I got my first convection oven when we got the Bertazzoni range, and the oven has the option to turn convection on or off. If yours has that option as well, you can bake anything in it that you want, and the question would be whether to turn the convection on or not.

I have only baked bread and pizzas in my new oven, and I used convection for both. The bread seemed to get done faster, but the pizzas did not, but they did bake very evenly. Oh, and I baked a cherry pie in it using convection, and it also got done faster, and so I had to watch it more carefully. I think with convection it is less necessary to rotate pans, but I did notice that the pie still got slightly more done on one side than it did on the other - the side closer to the door cooked a bit faster. The less you open the door the better, however. I think cookies may be the trickiest things to bake, but I do not make those that often any more.

In the beginning, you should keep an oven thermometer (or two) in the ovens to monitor the temperatures.

What is the temperature range for your new ovens? Mine will not go above 500F, and I'm not sure it even gets that hot. I believe the bottom temp is 250F, but I have not checked that - it might be lower. I use my toaster oven for keeping things warm, as a rule.

Convection just means air moving around. Yours probably uses a fan to achieve this. It's most useful if there's a heating element that works with the fan to heat the air as it moves--yours probably has that. There are a lot of reasons to use convection. It evens out the temperature in the oven making up for limits in engineering. It evens out the heat top and bottom for more even baking/roasting. It allows you to use a larger pan, or multiple pans at multiple heights because you no longer need a large air volume (empty space) to even up the air temperature.

Things that don't like convection tend to be delicate eggy things like chiffon cakes and souffles. Some ovens even do those fine with convection. Others have too much force or not enough baffles. I wasn't sure about choux paste puffs, but they did fine on multiple levels in my oven with convection, and didn't blow out.

Because of all this heating of the air, however, if your convection fan heats, you'll find that things are done much faster than you're accustomed to. Like with any new ovens, you'll just need to learn the quirks of your new ones, but while you're learning and converting from things you know how to make that are different now, best rule of thumb for anything that cooks in less than an hour is reduce the temperature by 25° F. (prevents overbrowning), or reduce the time by 15 minutes (prevents overcooking). Or perhaps, a little of each.

I do old recipes without the convection, but I use convection + broil for lamb chops, convection + bake for ordinary butter cakes, and covered pots. I vacillate on lasagnas and similar puddings, and haven't found a single perfect setting, but haven't found any bad ones either except for some overbrowning of the cheese on top. Convection only (heated air with no top or bottom heat) is sometimes useful for things you want heated more gently. :)

I have a very good, even oven, but I've found that when I have a bread loaf or other short item to the side of the middle rack with the convection, it can over brown on one side because the heated air blows straight across the top, reflects off the door glass, and hits the side of the loaf, which thereby gets a double dose. If you didn't put the one kind of thing in the specific spot, you'd never know. :) So as you learn your oven, you may also find a couple of surprises. Before you start swearing at the oven, think pinball geometry and general physics and you'll probably work out what's going on.

Congrats on the new equipment!

I might have had one of the first convection ovens available? a 1986 Thermador "Option 3" ...great oven, was still going strong in 2012 when I retired it. But honestly, I never really noticed much, if any difference with convection on or off. Fast forward almost 30 years, and while my Bluestar has the convection feature, I have not used it in three years because I can't stand the noise the fan makes, and my baking results are just fine without it... I may be old school, but If you think about it, how were people able to bake satisfactorily way before convection came around?

Along with the great information already shared, read the owner's manual for more information as it applies directly to the oven you purchased.

Along with a convection oven, I also have a convection/microwave, and I use it far more than my oven. I would easily live without the convection oven, but I would never be without my convection/microwave!

I reduce cooking times by 20%-30% (depending on previous results) and I copy those results on a post-it-note and apply it to the recipe/cookbook as a future reference, and drop the temp by 25 degrees.

-Grainlady

Thanks everyone. We start the kitchen remodel after we get back from Jamaica in mid-September, so the closest I've been to the oven is to see it in Home Depot. I'm an obsessive manual reader and will read the ones that come will ALL the new appliances before they're ever used!

Here's the oven - LG 30" Double Electric Self-Cleaning with Convection.

We find ours bakes faster so we lower the temp 25 degrees from what the recipe says and still check it sooner than recommended.

We also find it's slow to preheat, so I preheat on regular and then turn it to convection for a couple of minutes before we bake.

Actually I preheat my ovens using the convection mode. The fan circulates the air and it heats faster and I believe, more evenly. Check out the appliance forum for more tips!

I bake on convection and a friend clued me into baking boneless, skinless chicken breasts using convection too. I wouldn't cook most meats on convection, I feel like it's more drying. JMHO.

I'm glad to hear that you are a compulsive manual reader - I am the same! I also write installation instructions for lighting products that I design - especially chandeliers and wall sconces, and illustrate my instructions. It is not the same as writing a manual, but there are some similarities. I often wonder what people think when they read my installation instructions. I've gotten compliments on them from architects in New York, but I think a lot of other people do not read them as thoroughly. As of now, I've only written them in English.

I have also been preheating my oven on regular and then turn it to convection, but I might try switching that. The first few times I baked, I forgot to turn the convection on, and everything turned out fine, and so I may go back to that for a while. I did lose a bit of space in the oven with convection, but for me, that is not really an issue, as I do not use all the space in the oven anyway. Last night I made dinner in the toaster oven because the pan fit, and the toaster oven is at a better height, being on the counter, whereas I have to bend down to use the regular oven.

Don't assume that the new ovens are wider inside. Measure the interior. Dimensions. Most new ovens have a lot of insulation and are smaller inside than you would think, from the exterior dimensions.

and my 2011 Bosch double oven adjusts to convection automatically, going down 25 deg if I use convection. I use both convection and regular and don't notice much difference in results. And I bake bread.

mine has a fast preheat feature which I love..

What should you make in it? Chocolate chip cookies!! 2 or 3 sheets at a time -- the best!