Gas Stove with Convection oven

[KCI]

I've been married 52 years and have almost always cooked on an electric stove. The new house we are buying comes with a gas stove with convection oven. I have used gas cooktops before (a long time ago) but have never used a convection oven except the option on my toaster oven. Is it hard to learn how to cook your old recipes in a gas convection oven? Thanks for any help offered.

 

[thheath]

Many ovens have the option of conventional bake vs: convection. You might verify that's not an option on the oven in question.

 

[Passepartout]

This the configuration of my Viking. A couple of tips. On the gas cooktop, it will heat much faster, so after you have food in the pan, you may want to run it a little lower than you did the electric top. I can't convince my wife that it is easier than scouring burnt on food from the pan.

The oven will have a separate setting for convection. E.g Bake and Conv. Bake. About the only time she (DW is the baker) uses convection is with multiple sheets of cookies at a time. Then use about 25 degrees less heat. Otherwise just use 'Bake' as you always have. You'll get along fine.

Jim

 

[wilma]

My Viking range has a switch, as thheath mentions, so you can decide when you want to try the convection. After being afraid I would burn things, I use the convection most of the time now, it is slightly faster and things are roasted on the outside but still moist on the inside.

 

[KCI]

I don't believe there is a switch to choose traditional or convection. On the spec sheet it says Oven Cooking Mode: Convection bake, convection roast. If there were a switch that would be great.

 

[Fern Modena]

My oven, which is some sort of a GE flavor wall unit, has two sets of Bake and Two Sets of Convection (because I have two ovens, but forget about it for a moment).

My top oven has two keys for baking and two keys for broiling. One key says Bake and one says Convection Bake--You press whichever you want, then key in the temperature and hit a Start button. You do the same for Broil or Convection Broil.

And then, for me, since I have *two* ovens, I have another set of everything, marked "lower oven." It is nice to have double ovens...

Fern

 

[SMHarman]

Not that hard, easier to use all the oven at once as it is all the same temperature and generally you turn down the temp or reduce the cooking time.

There are a gazillion (yes there are)
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...vt=convection+oven+conversion+chart&FORM=IGRE
conversion charts on the internets.

Merengue is toughest to do in a convection oven. They don't like the breeze, apart from that it just makes cooking quicker or cooler.

 

[vacationhopeful]

My Sharp Convention oven - the size of a microwave - has been pooh-pawed by all my siblings until I use it to cook for them. Then, I make sure it is still in my kitchen as they pack up their cars to go home.

Does grilled indoor steaks GREAT. As it grills hotdogs to perfection, too. Grill vegetables with some seasoning. Broiling fish.

Anything I cook in the convention oven requires almost NO FAT, is faster, and browns (something a microwave has NOT mastered).

 

[pittle]

Convection ovens cook faster. When I managed an employee cafeteria, we had them and they worked great. I wish I had one at my house.

 

[KCI]

thanks everyone for your input....guess I need to do a little more research before I sign on the dotted line for a convection oven. I don't use an oven much anymore but don't want to have to reinvent my recipes for convection instead of traditional.

 

[MuranoJo]

We have a Bosch which offers either conventional or convection in a number of options for each.

I'd always heard convection takes about 25% less time, and/or 25% lower temp. The user manual, however, could be a bit more helpful to newbies.

The past Thanksgiving I tried convection roast on our turkey and it was marvelous. Roasted quicker and had a nice, browned skin and moist interior.
I also use it for baking cookies, which is a pretty rare occasion around here.
Most often, I simply forget about the option and automatically turn the oven to simple 'bake.' I really need to start using it more.

 

[radmoo]

Convection RULES, I rarely use "bake" setting on my 10 yr old Maytag range. I use either convection bake or convection roast. The fan ensures that air is circulating which makes for far more even heating than conventional ovens and totally does away with hot spot issues prevalent in electric ranges. As for burners, gas offers far more control than electric coils.

 

[KCI]

Finally made a decision! I'm going with the electric because the grates on the top of the gas stove are too heavy for me to lift on a regular basis for cleaning. Doesn't matter which is better, just which you can use easily. Thanks for all the input.