Convection oven

Characteristics

The convection oven has already been commonly used for a few decades and is very widespread in professional situations such as restaurants, fast food outlets and other commercial establishments. The great diffusion of this product is due to its faster cooking compared to traditional ovens, which naturally results in reduced energy consumption, because it is kept on for less time. The traditional oven has a radiant system, while the convection one is much more effective in many aspects. The operating method forces the hot air inside the oven to circulate thanks to a fan or more fans located on the bottom. Traditional radiant ovens do not have fans, so in these the heat that the coils create is stationary inside the chamber. Cooking using forced air has numerous advantages, because food cooks faster while consuming less energy. Furthermore, the convection oven makes it possible to cook on multiple floors at the same time in a very efficient way, because the air is forced to circulate throughout the entire chamber and not stop at the height of one floor or another. On the contrary, the radiant heat is not able to penetrate the plates on which the trays on the lower levels are placed, so the heat has difficulty reaching the upper levels. Meat cooked in a convection oven is juicier and more appetizing because it cooks more quickly and above all evenly, so it doesn't have time to dry out.

Advantages and disadvantages

We were talking about the advantage of cooking meat with a convection oven because it comes out juicier, but other dishes also come out better. In fact, both cakes, tarts and biscuits are better because they cook more uniformly thanks to the fact that the heat is not concentrated in a single point in the oven's cooking chamber. Instead, the main disadvantage is the purchase cost, certainly more expensive than a traditional radiant model or a microwave oven. However, it is worth remembering that the convection oven is less expensive than combi ovens or steam ovens. Another possible disadvantage, however only temporary, is given by the fact that at the beginning, having always been used to cooking in a traditional way, we may encounter initial difficulties, in the sense that the cooking times and temperatures of our recipes will be different compared to to those we had become accustomed to. Furthermore, in a convection oven it is a good idea to cover, during the first 20 minutes of cooking, meat and other very large dishes that require a cooking time of three quarters of an hour or more, because otherwise these dishes could dry out too much, losing the sauce and softness that make them good. By covering them, however, we will keep the steam released inside the dish, so as to prevent it from escaping and drying our food. Some recipes require a temperature 25°C lower than what we would set in a traditional model. Clearly at the beginning there is a risk of making some mistakes, but anyone will soon be able to correct themselves and will soon notice the undoubted advantages of cooking with a convection oven.

Types

The most common convection oven models are wall-mounted or built-in, but there are also hob models. The basic model, among the cheapest, is not equipped with an extra heating element (the third), which is why the fans find themselves moving both hot and warm air around the food. This could result in uneven cooking of the dishes, which is why it is a good idea to inform yourself and carefully read the description of the convection oven before purchasing it. As mentioned above, there are also oven models capable of combining classic radiant technology with convection technology, or professional steam technology with convection technology. These ovens can be built-in or wall-mounted. There really is something for all tastes and needs, so it is good to understand exactly what its use will be before purchasing it. On the Adriatica Elettrodomestici e-commerce site you can find numerous types of built-in ovens for every need. There are numerous recipe books that nowadays differentiate cooking times and temperatures for convection ovens or radiant ovens, so we can orient ourselves better and avoid ruining our first courses, improving the impact with our new appliance. The cooking temperature inside the chamber ranges from 50 to 270 degrees centigrade, while in a steam oven from 50 to 100 degrees centigrade and in a mixed convection and steam oven it ranges from 80 to 200 degrees centigrade. Perfect uniformity of food cooking can be achieved in those models that have fan rotation reversal technology, so as to convey the air in every direction inside the cooking chamber.