Electric \Convection Ovens and Baking

14 years ago

Hello, I have been reading the forums for a while, gathering as much information as I could. After a week or two I feel like I know a bunch of you.

I am in the planning stages of a kitchen reno. I am having difficulties deciding on an oven.

What I have now: 1960ish Caloric gas wall oven, 24".

What I don't like about it: It's small. I don't think I could make a turkey in it. From what I've learned here gas ovens have hot spots. I have to rotate and move my pans around and even so, some cookies bake at different rates. I'm pretty used to it and it doesn't bother me that much. For the most part, the quality of what comes out doesn't suffer, but I guess it could be better.

What I use it for: I bake quite often, around 3 - 5 times a week. I bake cookies, pastries, cake, and pies- anything dessert. I plan on making bread in the future. I use it for standard savory dishes: meatloaf, chicken, potatoes, baked pasta, ham, etc. If it was bigger, I might attempt larger cuts of meat.

I've mostly used gas ovens to cook. I had an electric non-convection oven in an apartment once, but back then it was hardly used.

So my first instinct when talking to a kitchen designer was to say that I wanted a gas wall oven, 30", maybe a double oven. I also wanted simple controls like a temperature setting and that's it. She told me that might be hard. I found Bluestar, American Range, and Viking. I liked that you could fit a full sheet pan in the Bluestar. I liked the simple controls. When I talked to a salesman, he told me that people who are buying those gas ovens want the infrared broiling element to get restaurant quality broiling. Not the reason I was looking at them.

It seems that other gas wall ovens are 24" replacements for what I have, so I started looking at electric, but I am confused:

Does anyone using convection ovens use parchment paper to bake? I use it all the time. Obviously, air flow in the oven would cause the paper to move, distorting the item being baked. Do you stick the parchment paper down to the pan with whatever you are making? I've heard some convection ovens are so powerful that small pate a choux can actually blow around in there.

Or is it that bakers use the regular bake mode for baking and the convection for savory dishes? I've seen some bakers on the forum say how electric ovens provide such even heat for baking, but is this only when some form of convection is used?

I've read that electric heat is dryer than gas heat, which could be a problem for cake batter. I was told that you could fix this by putting a pan of water in the oven when you bake. Are people out there buying $3000+ ovens and doing this every time they make a cake? It doesn't seem right.

I am wondering if changing from gas to electric will cause some of the fundamental ways I bake to change. I understand that baking temperatures and baking time may differ, but that's not what this post is about.

Any help would be appreciated, and thank you if you read this far into my long-winded post!

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Comments (5)

brendainnj
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have a small countertop convection oven so this may not apply to your situation. I use parchment paper in it with no problem. Also, I primarily use it for baking...bread, cookies, muffins. Bread browns wonderfully with the convection feature. Sometimes I have to switch the pans onto different racks to get cookies to brown evenly, but this is an $85 oven here, not a full-size wall oven (I have a 24" one of those too--I feel your pain). IF I'm ever able to replace it, I would definitely go with a convection.

Happy hunting!
francoise47
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Dear Krebstar, Four months ago I switched from a small gas oven to a dual fuel range with an electric convection oven. I also bake almost every day -- cookies, cakes, pizza, bread, etc. I love having convection. Cookies are especially amazing with convection. I have no problem using parchment paper with the convection feature. I haven't noticed any problem with drying. I haven't had to make any significant changes in how I bake. My oven temperature is remarkably even, even when I'm not using convection. Now that I have convection, I can't imagine not having it.
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stir_fryi SE Mich
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
The house I grew up in had a 24" gas wall oven -- my mother complained about it constantly -- I big roaster wouldn't even fit in it and cookies always turned out crummy.

I have had an electric convection oven for about 10 years. I love it. You can bake three sheets of cookies at one time very evenly. I use convection whenever I want something to brown nicely on top -- like macaroni and cheese. I have also roasted turkey breasts and chickens and they always turn out great. I don't really bake cakes or use parchment paper -- but I've made awesome cupcakes in the oven with no problem!

I think if you have the choice of a gas or electric wall oven, I'd go with electric.
krebstar
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks for the responses.

Are you baking cookies on true cookie sheets, without edges on them? I'm in the habit of baking cookies and pastries on half sheet pans. I know some of you have said how bad the gas ovens may be for cookies, but as long as I rotate and swap the pans, they bake really well in my gas oven. When I make biscotti or pastries, I only bake with one rack in at a time.

I've seen all the marketing pictures of the convection ovens with 3 or 4 sheets of cookies (on pans without edges), I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to have buy all new "sheets" to bake on. Although I do have some silicone sheets, but they are a lot smaller and are mostly good for drop style cookies, where the flatness of the cookie doesn't really matter.
francoise47
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi Krebstar, I'm intrigued by your last post. I usually bake on true cookie sheets, without edges. But occassionally I do bake on half-sheet pans. I've never noticed a difference in the overall quality of the cookie between the two types of sheets. In the future I'll take note. Perhaps I haven't been sensitive to this before. Even in my new convection oven, I usually only bake on two racks at a time. I probably could use three racks, but two sheets at a time suits my needs.

I also want to emphasize that while I love, love, love my new electric convection oven, my old gas oven turned out pretty yummy cookies too. I would never say that gas ovens are "bad" for cookies or any kind of baking. In the end one's baking experience may have more to do with how good one's oven than whether or not it is gas or electric.

Electric \Convection Ovens and Baking

Comments (5)

brendainnj

francoise47

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stir_fryi SE Mich

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Electric \Convection Ovens and Baking

Comments (5)

brendainnj

francoise47

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stir_fryi SE Mich

krebstarOriginal Author

francoise47

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