O/T - does anyone have a convection oven?

[Icequeen_in_ak]

I'm looking at replacing the appliances in my kitchen and I'd like to get input from anyone who currently has a convection oven.

Is it worth the additional money?? (here in Alaska where I live, the particular convection oven I'm looking at is around 1400 where a standard oven is around 800)

Do you find it to be a tremendous advantage or is it something you rarely utilize?

Any experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated, as I don't want to fork out extra bucks if it's not "all that and a bag of chips".

[sandrajoon]

nak

well, thats a big price difference!

we just bought new appliances and got a conv. oven. it is great! cooks food evenly and faster than our old oven (less energy used as a result, but not enough to offset that price diff). we can fill the oven up and everything will cook beautifully.

i recommend it if you can afford it, esp. if you use the oven a lot.

[mamangazelle]

I think it is only worth it if you use your oven a lot, not only once a week, and also, if you are a good cook, because really, I can't see the difference in most things I bake in there (except for cakes and pies maybe)

[NCHIN]

We have a convection oven that came with our new home. I use it all the time and can honestly say that I cannot tell the difference. I would personally not spend the extra money on a convection oven. I would spend the extra money elsewhere.

Nancy

[lmonter]

Re: O/T - does anyone have a convection oven?

We got a convection oven when we moved into our house a few months ago, but it was only about $200 more than the 'un-convection.' We haven't used it a ton yet, but it is a nice option to have. I've done baked potatoes (they seen to bake a lot faster), some baked meats that started off frozen, that kind of thing. You just have to turn the temperature down and start checking for doneness sooner than usual.

I haven't had the guts or extra time to try using the convection feature with baking (when I make my special cookies, I'm not taking any chances yet). I think it's also good if you're making a big bird like turkey for Thanksgiving, that kind of thing. (Or at least that's what my aunt said when she used ours for Thanksgiving - she was actually jealous of our oven.) Oh, another reason why my engineer dh likes it is because convection distributes the heat more evenly through the oven.

Hope that helps a little!