I have a comm' convection oven (don't know if they operate different than home conv. ovens and I dont' know what kind you have).
I use baking strips, which significantly decreases the doming, but I found I had to lower the temp to 275 and add a pan of water on the bottom rack to add moisture. My first 3 cakes went right into the trash because the centers weren't baking as fast as the outsides (lowered temp ... fixed that) and the cakes were getting a very hard crust on top (added water for moisture ... fixed that).
In a regular oven, I was baking at 325, so in a convection, I thought baking at 300 would work fine. but 275 seems to be the temp for me.
I have the GE home-sized convection oven -- baking at 325 to 340 works well for me. I can get up to 8 smaller cakes at a time in there, and have little doming. As Indydebi mentioned, the baking strips work well if you encounter doming.
The only thing I've noticed is that I have to turn the oven to "regular" (bottom element only) baking for 5 minutes -- anytime during the process. This helps set the bottom for easy removal from the pan. However, I have an older/less expensive model, and other posts about home convection ovens have not mentioned this as a problem.
275 works for me with cakes....cookies i cake at 300....(not the cookie expert yet)
what temp do you bake your cookies at indy?
I have a noncommercial GE Profile Convection Oven. I bake all cakes at 325 convection. The oven automatically decreases the temp by 25 degrees, so I set it at 350.
I never get domed cakes, nor any blowing cake batter. I use Magic Line pans, bake even strips, and flower nails, my cakes are pretty level and flat but I do allow them to bake over the pan approximately 1/2" so I can level that off smoothly (especially those edges).
When I do a wedding cake, I typically bake on all 3 racks at a time. I have found that the more cakes I bake in the oven at one time, the longer the baking time, due to the amount of moisture from the steam of baking in the oven. I try to bake my smaller layers together and then my larger layers together so I do not interrupt my larger layers by opening the oven.
This oven has two convection options, Bake and Roast. I know that some noncommercial ovens only have one option. I think this may be why some may have blowing batter, because there is only one fan speed. The roast option has a higher fan speed than the bake option.
I have a noncommercial GE Profile Convection Oven. I bake all cakes at 325 convection. The oven automatically decreases the temp by 25 degrees, so I set it at 350. <snipped your quote> .
I have this same oven. I'm using magic line pans too. I've only baked up to a 10" and I found that I needed to bake for an hour or more to get the center done. I used bake even strips and flower nails. I gave up and just use my oven on regular bake mode, and it only takes 30 minutes. what's up with that???
I would LOVE to use my oven on convection for baking and put all my cakes in the oven at the same time, I just don't know if that's possible!
how full do you fill your pans? what sizes do you bake together at one time? do you level your pans prior to flipping them out on a cooling rack?
thanks!
cookies I bake at 300.
cookies I have no problem with at the normal temps (it automatically adjusts) using convection. they turn out beautifully!
my cakes are just weird. the other day, I baked and half the cake was done, the other half was not. it was really weird. I think I've given up on convection cake baking. I'm just using regular bake mode now.
I have a noncommercial GE Profile Convection Oven. I bake all cakes at 325 convection. The oven automatically decreases the temp by 25 degrees, so I set it at 350. <snipped your quote> .
I have this same oven. I'm using magic line pans too. I've only baked up to a 10" and I found that I needed to bake for an hour or more to get the center done. I used bake even strips and flower nails. I gave up and just use my oven on regular bake mode, and it only takes 30 minutes. what's up with that???
I would LOVE to use my oven on convection for baking and put all my cakes in the oven at the same time, I just don't know if that's possible!
how full do you fill your pans? what sizes do you bake together at one time? do you level your pans prior to flipping them out on a cooling rack?
thanks!
That sounds about right..it can take almost an hour for a 10". I don't use regular bake mode because then I won't be able to use all racks successfully. I would rather bake 6 cakes at at time vs 2. Yes, it may take a little longer per oven cycle but running it in regular bake mode you would have to run multiple cycles.
I fill my pans 60%. If I'm doing a 3 tier wedding cake plus the anniversary cake, and for example, if this cake is a 6-10-14. I would bake the (4) 6's, plus the two 10's and then do the 14's in a separate cycle. It is physically possible to do ALL of them but I hate interrupting the baking of the larger cakes.
Since I never have a dome, I don't level before I flip the cakes. I just flip the cakes, then reflip immediately so the original top side is up. After the cake is completely cooled, I then level and torte with my Agbay.
In two weeks I am getting a convection oven with steam assist. This is my first convection oven, so I will have to use your instructions and try it out. I am assuming I would not need the water though, I wonder how well the steam assist would work for me ...hmmm I guess I will see.
Janice
In two weeks I am getting a convection oven with steam assist. This is my first convection oven, so I will have to use your instructions and try it out. I am assuming I would not need the water though, I wonder how well the steam assist would work for me ...hmmm I guess I will see.
Janice
My oven didn't say anything about "steam assist", perhaps that could be the difference between commerical and noncommercial. I will tell you though, when that oven is loaded up, it doesn't need any type of steam assist, you can actually see the steaming going on inside (unless it has it built in..)
Iâve been using a convection oven for about four years now (Kenmore) and I havenât had any problems with blowing cake batter. 
My cakes used to dome up, but after I started using the baking strips that problem went away.
I bake at the recipes recommended temperature, but I do lessen the cooking time. If the recipe says 30-35 minutes, I start checking at 25. Cooking time is the only significant difference I have found between my old conventional and my new convection oven.
At work I have a commercial convection oven (actually 4 with 2 stacked on the other two) and when I am using a home recipe I lower the temperature 50 degrees, but usually the bake time is about the same - maybe a few minutes different. I use it on the lower fan setting(you must run the fan on either low or high with the commercial oven). The crust on the outside is a bit thicker, but I wrap and rest the cakes in the cooler and then they are fine to torte. They do dome, but I don't use baking strips, so I am expecting them to dome.
I have a Vulcan electric convection oven and having no luck with it at all... my cakes aren't growing right... and when they do grow it takes forever for the middle get done and then I have a over baked cake... my oven also have a moisture vent damper..on the instructions it says to keep it open to bake cakes or the cake will fall... but my cakes r coming out super dry ... I'm just desperate at this point... I will try the baking strips and the flower nail... Any other suggestion I should try???
ps: i'm baking my cakes at 250
TIA
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