What is a Convection Oven?

A convection oven is an oven with a fan in it. This is of course a simplification but to understand everything that it means to be a convection oven one must understand a little about a lot of things. A little about thermodynamics, cook times and commercial cooking is necessary to fully grasp the convection oven.
The thermodynamics of a convection oven are simple. The have to do with the same principle that make James bond ask for his drink shaken not stirred. If you have a source of heat or cold and you want to distribute it into an object with a different temperature the fastest way to do that is not to let them sit next to one another but to mix them. This concept is applied in a convection oven by using a fan to circulate the hot oven air rather than letting it sit. But when your are cooking at a set temperature and you increase the airflow all of the sudden you have a faster cooking time.

The increase in cook times due to utilizing a convection oven vs a standard oven is generally 1.5x. In other words if it were going to take 6 minute now it will only take 4. However, the speed of the oven fan and its ability to maintain temperature play pivotal roles in how fast it cooks. When you are cooking with a new oven you want to pay close attention to your first few meals until you get the feel for it.

While convection ovens are more and more commonly in residences their true application is in commercial kitchens and restaurants. When you are cooking for a crowd or even more importantly an event time can be of the essence. When you are cooking for a crowd you can rent convection ovens from us.