Oven Question

[hullabelew]

We are remodeling our kitchen and going to replace the oven. Looking at something like this because it fits in the spot where the old one is but it has 2 baking compartments. Our current one is gas, but this one has gas burners but electric elements in the compartments. I have found several models like this..some with gas in the compartments (which I would rather have anyway). My question: anyone have a convection oven. The large compartment is convection on most models like this but I have never known anyone that had a convection. I know how the work....I just need some opinions from people who have them.

 

[NickDanger]

Electric is preferred by serious bakers. Pastry chef type stuff. We have 2 24" gas convection ovens side by side. The convection takes a significant amount of time off of things. I don't know that anything tastes any better. We like the gas convection very much. They also make models with one big oven next to a smaller one. We've never felt like a 24" was too small for what we were doing (turkey?)

Maytag has a new cool concept that we bought for the ranch. It has a broiler/warmer/oven on top that you can get two small or one large pyrex into with a full size oven on the botom. It's called a Gemini and it's very nice. It was also a LOT less expensive than the FiveStar at my home.

 

[MrPhlegm]

We have a double convection over. Electric, which I prefer because you can control the moisture in the oven. I preferr gas for the top but we are all electric so no chance.

Convection ovens are great, they heat more evenly because of the fan blowing the air around. No hot or cold spots. This is good especially when you are baking cakes and cookies and roasting things like turkeys.

My wife didn't believe me when I told her we should get a convection oven when we got a new one, but then our ancient double wall oven died and we went to the sears outlet and there was a stainless double convection for a absurdly low price so we got it and I installed it. It only took her baking in it ONE time to convince her.

We actually did our turkey last Thanksgiving and it came out looking like the pictures in magazines.

 

[goofybevo]

Duel fuel convection is the ****. Any real cook prefers gas for the burners, but convection is awesome for the oven. I don't have one, but I've cooked with them. Big fan. That was a ****** unintentional convection pun.

 

[hullabelew]

Thank guys. Nick: that oven you described is like the one I tried to post a pic of, but it isn't a normal img file, so it didn't post.

It has 5 burners on top, one super hot and on that has a very low setting for a true simmer. The top oven compartment is a smaller oven that has a very low warmer type setting and can even do dehydration (for making jerky and drying fruit). The larger compartment is a convection oven.

The Maytag you mentioned is a little less cash than the Jenn-Air we were looking at.

 

[Boozehound]

Just to note, if/when you do switch to convection, you can't just bake/roast/braise by time anymore (if that's how you operate now) - cooking times drop significantly, and you'll have a bunch of burned **** if you're not using a different method (temp, GBD, etc).

 

[NickDanger]

Being out in the country, we were trying to get rid of the huge *** propane tank so we went with the electric burners. On the Gemini we got, it's all electric. We don't have a super hot burner, but we have one that will go small or large. It really fits our particular needs. The top oven is actually more versatile than I described, with options for baking, broiling, warming, toasting, etc. It is not without flaws. In that small of a space, it's easy to go supernova and scorch the **** out of things. Something to be wary of.

I'm pretty sure I counselled the clan out of the money for convection at a weekend place where we grill or BBQ more often than not, but i honestly don't remember if it was even an option on the Gemini. For your home, though, I heartily recommend it.

 

[NickDanger]

Booze is right, but it's really not that hard to figure out. If the recipe calls for 30 minutes at 350, you go about 20 minutes. Your oven's manufacturer OUGHT to give you a guide. Ours did. My wife is a terrible cook. She still cooks horrible meals, but it isn't because she burns them. She just can't envision how a recipe turns out and chooses poorly. She figured out the convection part pretty well.

 

[Brak]

We just built a new house in the country. We wanted propane so we got the bigass propane tank.

Finding gas ovens was a pain and we ended up with electric. We have a double oven combination. Top is microwave and bottom is convection. The controls are combined and the convection units can be operated as a regular electric oven as well.

The oven has programming to tell you how much to reduce the cooking time for the convection so you may want to look for this feature.

 

[Boozehound]

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[hullabelew]

I do all of the cooking at our house...don't know why my wife is want for a double oven, although I can see where is will come in handy. I was wondering if you could turn off the 'convection' feature since essentially is seems that the only difference is the fan.

Thanks for all of the info. As usual, the Hornfans crowd does a great job.

 

[NickDanger]

You can turn off the convection on mine.