Why convection

Figure 1. Air over land heats faster than air over water, leading to convection which feels like a cool ocean breeze. Figure 2. Convection warming a room is quiet and energy efficient.

Convection plays a large role in wind patterns and in passive ventilation. The movement of wind across the globe is dependent on various spots where warm air rises and cool air sinks, creating large wind currents that affect weather. For example, air over land will typically get heated up by the sun during the day, while air over the sea will remain cool.

The hot air over land will rise in the atmosphere. As it rises, it also cools down and becomes denser, causing it to sink once more.

This concept is illustrated in Figure 1. In a conventional oven, heat rises to the top. This makes items on the top rack cook faster than the items on the bottom rack. If, for example, you're cooking dozens of muffins for a bake sale and want to use every rack available, then you'll run into some problems.

When the muffins on the top rack are perfectly cooked, the ones on the bottom rack will still be underdone. Read: The best toaster oven is the one you'll hate the least. A convection oven has a fan inside the cooking area that circulates the hot air sort of like an air fryer.

Because the air doesn't just stay at the top, everything cooks more evenly. While this may sound simple, it makes a big difference.

The tops of your pies won't overcook while the bottom stays soggy. Roast chicken is evenly browned. Even better, you can be sure that items on the bottom rack will cook in the same amount of time as those on the top rack. Conventional ovens typically are 25 to 30 degrees cooler than a convection oven set to the same temperature. Since most recipes are intended for conventional ovens, you'll need to adjust the temperature to around 25 degrees F about 15 degrees C lower to accommodate the difference.

Also, even with the temperature adjustment, you'll find that convection ovens cook 25 percent faster than conventional ovens, especially if the food is a large item, like a turkey. But some ovens have options for both modes, with built-in convertors. Especially for baked goods. Reid looks for ovens with four controls: bake, convection bake, convection roast, and broil.

Convection bake, which has a lower fan speed, creates lovely dried-out tomatoes or roast tomatoes, as well as dehydrated foods. Convection roast, with its higher fan speed, is great for chunky meat with crispy outsides and for nicely caramelized roasted vegetables.

Reid recommends using conventional oven settings for quick breads , cupcakes, wet muffin batters, layered cakes, angel food cakes, loaf cakes, sandwich breads, and sweet yeast baking. But others have had great luck with convection-baked quick breads, so experiment as you wish. Always use the setting that the recipe recommends—at least the first time, says Sommer Collier, a recipe developer and author of A Spicy Perspective blog.

Check your baked goods 5 to 10 minutes before the specified bake time when you try the convection method. A consistent temperature means the oven will cook more evenly than models with just a fan. For crispy skin and juicy meat inside your whole roasted chicken , the convection oven is the way to go.

This is a good basic way to flavor and cook your chicken. If you have a regular oven, you can increase your crisp quotient by leaving the chicken on an uncovered platter in the fridge overnight, which helps dry out the skin in a good way, before roasting it.

Get our roasted rosemary and lemon chicken recipe. One of the best things about a convection oven is being able to dehydrate food to create healthier, tastier, portable snacks. Save FB Tweet More. Credit: Getty Images. View Series. All rights reserved. Close Sign in.