View Single Post
  #13 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to rec.food.cooking
Dee.Dee Dee.Dee is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,744
Default Q: Convection vs. Regular Baking


"Nancy2" > wrote in message
...
On Jan 22, 4:23 pm, merryb > wrote:
> On Jan 21, 4:11 pm, (Arthur Shapiro) wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > My more than 25-year-old GE toaster oven developed a problem (the shell
> > became
> > live, as my wife found out the hard way!) and I decided it had had a
> > long and
> > glorious life and didn't need to be repaired. It was replaced with a
> > Cuisinart bake/convection bake/broil unit, which seems to be a fine
> > product in
> > the 10 days I've had it. I haven't used the main oven in that time - the
> > Cuisinart has handled everything I needed.

>
> > I don't yet understand when I want to use convection vs. regular baking,
> > and
> > the manual isn't much help. I've used convection for everything so far,
> > reducing the temp by 25 degrees as seems to be the general rule of
> > thumb. So
> > far the only thing that didn't come out well was a package of crescent
> > rolls -
> > the bottoms were somewhat browner than the tops and some of the
> > more-protruding portions of each roll browned more than the
> > more-recessed
> > portions. Everything else has been fine.

>
> > Can anyone share some words of wisdom about choosing convection vs.
> > normal?
> > Thanks!

>
> > Art

>
> I had a hard time baking anything that requires a water bath-
> custards, cheesecake, etc.-seemed to take much longer to bake.- Hide
> quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


That's because of the process as explained by Hahabogus in this thread
- food which isn't above the edge of the pan or dish doesn't use
convection to its fullest talents.

Open roasting, cookies, anything flat on a rack or pan works great.
You're having trouble because the custards, cheesecakes, etc., are all
"sunk down" into the baking container, and the hot air doesn't reach
them. Use regular "Bake" instead for these things.

N.

Just thinking aloud: But doesn't using a convection keep hot/cold spots from
occurring in the oven; I think that would help all baking whether or not the
goods reach the circulating air.

Dee Dee