How do conventional ovens cook food

You can even find toaster ovens with built-in convection ovens nowadays. Here's your quick reminder on how a conventional oven works: A conventional oven has two heating elements that heat up the air inside the oven to cook food.

One can be found on the bottom, and is used for most cooking and baking. The other is on the top, which is mostly used for broiling. Because a conventional doesn't circulate the air like a convection oven, you might have "hot spots," or pockets of air that are hotter than others. This can lead to uneven cooking, which is why recipes will often call for you to rotate the baking pan in order to more evenly cook your dish.

Here's a hot take for you — an air fryer is just a small, countertop convection oven. That's right, air fryers don't actually fry foods at all. They work the same way as convection ovens do — by circulating hot air around the food until it is cooked through on the inside and crispy on the outside. But before you throw out your air fryer, there are some things to be said for the internet's favorite countertop appliance.

Because air fryers are so small, the cooking area in which the food cooks is smaller, and will heat up faster. This means cooking your food in an air fryer is going to take less time than it would in a traditional convection oven. But this also means that it holds less food, so you may have to cook large quantities in batches. We'll let you decide if it's a trade-off that's worth it. In my opinion, the air fryer is a great tool when you're cooking for just a couple people, but if you're cooking for a large family, you're better off going with a convection oven.

Create an Account. Continue Shopping. Session Timed Out Your session has expired. Whirlpool Brand U. Convection vs. What is a convection oven? What are the benefits of a convection oven vs. The convection oven benefits Even baking and heat distribution Less rotating Improved browning, crisping and roasting Faster baking and roasting 1 Quick preheating Better cooking for multiple dishes at once Run long baking cycles without drying out foods.

Conventional oven benefits More familiar functionality Most recipes are written for these models. When to use the convection setting. How to use a convection oven Follow these simple steps for cooking, roasting and baking with your convection oven. While most recipes are written for conventional ovens, some recipes provide recommended times and temperatures for convection cooking and baking.

Step 3: Adjust Time For true convection, multiply the listed time by 0. Step 4: Preheat Preheat your oven to the adjusted temperature. An added bonus — convection ovens preheat quickly. Step 5: Cook, Roast or Bake Set your timer for the adjusted time and place your dishes on the oven racks for consistent heat and even cooking.

Use the convection roast setting for a brown, crispy outer layer on meats. Tips for cooking with a convection oven Looking to take your convection cooking skills to the next level? Convection cooking dos: Do adjust recipe times and temperatures for the best results Do use cookware and bakeware with lower sides to enhance air circulation Do use your convection roast setting for roasting, browning and crisping.

See the difference between conventional and convection ovens Learn more about conventional and convection ovens to help choose which style is right for your family. More cooking tips and tricks. Ranges: gas vs.

Read More. What is Sabbath mode on a stove? Appliance IQ. Want more answers to your kitchen and laundry questions? Browse All Articles. Was this article helpful? Pass it on. The increased air flow means that more heat gets into your food, so it cooks quicker and more evenly. For most foods, the cooking time falls by about 25 percent, which is a significant decrease if you have several dishes to cook. Some ovens can adapt cooking times for you, automatically calculating the shorter cooking time when you turn convection on.

This is not a given, though, so watch out when setting a timer. Some chefs also think that convection cooking is better for roasting, as the circulating hot air heats the surface of the food, making the skin crispier and dryer on meats. The other big plus of convection ovens is that the temperature is more even through the oven, meaning that you can put more food in there.

Temperature-sensitive foods like breads or cookies can benefit hugely from this; a decent convection oven could handle two or three trays of cookies at once, cooking them at the same speed. Try that in a conventional oven and you'll get burned cookies. Shorter cooking times also mean that you use less energy, so a convection oven can save money. This makes them particularly beloved in commercial kitchens, where a combination of shorter cooking and more even temperatures means you can cook things quicker, and cook different things at once.

Some foods don't appreciate convection cooking, though. Foods like souffles and cakes don't rise as well, as the air flow can break down the delicate structure of the foods as it rises, and nobody wants a flat souffle or a light angel cake. Even food that you would not think of as delicate can have this issue: if you cook muffins in a convection oven, the tops may come out lopsided, because the delicate top was pushed over by the circulating air.

That's why most convection ovens allow you to control the convection feature, slowing down the flow of air or even disabling it completely.

So, if convection ovens are better than normal ones, why aren't all ovens convection? It's a question of cost. Adding fans and extra heaters to the oven makes it more complex, and thus more difficult and expensive to make.

So, a convection oven can cook faster and more evenly, but at a higher cost. Like most examples of appliance science, the choice comes down to which is more important to you: money or time.