Q. Apart from the need when baking multiple cookie sheets of cookies, does convection cooking improve the final results when roasting veggies, baking fish, casseroles, cheesecakes, bread and so on?
—PeterDurand, via FineCooking.com’s CooksTalk forum
A. I’ve found that roasting vegetables under convection is quick when cooking at a high temperature. It’s also a great way to cook without much fat, as the high temp caramelizes the veggies natural sugar.
Fish also cooks beautifully under convection, although you must watch it closely, as it is easy to overcook it if you are used to conventional cooking.
Casseroles and dishes with sides do interfere with heat circulation, but I use convection on all my casseroles because I like the crispy crust that forms on top and it heats through more quickly.
Cheesecakes bake well in convection, providing you reduce the oven temperature by 25°F from conventional cooking instructions.
With all things, the advantage with convection is that several items can be cooked at the same time as long as the temperature called for in the recipes is the same.
| For more details on cooking with convection, read Susie Middleton’s Better Cooking Through Convection, visit our special section In the Kitchen, and watch a video detailing how convection ovens work. |
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My apartment regular oven pulls too much electric since it is old and won't be replaced any time soon. I just purchased a Smart Oven Compact Convection BOV670 by Breville for this purpose and have not used it yet. I want to bake biscuits, salmon, lamb, other fish, and baked/roasted chicken in it . How well will these food items bake up in my new oven? Will glass, or ceramic bake ware be best to use or should I use only metal? I contacted the company and they don't have recipes for the convection oven.