Looking to upgrade your kitchen with a remodel and some new appliances? Convection ovens are great and make cooking more efficient. Best yet, they come in various forms, including countertop sizes and combi ovens. Read about everything you need to know about convection ovens as you decide whether this is the ideal purchase for your home.

What Is a Convection Oven?

A convection oven differs from your traditional oven because of the fan inside that works to circulate hot air throughout the oven when you cook food. After moving hot air around the food, it blows out a fan in the back. Due to how it works, this appliance cooks food much faster and more evenly than the traditional oven, which relies on a heating element.

Convection ovens use more energy than a traditional oven, and the amount depends on the fan’s power. This extra energy means faster cook times since it’s hotter. As the oven circulates the air, it instead uses dry heat to cook, which helps remove moisture. If this sounds familiar, air frying uses the same method. A convection oven is like an extra-large air fryer!

What Is a Conventional Oven?

A conventional oven is the type of oven many of us currently have in our homes. These types of ovens use a heating element for cooking or baking food. However, there is no fan, so the air will not circulate in this type of oven. Nevertheless, many prefer using it because most recipes utilize this type of oven, so you won’t have to worry about modifying temperatures or cook times while preparing a meal.

What Is a Combi Oven?

Combi ovens are a type of appliance that can cook using convection, steam, or both. Many like using the steam option for cooking vegetables, fish, and rice while using the convection option to cook bread and meat products. You can buy large versions of these or one fit for your countertop.

Buying a Combi Oven

ROBAM sells combination convection ovens that’ll fit on your countertop and look great in your home. So, upgrade your kitchen today with an appliance that’ll make cooking more efficient! These ovens are big enough for two ten-inch pizzas or some steamed fish as you cook up a delicious dinner.

Advantages of Convection Ovens

Using a convection oven comes with various advantages aside from them preheating and cooking a lot faster. If you love the crispiness of fried food but want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, convection ovens can help since they cook the same way as an air fryer.

It also makes the cooking process easier since you won’t have to rotate food as often to ensure it cooks evenly. As the air moves around the oven, so will the heat, which means you can kick back and relax while your food cooks!

More Efficient Cooking

Convection ovens also make cooking more efficient because you can put several different dishes in the oven at once. You have nothing to worry about as long as all the food items require the same temperature. Since the heat circulates, you don’t have to place dishes in the center of the rack for even cooking, which means more flexibility in food placement.

Tips for Cooking With a Convection Oven

Before using a convection oven for the first time, you should keep in mind that you’ll need to modify your recipes a bit. Most cookbooks and online recipes provide instructions for a conventional oven, since this is what most people own. However, both cook with different methods. A convection oven is hotter, so you may need to adjust time and temperatures to avoid over or undercooking.

You can make these modifications with some trial and error by looking up recipes for convection ovens or investigating the appropriate changes.

Many cooking pros recommend using cookware with lower sides since this will further promote air circulation to the food—which means a crispier meal! Additionally, if the convection function is optional, aim to use it when you’re roasting, browning, or crisping food.

What Baking Pans Are Best?

The good news is you can use the same baking pans in both convection and conventional ovens. Aluminum and metal cookware work best because these materials do a better job of conducting heat, which helps ensure your food cooks evenly.

Know What To Avoid

In order to cook food efficiently and evenly, there are a few things you should note about your convection oven. For starters, avoid blocking the fan; this is another reason to use shorter cookware. If you stop the fan, then food will take longer to cook since the oven won’t work as it should.

It would be best if you also kept food placement in mind. While you don’t have to worry about keeping items in the middle of the oven rack, you should avoid overcrowding the oven. The air cannot evenly distribute when there’s too much food packed in there, which also means longer cook times.

Finally, note the type of foods experts discourage from cooking with convection—such as flan, cheesecake, and custards—as these require more moisture. While you can cook these in a conventional oven, you may want to avoid using the convection function or modify how long you bake it.

Pro Tip: Adjusting Cook Times

One of the most important things to avoid is overcooking your food. This can be challenging since most recipes you’ll come across have oven temperatures and times for conventional ovens. Typically, you should lower the temperature by a quarter when you're baking. So, if it says 350 ℉, reduce that to 325 ℉. On the other hand, if you need to roast food, keep the temperature consistent but lower the cooking time by 25%. 

By evaluating everything you need to know about convection ovens, you can weigh the pros and cons of this appliance. If you love cooking in various methods, then consider buying a combi oven from ROBAM. This way, you can use convection for a crispy meal or steam when you need moisture. One thing’s for sure: everything you cook will taste incredible.