"bonniejean" > wrote in message
...
> Why do people like and even prefer convection ovens? I've never owned one.

The temperature is more even throughout the oven. Therefore, things tend to
bake and brown more evenly. You don't usually have to rotate pans during
baking and you can often bake four trays of cookies at once. Convection
ovens can save energy because you can reduce the temperature and reduce the
cooking time. For some items, you don't need to pre-heat the oven which
also saves time and energy. Meats roasted on the convection setting develop
a nice crust while remaining moist and juicy in about 30% less time.

The next step up is to combine convection with microwaves. I have a
microwave convection oven that I use for most of my baking needs. I was
able to roast a small pork loin in 35 minutes today without any preheating.
The convection component browned the surface and the added 30% microwave
power speeded the cooking and eliminated the need to pre-heat the oven. I
can take a raw, frozen pie and bake it, without pre-heating in about 45
minutes. Quick breads that normally requires pre-heating and 60-75 minutes
of baking are done in 35-40 minutes without pre-heating at a lower
temperature than in a standard oven.