The blown air of convection ovens may help cause lopsided results in foods like cake, souffles, custards and flans, while conventional ovens are often better at helping baked goods retain the moisture necessary in many recipes.
Most recipes for cakes, cookies and other desserts are best made without the convection mode. The convection fan is too drying for these delicate baked goods.
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.
For a majority of bakeries or pastry shops, having a convection oven that allows for versatility and uniform baking is paramount to their success.
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.
The Convection Bake setting will have a lower fan speed, which is good for longer, drier recipes, whereas the Convection Roast setting has a higher fan speed, and is perfect for crisping the outsides of meat or vegetables.
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.
Gas or electric convection ovens use fans to continuously circulate hot air throughout the oven, creating a more uniform temperature—no hot spots—that allows food to brown more evenly than in thermal ovens.
A convection oven cooks by blowing hot air all around the food with a fan with a vent allowing the air to escape. If the foil blocks or gets too close to the fan or vent, the foil could get so hot that it ends up catching fire.
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.
While both appliances use fans to circulate heat, many air fryers cook from the top down and do not have a bottom heating element. Convection ovens typically use the oven's main heating element, a fan and a third heating element on True Convection models to distribute heat throughout the oven cavity.
Certain baked goods, however, are best cooked using conventional oven settings. Avoid convection baking foods like cakes, quick breads, custards, and other delicate desserts and pastries.
I prefer to cook this lasagna on convection bake since it is prepared in a very tall pan. It cooks more evenly.
Convection baking, as the name implies, is a more suitable option for baked goods like cookies, cakes and brownies.
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.
Like paper bowls, paper plates are not designed for oven use due to the flammability of the material. It's best to stick with oven-safe glass, ceramic, or metal cookware.
It is just like a regular oven in that respect. I have used every kind of baking dish in mine and everything comes out perfectly. Thank you for your feedback!
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. Calibration methods vary by model, so consult your oven's manual or a professional.
The fan in your convection oven can easily cause parchment paper to lift and possibly toss your baked goods around on the trays.
Quick breads, muffins, and cupcakes: The smaller surfaces of these items can be blown sideways during convection baking, making for uneven tops. A conventional bake setting allows the tops to remain still.
In contrast, convection ovens have a fan that circulates hot air around the food, resulting in more even cooking and a faster cooking time. This fan also helps to reduce hot spots and promote browning, making it ideal for baking cookies.
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.