Convection Oven Advantages and Disadvantages

A convection oven, as found in the typical home kitchen, is a gas or electrically heated oven.  But it’s not a microwave, although SOME microwave ovens feature a convection heating setting. These ovens offer many advantages and disadvantages over conventional models.   So in this post, we list some of these Convection Oven Advantages and Disadvantages over other means of baking.

We find convection oven designs in both over-range and in-range models. We also find them in counter top toaster ovens, and in both permanent and portable microwave ovens.  Indeed, convection ovens come in about every size from small portable units to large built-ins.  Most have a fan inside at the rear of the baking chamber.  Convection ovens by Kitchenaid, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart, Bravetti, Black and Decker, Whirpool, Europro, et al. These offer many design perks that make them better than conventional ovens at times.  These units heat the food more evenly and quickly.  Convection toaster ovens more evenly brown, bake, and cook.  The same is true of  range-based convection ovens also.

Traditional ovens have no circulating fan.  So unless they’re very well designed, conventional ovens often create “hot spots” in the food as well as uncooked regions.  Traditional toaster ovens can sometimes burn the crusts while leaving the middle of the bread practically unbaked.  The same is true of conventional microwave ovens; particularly if they do not include a rotating carousel.  However, conventional ovens are often quieter than convection. And as mentioned, these have no fan motor to fail or fan blades that get dirty.

Convection Oven Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages and Benefits

1. More Even Baking and Browning

Because of the fan, the heating spreads more evenly around the chamber. This means more consistent baking.  These ovens bake the edge of that cake just as well as its middle.

2. Faster Baking

You can often get  the same cooking amount in foods with lower oven temperature settings.  This is due to added heat transfers to the food via the fan driven convection air currents.

3. Bake Multiple Items Freely

Among the key convection oven plusses and minuses, is that you can bake more than one item at a time.  Load it up. Yet you won’t affect how the oven bakes.  The convection oven relies less on radiant heating. Instead, it counts more on the even flow of hot air.  So, blocking this heat flow with a second pan of food, has less effect on oven’s performance.

4. Fewer Hot and Cold Spots Inside

Therefore, with a well sized fan, convection ovens have fewer hot and cold spots within.  This is due to their more uniform heating characteristics. Thus, the entire inside assumes roughly the same temp.

5. Easier to Regulate Temperature

With fewer hot and cold spots, the over all oven temperature is easier to control, and temp settings give more consistent results.

6. Place Food Items Anywhere Inside and they Still Bake Well

Food placement within the convection oven is less critical as well.  The forced air circulation within helps ensure uniform baking.  A cake should bake about as well whether placed on the top, middle, or bottom shelves.

7. Cover Shelves with Foil Without Fear

These ovens with the fan work better with foil lined shelves to contain messes. But again, don’t worry about blocking some of the radiant heating. We did this once in our traditional oven, and wondered why it took so long to bake our pizza. But sitting items on cookie trays or aluminum foil in a convection oven should cause no bake time increases.

8. Quicker Browning

They generally brown foods faster than non forced-air oven types.

9. Less Heat on Over Exterior

These ovens run cooler. The heating elements need not warm to such high temperatures.  Why?  Because more of their heat reaches the food. Plus, the circulating air lowers the number of “hot spots” inside.

10. Cooler Baking

Cooler overall operating, means longer life for the oven’s internal parts in general.  But the fan could fail more often, given its moving parts (the motor and blade).

11. Less Dry, More Tender Baking Results

Some say that meat cooks to a more tender and moist consistency in a convection oven, as do vegetables.  Pizza crusts and turkeys come out more evenly brown.

12. More Energy Efficient

Thus, said ovens can use less energy and time to cook a given food the same.

Disadvantages of Convection Ovens

1. Has a Fan Motor to Break Down

However, with a convection oven, you have the additional fan motor(s) to worry about failing. So they can be less reliable. But that would not typically be an issue if the motors are of good quality.  Well constructed fans can run continuously for many years without wearing out.

2. Fans Often Poorly Chosen

Sometimes, the convection fans used can be either under- or over-sized. An undersized fan turns the oven into a traditional radiant style type.  It then adopts the disadvantages of that design.

An over-sized fan might force too much heat out of the chamber.  This tends to warm the surrounding area too much. It also decreases food-cooking efficiency. Proper fan size is critical thus, in realizing all of the advantages of convection ovens. So be sure to select an oven made by a well-known builder.

3. Opening Oven Door Impacts Baking Times

Opening the door during baking can drastically increase food cook times, by interfering with the convection currents inside. So keep the door closed until it’s time to remove the food.  If you like inspecting your cakes while they’re baking, buy a convection unit with a window in its door.

4. Don’t Place Baking Pans Too Close Together

Though you can cook more items at the same time, be careful of how you place the pans. To avoid choking off air flow, leave an inch or so of open space between each baking container. Air flow is probably the single most important ingredient in a well-operating convection oven.

5. Loud Operation

Fan assisted convection ovens can be noisy, depending on the size and quality of the fan.

6. Best to Learn Convection Ovens

A cook used to conventional ovens needs to play around with a convection oven to master its oddities.  Some foods cook to the same degree, in half the time in traditional ovens. But others may take longer.

7. More Pricey

Convection ovens generally cost substantially more than their conventional counterparts.  However, they may pay for themselves over time in reduced energy costs and better tasting food.

Convection Oven Advantages and Disadvantages: Conclusion

If you’re a pro chef, and care about just how your oven bakes, then go with  convection. But if you’re on a tight budget, or do not care about hot and cold spots in ovens, then go with conventional. We hope this convection oven advantages and disadvantages list helps you make a good choice about which one works best for you.

In either case, for great cooking the chef must learn the ins and outs of her oven.  That’s true whether she uses a conventional or convection.  You can indeed make gourmet dishes in a convection oven. But this takes less skill of a novice cook.  A beginner on a convection oven, often sees better results than a conventional baker with the same skill.

Other Posts About Ovens and Other Major Appliances

1. 1. Whirlpool Over The Range Microwave Oven WMH31017AB-2 Review
   2. Countertop Microwave Oven Panasonic Inverter NN-SN778 Review
   3. Chef Choice Cordless Glass Electric Water Tea Kettle Teapot 679 0001 Review
   4. Tankless Water Heater Disadvantages, Cons, Issues
   5. How to Defrost Stand Up Freezer Fast

References for Convection Oven Advantages and Disadvantages

1. 1. What is a Convection Oven? Wikipedia
   2. Where to Buy a Convection Oven