<p>I apologize if this topic has been covered before! I need to replace a double wall oven and have never cooked with convection before and am wondering if I could get used to it. I am leaning towards a model with one regular oven and one convection. I took my DH appliance browsing yesterday and he (who doesn’t cook) got sucked in by all the fancy electronics on the double convection model. Just wondering if I would regret that. I am an average to perhaps slightly above average cook and enjoy baking, although with kids gone, I don’t do that as much as I used to. Also considering it in terms of resale (in about 5 years). Your thoughts please on convection vs. regular (“thermal”) ovens!</p>
<p>I have a convection/microwave as second oven. Last year’s Tgiving needed two turkeys so I had the chance to test ‘em both. The convection turkey cooked faster and browned more evenly as expected, tho not hugely significantly so to tasters’ testing. It is not so hard to figure out how to use it and is nice for baking with the more even heat flow. I say go for it!</p>
<p>Consider an oven like mine that has both a convection option and a ‘regular’ option. I tend to use the convection option more, especially when roasting meats or vegetables, or baking pies. I notice the difference most with roasted meats (like a turkey or chicken). For those things, convection rules!</p>
<p>I have always had a double wall oven (and I don’t understand how people live with only one oven). Last time I had to replace it, I bought one with one convection and one regular oven. I almost never use the non-convection oven and I never use the convection oven without the convection (you have options for convection and regular cooking). I love the convection because the heat is much more even, and you don’t have to worry about turning cake pans or having too many things in the oven at once. I can have two cookie sheets cooking on shelves that are very close (i.e., very little space above the lower sheet) and everything comes out fine. I use it for baking and cooking, roasting vegetables or meat. If I have some dishes baking/roasting in the convection unit and need to broil something, I use the regular oven for that.</p>
<p>The major disadvantage is that the fan in the back takes up space and reduced the size of the oven.</p>
<p>The general rule for convection cooking is that you reduce the temperature by 25 degrees and reduce the cooking time.</p>
<p>Oh, and the oven preheats very fast.</p>
<p>If I could have any double wall ovens, I would have these, by American Range:</p>
<p>[American</a> Range Double Wall Ovens](<a href=“http://www.ajmadison.com/b.php/American+Range%3BDouble%3BWall+Ovens/N~30+4294836992+4294961430]American”>American Range Double Wall Ovens | AJ Madison)</p>
<p>They are available in various configurations: all electric, one electric and one gas, both with french doors or one, with and without convection and self-cleaning, etc I LOVE the French door style. It is so cool to be able to step right up to the oven, instead of peering/bending over a big door.</p>
<p>That oven is beautiful, Consolation! I’ve never seen French doors on an oven. What a great idea! But they are incredibly expensive.</p>
<p>I have a GE Profile wall oven. I’ve had to replace my oven twice in 17 years, and both times I had to get the same GE model (updated, of course) because the space I have is restricted.</p>
<p>I have a GE free standing range with an oven that can either be programmed to convection or regular. I am NOT a good, or experienced cook, so keep that in mind as you read my comments.</p>
<p>I always used the convection option, but after my husband was laid off and took over the cooking, he proclaimed that the convection option took way too long to preheat, and started using the regular option. After I retired and started cooking/baking more often, I learned that when baking a pie on convection, it browned too quickly and didn’t cook inside. When I switched to the regular option, I was much more pleased with the outcome.</p>
<p>I have a GE, and think part of the problem is that it is a GE. I’ve had great success roasting whole chickens on the regular option. I’m afraid to try the convection, but after reading the above comments, maybe I will.</p>
<p>I have a friend who has a GE convection oven, and she concurs that it is ineffective. Based on my experience, I would not opt for a convection oven with the next purchase.</p>
<p>The fan in my convection oven drives me out of my mind. It is loud while the oven is in use and then it stays on for at least 20 minutes after I turn the oven off. We have an open plan kitchen /family room and it irritates everyone.</p>
<p>NYMomof2, thanks for the tips. I, too, have a convection/regular oven combo and have only used convection once. And I don’t even remember for what! I shall give it a try for baking Christmas cookies this year.</p>
<p>My convection oven is GE, and it works very well! I do bake pies, and baked a quiche yesterday, and they come out perfectly. My fan doesn’t make much noise; in fact, when it was new I wasn’t sure that the fan was coming on, and had to turn on the light and look through the window to make sure it was going (it stops if you open the oven door). </p>
<p>lilmom, I think that you will find that convection works much better for cookies. You won’t need to turn the cookie sheets, and you can put in quite a few, closely spaced.</p>
