Convection Oven Vs Conventional Oven Cooking Times

Tips For Cakes And Baking

Cakes, cookies, muffins, quick breads, yeast breads
A convection oven produces more even browning, slightly greater volume, and, sometimes, a lighter texture.

Reduce oven temperature 25 |degrees~ from conventional recipes. Preheat oven. Cooking time may be the same or 10 to 25 percent less than in conventional baking.

For most baked goods, temperature adjustment is critical to the texture: the moving hot air cooks the outside first and could solidify the structure before it has a chance to rise, producing a heavy, dense result.

Convection ovens are great for baking multiple pans of cookies at one time. A standard oven requires switching pans midway to achieve consistent browning and cooking time but because the convection oven provides circulating hot air; cookies bake evenly without changing pan positions, and in a slightly shorter time. Depending on your oven you may be able to fit four or five pans at one time.

Cakes
If your cake is very dense or large then you may need to reduce the temperature slightly more. At lower baking temperatures, you may not save any time; in fact, it may take longer than in a regular oven. With loaf-size cakes and quick breads, especially, there is little time saved. Yeast breads may bake faster.

Cake Baking Trouble Shooting
If the surface is well browned but hard and dry, and rising is uneven, reduce the oven temperature slightly more, and check earlier for doneness.

For pale color and low volume, increase temperature slightly. Check the manual; some ovens provide a setting that gives extra top or bottom browning suitable for some baked goods.

Convection Toaster Oven Adjustments

These small convection / toaster oven combination ovens are getting more popular and they do a good job for a small countertop oven. I have the Breville Smart Oven Pro with Light (and I love, love the light).

Typically I don't make any adjustments when baking or roasting with this oven except for the Pizza setting for "frozen" pizzas. I typically have to adjust the setting down by 10-15 degrees to keep very thin crusts from burning. This also is the case with frozen pastries; an adjustment to the time is necessary or edges will get burned.

I love to roast vegetables but because I cook for two I don't want to heat up my large oven just for roasting a batch of Brussels sprouts. I do find that vegetables roast faster in my small oven than they do in the large oven so I set my timer to at least 5 minutes short of my usual roasting time.

Why You Should Buy An Oven Thermometer

I learned this lesson after having my 2nd convection oven. I was having difficulty tweaking recipes to get them to not over or under bake. I finally went to the hardware store and purchased a basic oven thermometer, which set me back less than $10.00. I heated the oven without convection to 350F and checked the oven temperature, and it registered precisely 350. Next, I engaged the convection feature and set it to 350, and it actually registered 375F. Lesson learned. It's a good idea to check your oven temperature to determine precisely what's going on when you engage the convection feature.

You can buy an oven thermometer in most any kitchen store, Target store or Walmart. You can also purchase one online at Amazon.com: ProcAccurate Oven Thermometer