Convection oven with fan assistance experiences?
Hi there,
I am happy with my new convection oven. To my surprise it seems to circulate air inside the baking area. I am not sure if it recirculates air - keeping any steam in - or blows out steam. I can't tell. I mean, it blows out air, but I'm not sure if that air was cooling electronics, or baking my loaf...
At first I was disappointed by the fact that our oven isn't what I expected to be a true convection oven (without fan). But the more I dive into the "fan assistance" or "forced air technology", the more I doubt what it's doing exactly and what it does to steam..
I hope I can bake two loafs at different heights, in fan assisted convection mode and have both nicely cooked and colored.. But for that, ideally, I need the steam to keep inside, because two Dutch ovens above each other will not fit.
Does anyone here have an convection oven with "forced air" or "fan assisted" technology? What are the advantages/disadvantages? How do you use it? I'll be glad to learn from your experiences!
Thanks in advance!
If I’m not mistaken, the definition of convection oven is fan assisted. What are you referring to as “true convey” that does not have a fan? And given the huge amount of available information about using convection ovens, including bread baking, what information are you really seeking? The steam is inside the covered Dutch oven more than in the oven…
Here is an earlier thread that might be worth revisiting:
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/57572/convection-or-bake-mode
Convection oven usually means moving air. "True Convection" as a marketing term usually means the heating element ( usually electric) is not located in the oven chamber, instead, it is outside the oven chamber, air is pulled from the chamber, passed over the heating element, and returned. In some cases, the element and fan are in the oven chamber, but separated from the main part of the oven by a steel plate with holes ( The first photo below, from a Cadco Convection oven, shows that at the back of the oven there is a sheet of metal, the next photo , with that sheet removed , shows the fan and the heating element - which is the tube shaped rod that goes around the fan. ) In a non convection oven, usually the heating element is at the bottom and or top and there is no fan. Some ovens, like my current gas oven have a separate fan that turns on, and that is called convection mode , though the heat itself comes from the gas burner below. The fan just redistributes the heat so in theory there are less hot spots.
Some believe that conection is not helpful at the beginning of the bake because it dries out the crust and inhibits oven spring. Later in the bake it can help with browning.
I am sorry, I used the wrong term! I was a bit mixed up there. I thought a convection oven is an oven where natural convection occurs from the below heating element! I thought there are two types of ovens: convection and hot air ovens ;). Sorry for the confusion.
What I really wanted to talk about is the non-convection mode of my oven - in bottom and top heat mode. It seems like air is circulating in the baking space of my oven. So I am wondering if some form of forced convection is used during the conventional bottom and top heat mode. Like a minor fan assistance! There isn't a setting to turn it off.
I still have to check with the factory to see if my guess is true. I am having a hard time to reach the right person. Maybe my electrical oven is like your gas oven @barryvabeach; fan assistance during conventional mode... I don't hope so.. Maybe it's just the electronics that are being cooled... Any experiences with a conventional oven (mode) that's fan assisted?
It would really help if you identified your oven by make/model or post a picture of it so we can better address your question. In general, a conventional oven does not have fans. In conventional ovens with an accessory fan, turning that fan on, in essence, changes the oven functionality from conventional to ‘convection’.
Thanks for your reply Brian! I am hoping you're right because I wanted an oven with a conventional mode.. I will be contacted by the manufacturer in a few days. I will know for sure if this oven is what I want or not. Thanks again.