Hi guys,
I have a convection oven. However, I have never used it for baking because I really have no idea how you know the cake is done or what will happen to it.
Any help with this would be grately appreciated.

Thanks,
Lazy_Susan

Hi, Susan! I have a convection as well, and love how it bakes. No more turning pans, burned edges/bottoms, underdone middles...great!

I just lower the baking temp by 25 degrees, and set my timer for the least amount of time recommended in the recipe. It may take longer but I'd rather check it and have to leave it in for a few more minutes.

My oven also has a convection converter. So, I can set the time/temp for what the recipe says, and it will automatically convert the time/temp to convection. Not sure if yours has this feature, but I've found that it works well.

Generally, I find that all I have to do is lower the temp. I usually bake my cakes at 325, so I set my oven for 300 degrees. Perfect! HTH!

I use a convection oven for my half sheets.....I bake them at 325* for about 50 minutes...I start checking them after 40 minutes...

I bake at 275F or 280F, higher temps. will give your cakes a huge bump and they will crack! ask me how I know

A convection oven does not bake "faster". A microwave cooks faster.

What it does is permit you to put multiple items in there at once and all of them still get even heat to bake properly, thus cutting down your TOTAL baking time.

instead of baking the 2 apple pies, THEN the 2 peach pies, THEN the dinner rolls for Thanksgiving, you can throw them all in at the same time and they will bake nice and even, thus cutting down the number of 'baking batches' you have to put in the oven. In a regular oven, the items on the bottom rack many times will block the heat from reaching the items on the upper rack, so the bottom rack burns while the upper rack is underbaked.

YOu can tell if the cake is done just like you do in a regular oven. Toothpick method is popular; gently touch the top of the cake to see how it bounces back; or like many of the seasoned bakers, you can just smell when it's done.

When I got convection ovens in my shop, it took quite a few baking batches to get the formula right. I finally figured that it was a combination of setting the temp on 275 and keeping a pan of water in there to add moisture .... otherwise the cakes came out hard and dry.

Thanks for the replies. You all have been very helpful.I still need to know, though, if I need to put the flower nail in the middle of the larger cakes. Also, should I be adding a pan of water, too?

I have a convection oven and I still use a flower nail and a pan of water for my larger cakes. Also don't bake cheesecakes in convection mode it will burn.