It's much better. Our former kitchen had 19 yo appliances, and the wall ovens (two singles, for some reason) were fan assisted only. This helped on preheat, but radiant was better for actual baking or roasting. We've just started using our new convection oven (Gaggenau) & the difference is very noticable in the end products. For example, a breakfast souffle recipe rises up so much higher, is nicely browned yet moist, and the time is less. We have also started making bacon in this oven, which is great when there's a crowd.

gizmonike - that's interesting - a souffle is one of the few things I don't use convection for - it needs bottom heat to rise - same with popovers.

It wasn't a true souffle, but now that I think about it, I did set it for convection with bottom element heat as well. Thanks for the correction.

I second gizmo... it is almost ridiculous how well stuff rises and uniformly it cooks, and how light the end result can be.

weissman, I convection cook souffles too and have the same observation as gizmo. Almost anything that wants to rise seems to benefit from convection. Atleast, that is my experience. It is just things like cheesecake and some of the denser cakes and breads that seem to want the bottom heat and that convection seems to get in the way in - well, I haven't tried convection-cheesecake because some denser cake concoction I'd tried definitely needed the bottom heat so I trusted the word on the street and stuck to bottom heat for cheesecake. Barring that, true euro convection rocks imo.

I can't speak from personal experience since I have a gas convection oven (which works quite well by the way) but from what I read, it's a little bit of both. True convection definitely has a slight advantage for things like multiple racks of cookies where you want them all to cook evenly without the bottom rack getting extra bottom heat - but some of it is marketing hype.

FWIW, I have had a "fan-only" convection range in the past and now have a "true european convection" with a third heating element around the fan and, in my opinion, there is no comparison. Now, 3 sheets of cookies are identical in size, color, and texture. Roast chicken done on convection roast is fabulous and salmon done on convection broil has that lovely crispy exterior while still very moist on the inside....no more pan searing for me. In my opinion, true convection is not a marketing ploy. However, results may vary based on manufacturer...see threads on KitchenAid and LG. I can only compare GE to Bosch(which is what I have now).

jpreisman,
I think maybe I have been the one posting about the LG problems. Is it GE or Bosch that you have now ?

bretonb, I have a Bosch HES7282U9(Evolution 700 series full stainless electric). It's been terrific. Regarding your problems with LG: the Bosch fan goes on to preheat and then turns off when in bake mode. It runs continuously in all convection modes: bake, broil, and roast. I'm also not aware of the upper element going on in regular bake mode as seems to happen with the KitchenAid. I really couldn't tell any difference in results between regular bake and convection in the GE. With this one, there is a definite difference and the results are vastly superior. It's also the first self cleaning oven I've had that doesn't have a terrble smell when cleaning.

One of these days, when our home building process does get underway, I AM planning on a GE monogram wall oven. The specs say that it has true European convection ( a reverse fan). Can someone tell me if that is true European or not?

jpreisman,
I took a look at your range and it looks lovely. Is the stainless steel hard to keep clean? The wattages of the European convection systems seem to go all over the map. I wonder if a higher wattage is better than a lower one. My LG has a very low wattage 800 watts. I see that Bosch is 1,100 watts. I was told that the much higher wattages can cause uneven browning, specially baking multiple racks.
Moose : I would think that if they say European it means a true convection system with a heating element at the fan.

moose-
true european convection means that there is a third heating element behind the convection fan. I'm not sure what a reverse fan is, but it doesn't sound like true euro convection to me.

True Convection, Pure Convection, European Convection, When you figure it out it will probably be sales related, not performance related. Miele and Dacor have filters, Wolf and American have twin fans, I don't think my Turkey cares.

bretonb,

Could be wrong, but I think most of the higher wattage 3rd elements are in wall ovens (not sure about Viking or Dacor ranges). This was not an option for me nor was gas which is why I went with this Bosch model. I know when I do cookies, they are all uniform. Stainless is easy to clean: all I've had to do is use a damp paper towel or a soapy sponge and dry with a microfiber cloth. Bosch recommends Barkeeper's Friend for stains.

I'm a piker when it comes to ovens, and am needing a new electric range with two ovens. I'm learning from your posts. It seems the models I like have "European True Convection"...here's my dumb question, does that mean there is no broiler?

Wow, you found a really old thread! For future reference, it is not a dumb question but it would be easier to just start a new thread of your own.

Anyway, assuming your are shopping for residential ovens. there will be a broiler unless you are in the market for one of the premium (or ultra premium) priced convection steam ovens ("CSO"). Some of the European brands dispense with broilers, some do not. Otherwise "European" r true" convection simply means that there is heating element around the convection fan at the back of the oven.