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121 Cooking Secrets to Impress Friends and Family
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Chapter VIII: Convection Ovens
117. Differences between a Convection oven and Conventional oven. Both ovens by
having a heating element that heats the air. The air then warms the top of the
food and the container that is holding the food. The heat from the top of the food
and container heat the inside of the food. The difference is that a Convection
oven has fans that blow the warm air around inside the oven so that so all parts of
the oven are closer to the same temperature and you don’t have spots that are
cooler than others.
118. Cooking differences of Convection ovens and Conventional ovens. Have you
ever wondered why your food cooks different between the newer convection
ovens and conventional ovens? That’s because you have to adjust both the
temperature settings and cooking times.
119. Adjust temperature for Convection ovens. If you have a convection oven, you
will need to look in your owner’s manual for your convection oven conversion
chart. If you don’t have one and can’t find the manual online, then you can use a
general rule of thumb that a Convection oven is 20 to 25
o
F cooler than a standard
oven. For example, if the instructions say 350
o
F for a standard oven, cook in a
convection oven for about 325 to 330
o
F.
120. Adjust times for Convection ovens. If you have a convection oven, you will need
to look in your owner’s manual for your convection oven conversion chart. If you
don’t have one and can’t find the manual online, then you can use a general rule
of thumb that a Convection oven cooks about 25% faster than a conventional
oven. For example, if the instructions say cook in a standard oven for 20 minutes,
you should start with about 15 minutes and check the food to see if it is ready.
121. Differences in flavor. It may come as a bit of a surprise that foods may taste
slightly different when cooked in a convection oven versus a conventional oven.
This is due to the fact that meats and other foods react different when exposed to
different temperatures. Take turkey as an example. Turkey is more likely to come
out juicy and endure less shrinkage if cooked at lower heats. However, in a
conventional oven, it is dangerous to cook turkey at low heat, as the meat may
not be thoroughly cooked. This problem is avoided in a convection oven. You can
cook turkey at a lower heat for the same duration and get a juicier bird as a result.