Convection vs no convection

[iheartmaytag]

I do use convection with my yeast breads and sour dough.   I love it when doing cookies, I can do four racks at a time, no turning and everything comes out perfect. 

 

For cakes I don't convect as it does tend to either cook the top too quickly, or dry it out.  In any case they don't seem to rise as high as they do when baked conventionally.

 

I have a GE range with true convection, with the element around the fan.  You can choose between 1 rack convection roast, or multi-rack convection bake.   Use one rack roast also employs the broil element to aid in browning, works well when doing something large like turkey.  Multi rack does not employ the broil element and is used for multiple racks, such as cookies. 

 

I do bake my pies on covect and have not had a problem with over browning.  I will add the hidden element on the bottom doesn't seem to brown as well as an exposed element electric.  I have had the oven calibrated twice and the thermostat is on the money, so I compensate by setting the temperature about 25 degrees higher when I need browning in a short time like with biscuits or cornbread. 

 

This is my second oven with convection, I will say the Maytag with exposed element would out cook the GE with hidden element, but it is something you can adjust for in time.   Having used a friends Kenmore gas convection. I would put the hidden element GE in about the same class as cooking and browning as the gas. 

 

Off topic:  The warming drawer on the GE is the best thing I ever purchased that I didn't think I needed.  When doing big meals, like at Thanksgiving it comes in handy keeping the sweet potatoes and green bean casserole warm while finishing the dinner rolls. 

 

 

 

[panthera]

I suspect a lot of the improvement shown by

convection fans - even those without the third element (unquestionably the best solution) - is due to the stupid decisions regarding the lower element. I have no idea what the marketing idiots were thinking, but it surely had nothing to do with actually baking. Our 1953 Westinghouse Rainbow has a 'hidden' bake element and yet bakes more evenly than any other non-convection oven I've ever used. This even baking was, in fact, Westinghouse's one and only feature which could compete with the high-end GE and Frigidaire. By the 1960s, their innovation was done.

 

I wonder whether manufacturers even bother to, you know, bake, with their current low-end stoves. I rather doubt it.

 

[iheartmaytag]

The GE is/was not a low end stove.

 Though the hidden element does give more interior space, which is what I think they were after.   The pre-heat times are slightly, not too bad, but slightly slower since the convection fan runs during preheat as well as the upper element.

 

Another feature, which I don't know if it makes a difference, the convection fan reverses direction about every two minutes.  This feature, I feel, helps keep a more even temperature. 

 

Now cleaning on the other hand, which was the main reason I chose the GE over the Whirlpool clones.  You can use Steam clean for light touch ups, but you still have a high heat (Pyloric) option.  I have owned this range for almost four years now and have only had to use high heat twice.  For the most part the steam touch up is sufficient.  The Whirlpool group with aqua lift did not offer a high heat option, as this would destroy the proprietary oven finish.

 

Edited RE: Cleaning.  Though the self clean feature is acceptable, it is in no way as good as the old P-7 system. 

[this post was last edited: 12/14/2016-15:27]

 

[toploader55]

White House Pastry Chef

Back in 1974 At Culinary Institute of America, I had the honor of being one of Albert Kumin's Students.

What a Superb Man. So kind, patient, and a great instructor.

Here is a link to a brief story of his life. I just saw when I googled his name he passed away just this past September at 94.

Enjoy the Clip. You can just tell in his voice how kind and passionate he was about his work.

I don't know Laundress... did some quick digging and thought maybe Rose Levy Beranbauym might have worked with him as she was influenced by James Beard and Julia Child.

 

[panthera]

I wasn't thinking of your stove,

rather, of the BOL Frigidaire made Kenmores, etc. which I put in rentals and repos and mid-range homes we fix up all the time.

Goodness, they're awful.

 

[launderess]

When have a spare moment

Will dig out my "Cake Lovers Bible" to read the quote about convection ovens and see if author gives a time frame for the WH.

 

[ozzie908]

Its taken a while to work out ....

US Convection = UK Fan oven

US Normal oven = UK Conventional oven.

Kept thinking whats so special about normal ovens when reading above comments and then when it got to the sentence Element around the fan I realised your on about fan ovens which have a multitude of settings these days.
Having an electric Fan oven in the main cavity and hidden element in the smaller one I hardly use the small oven its a total waste of time. Takes 40 mins to get to temp while the fan oven takes 5 mins to get to 200c so in the time it takes to heat up the smaller one the main oven is cooking merrily my only issue is it won't roast or crisp properly and I have never found out why does anyone have any ideas?
I recall being told you cannot crisp anything if steam is present so I wonder if the steam is unable to escape out the oven ???

 

[panthera]

Austin,

It gets even more complicated - convection ovens using a separate, hidden element wrapped around the fan are often called 'European' or 'True' convection ovens in the US.

 

Any fan is an improvement, of course.

 

My biggest problem is figuring out the Fahrenheit system, it's so weird.  Except for really temperamental things, I just divide in half and that's close enough to normal to work with it.

At 200°C I'd not expect too much browning in the short time you're baking something. Steam under pressure (pressure pan) can actually brown and develop a crust, but steam at atmospheric? I think you're right, it can't. My convection ovens in Germany let me add the top element to brown, that seemed the best of all worlds.

 

 

 

[jkbff]

I miss my convection ovens... As soon as I get this whirlpool sold, I'll get a convection oven.

This one is alright, its a current model single oven, but it doesn't keep up with the cooking I do when the family is around.