With convection there is a fan that circulates the air, which helps food cook more quickly and can reduce dreaded hot or cold spots.
Now that I have access to the appliance setting in my everyday cooking, I figured it was a good a time to take a deep dive into convection cooking and figure out how to best put it to use.Regular ovens — also called conventional, radiant or thermal ovens — rely primarily on a heating element, be it gas or electric, at the bottom of the oven to heat the oven cavity.
More affordable “convection” ovens simply have a fan in the back that helps to circulate the hot air from the heating elements at the top and/or bottom of the cavity. But “true convection,” “third-element convection” or “European convection” ovens have an additional heating element near or around that fan that blows heated air inside.
Convection cooking is ideal for foods that do better in a dry climate and where you want to encourage browning and crisping. So roasting meats, potatoes and vegetables are all ideal, and it’s great for reheating things like fried chicken or baking pizza. Generally speaking, convection cooking is good for savory foods that you’d cook on a sheet pan. It’s also typically good for multi-rack cooking, such as when baking multiple trays of cookies.
“You wouldn’t want to bake any type of American-style layer cakes in there because they’re going to get a nice little dome,” Velez said. “So if you want a nice, smooth top, a conventional oven is better.” The dry environment convection ovens create also are bad for custardy things that do better in a moist cooking environment, such as flan and cheesecake.Article content