convection oven quandry

Hi Phoebe,

Convection ovens basically work by circulating the hot air in the oven so that the temperature is even everywhere.
Usually convection is used to bake many pans on many levels inside the oven e.g. 3 cookie sheets.

Convection works better for quick baking applications like cakes, cookies, oven fries and the like. It does a lousy job for cooking items that require long time or require low temperatures i.e roast beef because it dehydrates the product more quickly then conventional ovens.

Your chicken basically dehydrated on the surface too quickly.

If you have instructions for conventional ovens you should reduce the time by a quarter on average (15min off for every hour so cook 45min instead of 1 hour) and/or reduce the heat by 25F to 50F (i.e. your chicken you have probably faired better at 375 or even 350F).

Again, convection applies better to baking (at least for run of the mill home appliances).

Hope this helps!

Luc H

Hi Phoebe,

Maybe a pan of water in the oven will help and/or reduce the temp.

Regardless of these tips, I've stop using convection on my oven to roast anything. Always too dry.

Luc H.

I can honestly say that I have never roasted anything at 400º! I learned a long time ago that the lower the temperature, the better the results. I normally roast at 275ºF or at 325ºF if I am pressed for time. And I would not normally use convection for roasting, too much air circulation means a lousy dry product. Try conventional roasting at lower temperature and use an instant-read thermometer to determine doneness. Just my opinion though....

Congratulations on your new home! May you both have many happy, healthy years there.

I have had a convection oven for about 11 years. I agree with Luc on reducing time and temperature.

As I'm not a well-practiced baker, I don't use it for pastry. I use convection for fast-browing roasted potatoes and other veggies, or for pieces of chicken. I don't use it for whole birds, roasts or other chunky, dense items.

Depends what I'm roasting. A Prime Rib, I roast slowly at 250. A whole chicken I roast at a high temp, usually 450. Turkeys, I vary the temp over the roasting period.

Phoebe - Congrats on your new home - I hope the movers get there soon!
I had the same prob getting used to the same kind of oven - crispy on the outside and uncooked inside. I use it on bake setting for virtually everything - but its handy to use it for the last 5 or 10 mins if you want to crisp something up. I do that after the chook and potatoes are cooked, then give them a hot blast. Yum :)

Good luck and enjoy sorting out where everythings gonna go - its like Christmas when you unpack and find stuff you'd forgotten about :)

Congrats on the new home as well!!! I only know to reduce temp 25-50 degrees as Luc recommends. I've only ever backed pastry and desserts in the convection oven.

slow and low that is the tempo

I'll have to agree with dropping the temp, but I've always gone 50 below conventional, and for roasting anything, I mean anything, your results will always be far superior at low temps, 275 to 350(thats conventional), and in the vex try covering the bird for 3/4 of the cooking time, then uncover to finish.

Congrats on your new house, how very exciting!

Re: Convection Roast (I have this option on my stove also), the book notes that "the convection fan circulates the heated air evenly over aned around the food. Using the grid aned broiler pan provided, heated air will be circulated over ad around the food being roasted. The heated air seals in juices quickly for a moist and tender product while, at the same time, creating a rich golden brown exterior. When you are convection roasting, it is important that you use the broiler pan and grid for best onvection roasting results. The pan is used to catch grease spillos and the grid is used to prevent spatters."

It also gives the following as a Convection Roasting Guide:

BEEF (325 degrees F)
Rib 3-5 lb Rare 20-24 min/lb; (Med 24-28 min/lb; Wll 28-32 min/lb)
Boneless Rib, Top Sirloin Rare 20-24 min/lb, Med 24-28, Well 28-32)
Beef Tenderloin, Rare 10-14 min/lb; Med 114-18 min)
Pot Roast (2-1/2-3 lb Chuck, rump) 35-45 min/lb 300 degrees)

POULTRY
Whole Chicken (2-1/2 - 3 lb) 24-26 min/lb at 350 degrees
Cornish Hen, unstuffed (1 - 1 1/2 lb) 50-55 min TOTAL
Turkey, whole, unstuffed (10-16 lb) 8-11 min/lb at 325 degrees
Turkey, whole unstuffed (18-24 lb) 7-10 min/lb at 325 degrees
Note: stuffed birds generally require 30-45 min additional roasting time.

PORK
Bone-in (3-5 lb) 23-27 min/lb at 325 degrees
Boneless (3-5 lb) 23-27 min/lb at325 degrees

Hope this helps, you might also go on line and check with the manufacturer of your stove to see if an instruction for your particular model is available.