Convection vs. Traditional Oven
 

I am debating between a convection and traditional oven. If anyone has a convection oven, would you recommend it? Would I cook food differently?

Thank you.

Our oven is both.

We use the convection for when we have multi-level cooking going on..........pizza, cookies, etc.

I bought a regular and convection about 6 months ago. I tried the convection one time and it didn't seem much different. I spent extra for it but don't expect to use it much and I do a ton of cooking. If I had it to do over I wouldn't get it. Some people have them in the microwave. That might be handy.

Had them now in three homes and never use the convection.

we have always used GE Profile convection ovens. They are supposed to cook more evenly.....but the biggest reason I like them is there in no need to preheat the oven, set it and put the roast in.

Even the black and decker toaster oven is convection, no preheating necessary.

My Sears range has both a conventional oven and a convection oven; each has its own button to set which type of cooking you wish to use. This is the first time I've ever owned a convection oven. I see a BIG difference in how things cook. There are two different ways to compensate when using the convection oven......
1) Use a lower heat setting and cook the same amount of time as you would in the conventional oven
2) Use the same temperature as you would in the conventional oven but cook less time.

Here is just one example which explains why I LOVE my convection oven........My recipe for Parmesan Crusted Tilapia (you will find the recipe on the Hellman's mayo jar for chicken but I use Tilapia) calls for the oven to be set at 425 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. This works fine but the bread crumbs on top become a bit too brown, sometimes burned on the edges, in order to cook the tilapia completely. For this recipe, using the convection oven, I set the temperature at 350 degrees and cook the fish for 20 minutes. The tilapia is cooked through perfectly and the bread crumbs topping is always perfectly golden brown. YUM!

The tilapia cooks exactly the same in either the conventional oven or the convection BUT....the bread crumbs topping is much better using the convection setting at a lower temperature.

Here is the recipe I am referring to......
Parmesan Crusted Chicken Recipe

We would not be without the convection feature.
It allows cooking at a slightly lower temperature....seems (to us) to cook more evenly.

We recommend the combo standard and convection oven.

Our oven is dual, both convection and standard. We have used both and we see absolutely no difference at all.

My oven has both options. I just wish I knew how to cook.

See if you can find an old Betty Crocker Cookbook. That is how I learned, being a motherless child.

We've just never mastered the math to convert standard recipe cooking times/temperatures to their convection equivalents. I think it's also different if you're baking or roasting. As a result of the confusion, we just never use the convention feature.

Convection Ovens heats the oven faster so you can start cooking a lot faster. It's just a fan with a heat element in front of it. You don't have to use the convection option with the oven. It's a feature is all.

Our oven is both convection and conventional. We love it!

The only real difference is that the convection oven has fans that are supposed to keep all areas of the oven at an even temperature—no hot spots or colder spots.

The BEST for roasted chicken.

The convection oven will cook faster and a more even heat. You usually cook at 25 degrees cooler if using convection over bake. Most convection ovens have a regular bake feature just don't turn on the fan. It does take a little getting used to but once you do you will like it. It is what professional chefs use.

We have an LG oven with both - we never, ever use the convection. It doesn't seem to do anything different from the normal bake, except the fan runs. It does run the fan during preheat, which probably speeds it up a little