What Is the Different Between Convection Roast and Convection Bake?

Most people are already aware of when and how to utilize the various settings on their standard oven to obtain the desired results in the kitchen. Choose a baking temperature for every batch of cookies, or turn on the broiler to get the ideal bubbly crust on top of your extra-cheesy lasagna!

But what about the differences in convection oven settings? It’s difficult enough to remember what distinguishes convection cooking from traditional cooking, much alone understand all of the distinctions between various convection cooking techniques!

Today we’re delving into two of the most often utilized convection oven settings: convection bake and convection roast. We’ll go over everything that distinguishes these two cooking techniques, as well as examine which scenarios would be most suited to each! Get a glass of cold water to stay cool since we’re about to enter the steamy realm of convection cooking.

How Does a Convection Oven Work?

Convection cooking technology has been on the market for some time, but there is still a lot of mystery around this cooking method. Now, let’s clear the air on how convection cooking works and, more significantly, how it differs from normal oven cooking.

A typical oven generates heat by using either gas or electrically driven components inside the oven, which then naturally radiates to and around the food. The issue with this design is that the hot air is not always equally dispersed, and someone must have thought there must be a better way!

And there was a better way. It was found that by incorporating an air circulation system inside an oven, the heat from the same heating components could be utilised to cook food more evenly and rapidly. A convection oven is built with a series of fans and an exhaust system to provide air circulation while also eliminating cold air and excess moisture. These elements work together to provide a cooking environment that is significantly more consistent than a standard oven setting.

What are the Benefits of Convection Cooking?

So, why are convection ovens increasingly overtaking regular ovens in popularity? Because there are various advantages to using convection cooking!

• Energy Efficiency: As previously stated, a convection oven cooks food quicker than a regular oven due to its clever design that circulates warm air throughout the oven and over the surface of meals. This implies less cooking time for practically everything you produce, which means significant savings in total energy use. This bodes well for the environment as well as your money!
• More Even Cooking: Since the convection oven saves energy via optimal circulation, this feature serves a dual purpose. Since there are no hot and cold areas within the oven, your food cooks uniformly for the first time! You no longer have to endure the depressing experience of taking a baking sheet of veggies out of the oven to discover that half of it is fully roasted while the other half is mushy and limp!
• Better Browning: When the convection oven’s fan circulates the hot air, it also vents any wet or chilly air, which is the actual secret to producing equal browning and caramelization of meals. This is particularly helpful on days when your oven is overworked (holidays! bake-a-thons! potluck feasts!) or packed with a variety of dishes that emit steam into the air. Convection settings may assist guarantee that all meals brown uniformly and do not interfere with one another’s cooking in any particular circumstance.

Types of Convection Ovens

There are many distinct kinds of convection ovens to be aware of, since each will cook food somewhat differently:

American Convection Oven

The American convection oven, also known as a classic convection oven, is similar to a regular conventional oven, with higher and lower heating components, but with one important difference: the inclusion of a hot air circulation system! A fan is integrated into the rear of the oven and rotates when the heating components are turned on, spreading air throughout the device.

European Convection Oven

The European convection oven goes a step further, with a third heating element located right below the fan, in addition to the two heating elements found in an American convection oven. This improves efficiency even more since the fan blows pre-heated air while also evenly mixing the warmth created by the other two heating sources.

Microwave Convection Oven

This microwave may seem to be your regular countertop or wall-mounted microwave, but it boasts one important upgrade: convection! A convection microwave not only has everything needed to cook meals using microwave heat, but it also has a heating element and fan unit that can be used to cook food in the same manner as a convection oven does.

You may not believe that French fries or veggies can be roasted in a microwave (which, let’s be honest, most of the time only makes things soggy), but with a convection microwave, this is achievable!

Air Fryer

While their classification as an oven is debatable, the reality remains that air fryers employ the same technology as other convection ovens. Indeed, air frying is convection cooking!

Air fryers are generally compact appliances designed to be kept on the tabletop for maximum convenience. They include a heating element, a fan, and a fryer-style basket to assist give optimum air circulation to the food while it cooks. Because of their compact size, air fryers warm rapidly, and the air within them circulates faster than convection ovens.

Comparing Convection Baking and Convection Roasting

Now that we’ve covered the fundamentals of both conventional and convection ovens, we can dive into the many settings accessible on almost every given convection oven. Convection bake and convection roast are two of the most often utilized settings, however there is considerable uncertainty about whether to use them. Let us to walk you through each of these convection settings, explaining the differences and when to use each.

What is Convection Baking?

The convection bake option, like conventional baking, is ideal for preparing dishes that need uniform, consistent cooking. Convection baking takes done at a lower overall temperature, which is particularly beneficial for dishes that need to rise correctly while they cook, as the moderate volume of hot air creates exactly the ideal condition for foods to lift.

Moreover, while using convection baking, the oven will try to maximize the quantity of heat supplied by each heating element. Since the purpose of convection baking is to achieve generally even heat distribution, the convection bake setting tends to utilize the bottom (and rear, in the case of a European convection oven) heating element the most and relatively little of the top heating element, also known as the broiler element.

