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ailene54

Should I upgrade to a convection oven??

Ilene Perl
11 years ago

When I did my kitchen update last year I got a great deal on my appliance's at Sears all except the wall oven is Kenmore Elite. My wall oven turned out to be a lemon and now have the opportunity to upgrade to a convection oven. Unfortunately the difference in price is 1,000, so I'm wondering if you think it's worth it. I never had a convection oven so haven't missed it.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Comments (12)

  • gr8daygw
    11 years ago

    Personally I would not spend the money on one again. I have had one for several years and never use it. It just doesn't do the job the way you think it will and takes even more time. It's not worth the extra money. I would rather have something else upgraded in the kitchen. At the time I got mine it was a very expensive upgrade and I really can't recommend it.

  • peonybush
    11 years ago

    My oven has convection capability too...never use it. I think the fan is noisy. I'm happy with regular bake.

  • repac
    11 years ago

    I love my convection ovens! Baking and browning is much more even with convection bake. My favorite part is the convection roast function. It makes beautiful and incredibly tasty roasted veggies. Chicken/turkey comes out crispy on the outside, tender inside on convection roast. After having convection for 15 years, I'd never want to be without it again.

  • texasgal47
    11 years ago

    I thought I could use regular bake most of the time and convection if I wanted things to bake faster. In reality, with my convection oven set to regular bake, food bakes completely but nothing browns. Therefore, everything at my house is baked on convection. It was an easy transition, but I don't believe it is worth the money. For me, convection doesn't seem to generate heat in the kitchen like a non-convection oven (which is an advantage here in Texas), but I don't think it bakes any faster. It surprises me that the earlier posters feel the same. I wish we could again buy ovens with knobs and no solid state components, or fans, to have the reliability and longevity we used to enjoy. The oven in the inexpensive Hotpoint range I had before my remodel was wonderful. It baked evenly, heated very quickly, and did a wonderful job of browning without the aid of a fan or convection. This is coming from someone who loves the upgrade with her new induction cooktop.

  • function_first
    11 years ago

    I didn't set out to buy a convection oven, but bought a floor model Bosch that happened to have it. I have been using it for 5 years now and absolutely love it and use it for everything I bake. Things bake evenly every time. I've also just started using the convection roast mode (didn't notice it until this year) and it's great as well, giving evenly browning to even giant turkeys that fill the whole oven.
    The convection fan is not noisy, can barely hear the thing, and most things cook in the same amount of time, I just subtract 25 degrees from the recommended cooking temp on the recipe.
    I don't know if there's a difference between types of convection, the Bosch says it's "true European convection" which may differ from some other types of convection -- would be worth investigating if the models you're looking at offer this, and/or what difference that might make if they don't.

    This post was edited by kris_ma on Mon, Feb 11, 13 at 8:53

  • mabeldingeldine_gw
    11 years ago

    I'm with repac, I love my convection oven and would happily give up other high end features (ice-maker, thru-door water/ice, microwave) to keep it. Everything bakes and roasts better with it.

  • nosoccermom
    11 years ago

    I, too, have a Bosch convection oven. I use the convection setting because it goes faster and perhaps more evenly. However, I don't think I'd pay an extra 1K for it.

  • michoumonster
    11 years ago

    I like having a convection fan. I use it all the time. I think it does help heat things faster and evenly. It is useful if you are getting a large oven like a 36".The difference may not be as noticeable in a smaller oven. That said, i even use convection in my small toaster oven and notice the difference there as well when it is on versus off. Not sure how much more I would be willing to pay for it though.

  • eandhl
    11 years ago

    I would check noise level of a particular oven before I paid the extra. I have had 2 ranges with full convection and one with convection fan. Great feature to have for certain items but one of mine was very noisy so I never used it.

  • wi-sailorgirl
    11 years ago

    Mine's noisy as heck but I don't care. I only bake/roast on convection and I will always have a convection oven. I love it.

  • macybaby
    11 years ago

    there are two types of convection. One has a heating element to heat the air that blows around, and the other just has a fan that blows the air, but the heating elements are the top and bottom.

    having owned both, I love true convection (blows heated air) and think just having the fans is not worth the extra money.

    I personally would not buy an oven without the convection option, as I use use it more often than not, however I also would not have an oven that I could not turn off the convection feature. I have a double oven and paid a bit more (but not $1,000 more) to have convection in both ovens.

    Baking is a hobby of mine, so I enjoy experimenting with the options my oven has.

  • alex9179
    11 years ago

    I just got mine installed last week, so I'm still experimenting. The one thing I know for sure, it is awesome for roasting! I did a couple of chickens and vegetables that turned out better than I could have asked. I baked some bread today and didn't use convection in order to compare it with that option, later. My bread is evenly browned, but took longer than the recipe stated.

    I like having the option.

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