Incorrect Temperature Settings An oven set too high will scorch food quickly. Troubleshooting: Use an oven thermometer to check if the temperature inside matches what you've set it to. Fixing the Issue: If the temperatures don't align, recalibrate your oven.
As others have said, some dishes/baked goods can come out wrong in a convection oven, due to the air current and the drying effect it can also have. Most notably are things like Souffles or Macarons, where they need a slow, steady, even heat for them to slowly, and steadily rise.
Positioning: Place your food in the center of the oven for even heat distribution. Avoid placing it too close to the heating elements. Covering Food: If you're baking something that tends to brown quickly, cover it with aluminum foil during the initial cooking time, then remove it towards the end to allow browning.
No part of the foil should be sticking away from the food since this can cause it to function as an antenna and cause arcing in your appliance. Never use aluminum foil to line cookware when cooking with convection. This only draws heat away from your dish, causing it to cook quickly and unevenly.
When you are using a convection oven, you would need to adjust the recipes. If you don't adjust the recipe correctly, you can end up with burnt or overcooked food. Baked foods such as bread, cookies, and cakes are most susceptible to this.
Not Ideal for Convection
Delicate bakes like custards, flans, and soufflés may get disrupted by the circulating air. The debate over bread baking in convection ovens is still unresolved. While some advocate for its even browning, others argue it dries out the bread's interior.
Professional chefs swear by the advantages of convection ovens. That's because it cooks food slightly differently. But what is a fan oven and when can you use it? Let's take a look.
Ovens require good ventilation. Blocked vents can result in hot spots that burn food. Vent Inspection: Regularly check and clean the vents to ensure they are free of food particles or foil that can obstruct airflow.
Food Storage GLASS CARE & USE:
Use the dish in pre-heated gas and electric conventional or convection ovens up to 425˚F or microwave ovens without browning element. Not for use on or under a flame or other direct heat source, including on a stovetop, under a broiler, in a toaster oven or on a grill.
'Yes, parchment paper most definitely can burn in the oven and can even catch fire if you are not careful,' warns Kristen Wood, a cookbook author, recipe developer, and creator of MOON and spoon and yum.
Improper Cookware
The Cookware Conundrum: Cookware that absorbs too much heat can cause the underside of your food to burn while the top remains undercooked. Choosing Right: Use light-colored or anodized cookware, which is designed to reflect heat rather than absorb it, ensuring a more even cooking process.
Oven fires can also be the result of improper cleaning (or lack thereof). The food you're baking can sometimes escape the pan and accumulate at the bottom of the oven. This usually causes a burning smell coming from the oven but can lead to fires if there's grease dripping from the pan.
The convection can also dry out the inside of these recipes, such as bread, cake, souffl, flan, or other baked goods so you want to steer clear of that setting if you want your final product to be nice and moist.
Convection is good for:
Roasting ham, turkey, roast-ready beef cuts, and similar meats. Roasting vegetables and potatoes for an extra crisp. Cookies and muffins—especially when you have a big batch to bake at once. Pies and pastry.
Convection ovens use a fan to move the hot air around, so food cooks about 30 percent faster than it does in a conventional bake oven, which does not have a fan. The lack of a fan in that regular oven means the air does not circulate as well and does not transfer heat to the food as readily as a convection oven does.
The main difference comes down to size. Because air fryers are smaller, they heat up to a more intense heat more quickly. If you're cooking for one or two or don't mind cooking in batches, use an air fryer. But if you're cooking for a crowd, it's easier and more convenient to use a convection oven.
Most oven safe cookware is safe for use in the Convection Steam Oven (CSO), such as glass-ceramic, Pyrex, and heatproof glass. Do not use cookware that would not go in a normal oven. Tupperware and similar containers are not oven safe.
Convection settings can fulfill most baking needs and can be used to cook a wide range of foods, including meats, vegetables, casseroles, cookies, pies and more. Use convection bake to achieve light and flaky baked goods or cook through layered casseroles and pasta bakes.
Some recipes will suggest regular bake or convection, but as a general rule, don't use the convection setting for delicate desserts and pastries such as custards, souffle, chiffon and angel food cakes, to name a few.
Often, even though the exterior of the cake has burnt, the batter on the inside is still not cooked. Keep the exterior of the cake from heating too quickly and ensure the interior cooks evenly. Approximately 10 minutes of extra preparation time is required to ensure you do not burn the outside of the cake.
You should generally deep clean your oven every three months, but you may need to clean it more frequently if your oven is heavily used. You can extend the time between deep cleans by wiping up any spills as soon as your oven cools after each use.
In the past, I have read sources and tried recipes that involved using parchment paper at oven temperatures up to 450 F. But according to Reynolds, which also makes parchment paper, it can be used in a conventional oven, convection oven or toaster oven at temperatures up to only 420 F.
Pros: Affordability is a major plus point. They're straightforward, with no fans or special settings—just heat. Some dishes, especially those requiring more moisture, may fare better in a conventional setting. Cons: Oven heating issues like uneven cooking can sometimes be an issue due to hot spots.
And when the hot air is circulating, it creates a more consistent temperature throughout the oven. This can reduce — and in some instances eliminate — the need to rotate items from left to right and shuffle pans from higher racks to lower ones to promote even cooking.