily and the stove top or an in-side grill. Dumped the nuker a year ago as I never used it. My favorite pans are my well seasoned cast iron (have 6 plus a grill pan and a stove top grill for pancakes). The only thing I would change at this time in my live would be having gas instead of electricity for cooking.

EDIT: Regarding convection cooking, I have always wanted one of those things. My aunt had one and lived by it, I used it at her home once and loved it. One of these days I may just indulge and get a small counter-top one.

 

[Haggis]

You could always look into getting a convection oven in which you can select a bake as normal option which does not utilise the fan. But a convection oven isn't a necessity (unless you work for Arnott's :P), and you notice in most cookbooks and recipes it is fairly rare that they are made for a convection oven (or give temperature/time conversions for a convection oven).

I know I will be looking at a combo electric oven (with gas stovetop of course) when I eventually do my own kitchen (Hah! Boy is that a long way off, I havent even graduated yet).

 

[lindatooo]

I have a conventional/convection oven and I really can't tell much difference except the fan comes on sooner - I must be missing something! It's only 4 years old too so it's pretty much state of the art....

 

[momcooks]

Make sure you check for oven space. We had a Hotpoint that I couldn't even fit my 1/4 sheet cake pan in. Didn't last very long either. Thank God! I have a GE profile right now and I love it. I have 2 options with the convection. Either to have the heating coil on the back on with the fan, or the broiler on with the fan.

 

[Michael in FtW]

If I had my choice - I would go with a convection oven.

Without going into the physics ... a convection oven is just a conventional oven with a fan that keeps the air moving inside the oven ... which evens out the temp inside the oven so that things bake more evenly. A conventional oven can have "hot-spots" .. the fan keeps the air mixed up (like when you stir a pot on the stove) so it's uniform ... and no hot spots. There is also something about the air being in motion ... another physics thing that I don't have a grip on ... but air in motion seems to cook faster than air that isn't.

 

[MrCoffee]

I had a small convection oven before, it was a ToastMaster "AutoVection" I believe. It would work very well for small frozen pizzas, frozen eggrolls, and other convenience foods. It eventually got to be such a mess that I had to toss it. As for my experience of owning that oven, indeed convection cooks faster and more evenly. It's why convection ovens are so common in bakeries and restaurants.

MrCoffee

 

[norgeskog]

If I had my choice - I would go with a convection oven.

Without going into the physics ... a convection oven is just a conventional oven with a fan that keeps the air moving inside the oven ... which evens out the temp inside the oven so that things bake more evenly. A conventional oven can have "hot-spots" .. the fan keeps the air mixed up (like when you stir a pot on the stove) so it's uniform ... and no hot spots. There is also something about the air being in motion ... another physics thing that I don't have a grip on ... but air in motion seems to cook faster than air that isn't.

MFtW, you should write an informative book for all of us dingbats who need your very good explanations.

 

[Yakuta]

As Michael rightly pointed out Convection ovens do have an edge over traditional ones. Having said that you will only notice a difference if you go from a traditional one to a convection one and if you are an avid baker. The convection oven bakes evenly and much quicker than it's traditional counterparts but is not a must have by any means.

 

[choclatechef]

Since I don't have one of those fancy big restaurant style ranges, when I get in the mood to bake a lot, I use 2 old counter top Farberware convection ovens.

They are handy during the holidays, cause the range oven can be full of turkey and stuff, but I still have the ability to bake pies, cakes, and rolls.

Even better, when they are on the other side of the kitchen, it makes less congestion around the range if there are 2 cooks in the kitchen.

Finally, when I discovered that you can use a convection oven to dehydrate, I gave away my Excalibur food dehydrator! I like equipment that can multi-task if it can do the job as good as a single task tool.

 

[RPCookin]

We bought a Frigidaire range when we remodeled the kitchen 3 years ago, and it has a "Speedbake" option, which is nothing more than a fan in the back wall of the oven. It is not touted as a "convection" oven, apparently there is something more to that than simply adding the fan, but it is supposed to do just about the same thing. Unfortunately, although I keep telling myself to try it out, I never seem to think of it when I have the luxury of being able to monitor the cooking time. As a result, I don't think we have ever used the feature.

 

[mdmc]

My oven is a conventional/convection. I know some love the convection but I have to confess I have not used it much because I don't know how. The few times I did use it I almost burnt what I was cooking. Since convection cooks faster how do you adjust the cooking times? Also is the food cooked all the way inside if it cooks faster? Thanks to those who answer.

 

[Michael in FtW]

My oven is a conventional/convection. I know some love the convection but I have to confess I have not used it much because I don't know how. The few times I did use it I almost burnt what I was cooking. Since convection cooks faster how do you adjust the cooking times? Also is the food cooked all the way inside if it cooks faster? Thanks to those who answer.

You should have gotten a booklet with your oven that explains how to convert conventional to convection recipes. If you're like most people, it's probably in that plastic bag of stuff along with the warranty that you didn't bother to read.

A conventional oven works by radiation and "passive" convection (air currents) ... a convection oven is basically the same but the convection currents are "active" ... caused by the fan. In other words ... more hot air molecules are hitting the food in less time .. thus it cooks quicker.

Yes, the food is cooked to the same degree of doneness (internal temp) in less time in a convection oven. This can be a blessing - or a curse ... depending on what you're cooking.

 

[mdmc]

Thanks. My oven did come with a booklet. It tells you to put in the origional time and temp and then push convection. I have done that a couple of times but still feel I need to work with it more. I guess most things are intimidating untill you feel comfortable with them.

 

[jmw]

We just purchased a 30" Dacor convection wall oven - I love it!!! It is the Epicure model and use the convection mode just about 90% of the time. It has a standard bake and several other modes also.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Thanks. My oven did come with a booklet. It tells you to put in the origional time and temp and then push convection. I have done that a couple of times but still feel I need to work with it more. I guess most things are intimidating untill you feel comfortable with them.

I love appliance makers who assume their appliances are smarter than us!

Here is one site I found that might explain some of the voodoo your oven is doing in convection mode: http://www.cadco-ltd.com/convectioncook.html