Although the consistent heat distribution and air circulation of convection baking is ideal for cooking dishes that need the same texture throughout, the absence of participation of the broiler element means that there will be no browning or crisping activity. Also, if the meals are not adequately managed, the low and consistent heat might result in dryness.

When is Convection Baking Used?

Convection baking is often employed for, well, baked goodies! The following foods are known to flourish under the circumstances of the convection bake setting:

• Breads, both sweet and savory
• Cookies of all kinds
• Cupcakes and cakes
• Pies
• Cooked egg dishes like quiche and frittata
• Muffins

What is Convection Roasting?

Convection roasting, on the other hand, is not recommended for baked products because it might cause the exterior to burn or overcook before the interior is done. It is, however, ideal for imparting that photo-worthy golden-brown crust to food surfaces. In contrast to convection baking, where the goal is to produce a homogenous texture throughout, convection roasting allows you to build a good separation between the inner and outer layers of a product. Consider French fries, which have a crispy surface and a pillowy-soft inside, or roasted chicken, which has a golden crispy shell but is moist and delicate on the inside.

To do this, the convection roasting option uses greater temperatures for shorter periods of time. When a convection oven is set on roast, it uses both the bake and broil elements, cooking the food from both the bottom and the top. This offers the perfect blend of indirect and direct heat to the meal, cooking it thoroughly and producing the texture at the surface.

Although it is true that the convection roast option may cook faster and crisp food faster than lower temperature oven settings, the concern here is that the exterior surface of the food might easily overcook while the center has yet to complete. As a result, dishes that are convection roasted must be closely watched, at least until you get acclimated to how rapidly food browns in this high heat setting!

When is Convection Roasting Used?

Convection roasting is perfect for cooking dishes with an outside texture or that need a separation between the inner and exterior of the item. Foods that are best suited to convection roasting include:

• Meats and poultry, particularly entire roasts and chicks
• Plates with mixed ingredients, such as casserole or lasagna, that are covered throughout cooking and then exposed at the end to form the top crust
• Vegetables caramelize naturally when roasted!
• Any form of crispy potato

Other Convection Cooking Info & Tips

Don’t be discouraged if your first few ventures into the realm of convection cooking are a bit difficult. Convection ovens operate somewhat differently from traditional ovens, and they might take some getting used to, particularly if you’ve prepared a lot of meals in your life with ordinary oven technology! Here are a few pointers to help you get started with convection cooking:

1. While utilizing convection settings, avoid doing anything that would obstruct the flowing air inside the oven. Avoid using bulky equipment, such as a high-sided casserole dish or Dutch oven, and avoid crowding the oven with too many objects overall, since this may result in air flow being blocked.
2. When using parchment paper or aluminum foil in the kitchen, make sure the sheets are firmly connected to the pan or are hidden behind a layer of heavy food. You’d be shocked how powerful the blowing air inside a convection is! Not only do you risk spoiling your food, but a stray piece of parchment or foil might fly up and obstruct the fan or heating element, posing a safety concern to the oven.
3. With this in mind, use caution while preparing delicate meals such as soufflés or airy cakes, since the intensity of the convection oven fan may also effect them. Be wary of items with light toppings, such as a dusting of fresh herbs, which will likely be blown off when the fans kick on.
4. If you want to utilize convection instead of normal oven technology, drop the convection temperature by around 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit from what the original recipe asks for. Likewise, check on your food sooner and more often than usual until you grasp how the variables in cooking effect your favorite dishes!

Convection Bake vs. Convection Roast: Summary of Differences

Let’s go through the fundamental distinctions between two of the most common convection oven settings: convection baking and convection roasting.

• Temperature. The convection bake option will often be at a lower temperature than the convection roast setting, which occurs at high heat.
• It’s time to start cooking. Since convection baking is done at a lower temperature, baked meals normally cook for longer than convection roasted dishes, which are done at a higher temperature but for a shorter length of time.
• Elements of Heat. Convection ovens have heating elements on the top and bottom (and occasionally the back! ), but not all heating components are utilized for all cook settings. Convection baking uses mostly the bottom heating element, while convection roasting uses both the top and lower heating components.
• Heat distribution. The primary distinction between convection baking and convection roasting is this. The bottom heating source in convection baking warms the food from beneath, enabling hot air to be uniformly distributed around the dish. Convection roasting, on the other hand, produces a concentration of heat from above, which affects the surfaces of foods immediately.
• Food Reaction. This variation in heat distribution has varied consequences on the items as they cook. Convection baking ensures that meals cook evenly in texture and color. Convection roasting, on the other hand, imparts distinct texture and caramelization to food surfaces and is great for distinguishing between the inner and outside of a meal.
• Foods that are most suitable. Convection baking’s uniformly distributed heat is ideal for pastry applications such as baking pies, breads, cookies, and cakes. Convection roasting uses direct, intense heat to generate a pleasing surface texture while still cooking through the inside of foods like juicy meats, crunchy veggies, and crispy potatoes.