I have read conflicting comments on other sites and would like your opinion. Is convection ovens good or bad to bake cakes?

I am also curious to know what others think of convection ovens. I am in the process of looking for a new oven and I want an excellent one to bake cakes. All the research is making me dizzy!!!!!

just got one and will be baking my first this friday. as far as i know you have to lower temp and shorten time. keep me posted if you guys find more info.

Bakencake just curious as to how your cakes turn out?

I just bought a brand new industrial convection oven and i'm having no luck with it... i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong but my cakes are not coming out right.. i need help too!!!

I bought a Maytag convection oven a few years ago...replaced it once still have trouble with it baking my cakes correctly. Sometimes they aren't baked all the way, the next tiem they are? All I want now is a plain oven that bakes at a steady temp...I will never buy a convection oven again.

Sue
Edited to say I have another oven in my basement that is like 20 years old and when it dies I will cry

Haven't read good things about them for baking. Look for advice from Indydebi. Here are some threads:


http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-584176-0-days0-orderasc-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6060792-.html&sid=567b6ff6be96be6f8def60ac40ab93ff

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-686156-.html&sid=6249d8d9878c3ea2c3ef2bd6e6b493e1

https://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopic-584288-0-days0-orderasc-.html

winnieyoung103, I used mine this morning for the first time to bake cakes. i turned off the fan and turned the knob to a cautious 320. Took for ever to bake 2 8inch cakes in a 3 inch cake pan, 1 cake batter each, and 2 6 inch cakes, 1 batter for both. they cake out fine. I had just enough batter to make 5 cup cake minies. they turned out with a hard top. I just lopped the top off. will report when i get a little more brave and try a higher temp

I like baking cupcakes with the convection and I use the over on bake for cakes- Convection give the cupcakes nice tops, I end up cutting off too much cake when using the convection to bake cakes.

What brand of oven does everyone have. I read consumer reports and reviews on a Kenmore model 92903 Electric range convection model and heard good reviews. The 2 reviews on the Sears site both were good and they were cake bakers. Thinking maybe of going with this oven or scraping the whole idea and buying a regular oven. Frustrated!!! Just want to get the right oven alot of money to spend on something that doesn't work good.
Winnie

mine is verona. just got it on line.

I bake 12" and smaller in electric convection ALL THE TIME. I bake at 310 convection and pack as many pans as I can get in there.

For larger cakes I bake in a gas oven at 300. Those larger cakes are baking long and slow so I need a moist heat (gas).

For cookies, it's electric convection all the way @ 350. For cookies I like dry heat, hot and fast.

For cupcakes I prefer the gas - moist heat, but hot @375 and fast.

I have a Kitchenaid convection in my personal kitchen and I love the way it bakes so much that I put one in my bakery. For commercial ovens, Deluxe makes a convection oven for bakeries, about $3000.00 plus delivery. I use convection for everything except cheesecakes. I have a dedicated conventional oven for them.

I just saw on the martha stewart show that she had a counter sized convection oven. anybody seen this

i found that mine baked really unevenly...which seems weird when the air is blowing around in there. Maybe I should try turning down the heat some more.

I have a Kitchenaid and wouldn't bake in anything else

I start mine in the "reg" oven then 15 minutes later turn the convection on for 10 or15 min,than I go back to "reg" oven to finish the cake.

I have the Kitchenaid model that is the best one in my personal kitchen. It was the model good for baking. I liked it so much that I put two new ones exactly like it in my bakery along with a conventional, and a commercial Deluxe (also built for baking) on its way. I know the results will always be perfect. It doesn't like to stay calibrated, but I use thermometers ayway. I chose to start with the Kithenaids and haven't regretted it. I can put 48 cupcakes in one oven and have all bake exactly the same, no rotating. Delicate cakes that can fall if rotated, bake perfectly.

I just bought the Samsung range. It has a convection and conventinal oven. You choose which to bake with. I am still expermenting with it. I like cookies in the regular oven but cakes seem to do great in the convection oven. When I set my temperature for the convection it automatically adjust to the correct temp.

For the people who are recommending the Kitchenaid convection oven, which model do you have? I see there are a couple of different types. One has True Convection, the other says fan convection. I don't understand the difference.

http://www.finecooking.com/qa/convection-vs-true-convection.aspx

True convection vs. fan convection.

Also, from somewhere on the internet:

"The big difference is the source of the heat. With regular convection, the heat comes from the bottom of the oven and is circulated by a fan on the back wall. With true convection the heating element is around the fan on the back wall so all the heat comes from the side. The supposed advantage of true convection is that you can bake things like cookies on multiple racks of the oven at the same time and they will all get done evenly since the ones on the bottom don't get any direct bottom heat as they would otherwise."

I have a Kitchenaid with convect. I found that I prefer the bake only cycle on it as whenever I use convect the cake edges seem to dry out hard. I don't know if the oven is the problem or the fact that I live in a very dry climate.

Imagenthatnj, thanks for that article. It looks like true convection is the way to go and produces better results. I really appreciate the response.

i was given a Sharp Grill2Convection oven it has a bake function and a Cake function. it didn't come with a manual. hubby found one online but i dont know where he "stashed" it lol.

I'm glad imagenthatnj posted. Now I don't have to find the model. Mine has heat from the back. The one in my house has a microwave on top... the best microwave I have ever seen... that converts to the second convection oven when needed. The one in my bakery is the same oven but with double convection ovens. Watch the price. The cheaper ones only have one convection oven with the other being conventional. I guess they would have a single oven too.

Adde note: on the Kitchenaid, do not buy the extended warranty. The only expensive part is the circuit board and a replacement is only $250.00. They want much more than that for the warranty.