I recently discovered the convection setting on my oven, and I LOVE it. I seriously don’t know why it took me so long to give it a try. I think I was overwhelmed at the idea of re-learning to bake/cook all of the things I have down to a science both temperature and timing wise in a standard oven. Now that I am getting the hang of it, though, everything they say about convection ovens is spot on–they cook faster and more evenly.
Because convection ovens work by distributing heat all around the food, rather than from the top and bottom, it changes the way you bake a bit. So, if you are new to convection ovens like I was, here’s a few quick tips to get you on your way:
- Adjust standard recipes one of two ways: Either lower the temperature by 25 degrees or decrease the cooking time by about a quarter. You may have to play with the numbers a bit.
- Make sure your dish has air flow. The whole point of a convection oven is that the heat penetrates the food from all sides and top and bottom. Use shallow roasting pans and baking sheets without sides to get the most out of the oven.
- Cooking and roasting good. Baking bad. The convection setting is really best for cooking or roasting. Because the convection setting cooks faster, it can dry out baked goods. Also, convection cooking relies on fans circulating the air, so the fans can cause baked good to splatter in the “windy” conditions. So for roasts and other cooking, the convection setting rocks, but it’s best to turn it off when baking cookies, cakes, and breads.
Those are really the basics. Not that bad, right? If you have been hesitant to use the convection setting, I seriously recommend roast for dinner–it will make you a believer.
~Mavis
This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.
Jessica S says
Our convection oven auto resets the temperature.. so if the original recipe calls for 400* I so it in convection mode and it scales it back to 375*..
Wanda says
Mine does the same thing! I love it. My microwave also has a connection setting which I use more than the big oven!
Melissa T says
I said the same thing about my convection oven-“what took me so long?” I used it to roast our turkey last Thanksgiving and, not only did it take an hour less time to roast, it was was the best tasting turkey we’ve ever had! I’ve also used it to cook tater tots in 1/2 the time usually required and homemade bagels. The convection feature is definitely something I will require on all my future ovens.
Athena says
We have a convection oven in our new house and I LOVE it! I don’t know how I ever did without one. Mine has a function to auto change from a regular to a convection recipe but it basically just reduces the temperature by 25 degrees. Mine also has a setting that says convect bake. I don’t tend to use it as I have found the same with baked goods, they dry out or don’t bake up right. I LOVE it for roasting veggies and it makes the BEST homemade baked french fries. They get crispy and browned without using any oil.
Laurie says
I just used my convection oven for the first time tonight. I made fries. And, they did not turn out well. I cooked them the same amount of time I did in a regular oven and they came out a little too done on the edges and still hard and not cooked in the center. What am I doing wrong? I really want this to work.
Jeff says
Try cooking the fries at 375 for 14 to 18 minutes instead of 4250 to 450. 375 is also the temp you’d deep fry them at.
Mary Margaret Ripley says
I am a professional baker and the convection fans that are in conventional home stoves are not true confection ovens. Convection ovens are a must in commercial baking. I have a convection setting on my home range and the fan in it is just a fan. A true convection oven has an air tight seal and you can hear a whoosh of air consistently as it bakes. I am very spoiled to have a 30 rack full sheet oven at work and 2 commercial 4 tray ovens at home. 🙂
Deb Furner says
I love my GE convection oven for baking! Mine has two buttons, one for baking and one for roasting. I have never had a problem with drying out of baked goods.
Nina Rogers says
I love to bake pies in my convection oven. The pies turn out beautiful.