<p>“Consider an oven like mine that has both a convection option and a ‘regular’ option. I tend to use the convection option more, especially when roasting meats or vegetables, or baking pies. I notice the difference most with roasted meats (like a turkey or chicken). For those things, convection rules!”</p>
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<p>I agree with this post 100%. I have a double oven, and you can use convection or not as you choose. I LOVE convection for roasting meats. It is faster and browns more evenly. </p>
<p>It’s also terrific for slow cooking. You can put a dutch oven in on convection and the heat circulates around it evenly - - works great!</p>
<p>I don’t bake much AT ALL. But while I know many like convection for baking cookies, I’ve found the results for baking to be less satisfactory than when I just use the regular bake setting. But I really am a much, much better cook than a baker, so take this with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>I would not buy an oven without a convection option at this point. I could probably live with two convection ovens without any issues.</p>
<p>It is not at all hard to learn how to use them. Basically you reduce the temp by 25 degrees and usually the time is cut to 75% of the regular cooking time. That’s a rule of thumb, but it is a starting point for cooking with convection.</p>
<p>This is an interesting thread. I’d love to hear more feedback on convention oven fans. </p>
<p>(We once had an over-the-range microwave with annoying fan. If you cooked a long time in it, as I like to do… the loud fan came on. And it stayed on for sometimes 10 minutes or longer. We used to clap from the dinner table when it turned off).</p>
<p>Oddly enough my nonconvection GE Profile range has a somewhat loud fan that goes on when the ven has been on for just a few minutes. I do not especially like the oven but hope not to need to replace it any time soon since it was installed in our new house just a couple of years ago. I have had GE gas stoves for years and have been neither very pleased nor very displeased with them but overall would recommend looking at other brands. I would love to have room for for a double wall oven though–and have heard good things about convection ovens from friends who bake.</p>
<p>Our Wolf dual fuel range (gas top/electric ovens) has very loud fans. We’re having other issues with it, too, despite it being less than three years old. In a previous house we had GE Profile ovens and GE Monogram gas cooktop, and I share Mattmom’s opinion on GE. The most satisfactory range I’ve used in years was the cheapest one, in a second home; it was a Frigidaire with a warming drawer in the bottom. </p>
<p>In our next, and hopefully last, house, I’d consider Whirlpool’s new freestanding range with induction top and double ovens. Then I’d look for a French door/side opening door wall oven. The reason is that cabinetry is so expensive that it would likely cost no more to buy a range than a cooktop + base cabinets, and it would be nice to have the extra oven space for entertaining.</p>
<p>I have GE double wall ovens (one convection, the other not) and sure wish I could report the same good experience as NYMomof2 but I can’t. The fan is too loud, takes up too much space in the oven, and my foods do not come out evenly cooked. They brown up much too quickly. I find myself NEVER using the expensive convection feature.</p>
<p>Until recently my mother had a 30" Bosch dual fuel range with convection. She said the convection was great, especially for roasts.</p>
<p>The only negative I’ve heard about convection is that if you make meringues they may detach from the parchment paper and fly about the oven. :D</p>
<p>We have only one regular/convection oven and a microwave. It allows you to select which type of baking you prefer–we mostly use convection and have been very happy. We have the GE Profile. It was similarly price to other models. The fan isn’t that large or noisy to us.</p>
<p>“That oven is beautiful, Consolation! I’ve never seen French doors on an oven.”</p>
<p>We remodeled our 1950’s kitchen and hated to replace our 1950’s stainless steel wall oven (I believe it was a Frigidaire Model) with french doors. It was in a narrow wall cabinet and we wanted a bigger oven, also some things were not working on it and no parts were available, and it was terribly inefficient.</p>
<p>I have the Wolf duel fuel gas cooktop/ electric oven range, and their electric wall oven. Even on convection bake, everything seems to cook evenly with no lopsidedness. Sometimes with a delicate cake or bread I’ll use regular bake, but that’s more so I can time precisely. For convection, I subtract 25 degrees from the temp or 10% from the cooking time. </p>
<p>I have heard that success with convection bake depends on the model. Not all convection ovens are designed the same way. If your fan is very strong or uneven it might not be the best for cakes, breads or anything wet that might get blown around. </p>
<p>Roasting, cooking and broiling are like night and day from the conventional ovens I had before these. Same recipes, same technique, and much different results in terms of evenness of cooking and moistness.</p>
<p>One thing that’s nice with the French doors is that, unlike a fridge with French doors, when you open one side the other opens too. It is really great when you’re taking things out.</p>
<p>I had a Jenn Air that was supposed to convect but it really didn’t have the power of a commercial convection oven so I never bothered with it. That was some years ago.</p>