Fan or conventional oven?

I use the convection setting for all my baking. I think it is especially good for bread and pizza. I would start with the convection on and see how your oven functions. Since it sounds like true convection, you can probably lower the temperature by 25F. For non-baked goods like casseroles, you can probably skip pre-heating.

On Mon 02 Jan 2006 03:12:26p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Vox Humana?

I love convection for roasting, but it's been a disaster for baking anything other than cookies. Everything always burns on top before it's done on the bottom and in the middle. Dropping the temperature hasn't made a bit of difference.

Have you tried lowering the position of the pans in the oven? Also, some ranges have two convection setting- roast and bake (and some also have convection broil.) Roast often uses a combination of the top and bottom elements and a high fan speed. Convection bake only uses the bottom element and a reduced fan speed. This can be in combination with a dedicated convection element or not, depending on if the oven is true convection or just a fan assisted model. Excessive top browning generally suggests that the food is too high in the oven and/or the broil element is used.

Why do people like and even prefer convection ovens? I've never owned one.

Bonnie

The temperature is more even throughout the oven. Therefore, things tend to bake and brown more evenly. You don't usually have to rotate pans during baking and you can often bake four trays of cookies at once. Convection ovens can save energy because you can reduce the temperature and reduce the cooking time. For some items, you don't need to pre-heat the oven which also saves time and energy. Meats roasted on the convection setting develop a nice crust while remaining moist and juicy in about 30% less time.

The next step up is to combine convection with microwaves. I have a microwave convection oven that I use for most of my baking needs. I was able to roast a small pork loin in 35 minutes today without any preheating. The convection component browned the surface and the added 30% microwave power speeded the cooking and eliminated the need to pre-heat the oven. I can take a raw, frozen pie and bake it, without pre-heating in about 45 minutes. Quick breads that normally requires pre-heating and 60-75 minutes of baking are done in 35-40 minutes without pre-heating at a lower temperature than in a standard oven.

Wow, sounds like it is both efficient and that the result is very desirable. Do they come full size with a stove on top like a regular oven? Can they be gas or electric? My Aunt has one but it is on the wall and she still has her regular oven.

The one I have is an over-the-range model. While it is small, it is adequate for most of my needs since there are only two of us. I know that Kitchen-Aid and GE both have wall ovens that have a second, smaller convection-microwave oven. So far I don't know of a full-sized unit. I think it is something that people don't quite "get" yet, so there may be a time before demand builds enough to make a large version.

On Mon 02 Jan 2006 04:28:41p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Vox Humana?

Thanks for your suggestions, Vox. My range has a dedicated heating element tucked inside the convection fan compartment in the rear of the oven. It also has separate convection roast and bake settings, as well as convection broil. I've thoroughly checked the settings I was using and they were correct. I have lowered the rack position to the lower third of the oven, and still get overbrowning. As I said, the only time I don't is with cookies, where I can bake 3 pans at a time on 3 separate racks. I attribute that to the short baking time. I now bake cakes and pies using conventional heat without convection. It's not worth ruining anything else.

Thanks for the info.

Wayne, I have a Bosch (the first 30" model made for the NAm market) and the only reliable setting appears to be convection bake. I asked a supplier of high-end appliances about this the other week and he pointed out that the Bosch thermostat was too close to the broiling elements and this is what causes problems in the convection roast mode where I get wild fluctuations in temperature. Perhaps the thermostat placement is the problem with these ovens. Graham

On Tue 03 Jan 2006 07:48:32a, graham wrote in rec.food.baking:

I never thought of that. Certainly a possiblity. I'll have to take a close look at my oven.

Thanks, Graham

Lynne

On Tue 03 Jan 2006 09:43:52p, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it King's Crown?

I'd be interested in knowing how your pies and cakes turn out. I've had nothing but problems with those using convection.

I used to have a double-oven wall unit that had a full-size convection/microwave on top and a regular full-size oven below. I really miss those ovens....

Donna