Double Oven or not?

14 years ago

I know this is a bit of a hybrid question between appliances and cooking forums.

I am so over cooking Thanksgiving with a single oven. I have been researching new ranges and initially was focusing on double ovens. I evaluated our cookbook and what we use the oven for and come to the conclusion that I don't use it often except for baking and an occasional lasagna, enchiladas.

I am close to pulling the trigger on a dual fuel GE Cafe because I want a solid oven for baking that isn't on the floor with the option cooking in the bottom drawer. However, it's a bit over my budget and introduces new problems due to lack of a back panel on the oven and me not having a backsplash. I am not happy with the looks of the Profile's cat eye windows.

Anyway, a friend said they used their new Bosch convection for the turkey and also cooked stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc. I sear my turkeys first @ 425 then drop the temp to 350 to finish it up. So my real question is: can you start cooking without the convection and then switch to finish up the turkey using convection?

Is true convection a game changer for me and I shouldn't worry about the double oven? I love the idea of baking multiple sheets of cookies at the same time.

Sorry so long winded, I have been reading the archives and doing tons of research. Both have left me confused and overwhelmed.

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Comments (5)

User
14 years ago
"So my real question is: can you start cooking without the convection and then switch to finish up the turkey using convection? "

Sure!

"Is true convection a game changer for me and I shouldn't worry about the double oven?"

There is way too much here to answer.

I'm not sure what you are looking for.

A range's oven is "on the floor" that's where it is.

It's more $$$ than you want and you think it's not attractive looking, and you want this thing why???
mocharoman
Original Author
14 years ago
On the floor meaning the bottom half of a double oven is very low to the ground in a freestanding range and the door while open basically in on the floor. Since I plan on using that oven the most I would like it to be better placed like it is in the GE Cafe or Profile line. The profile line is ugly to me compared to the Cafe.

Is there a site that would help me better understand convection ovens?
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mojavean
14 years ago
Convection simply means moving air, as in "the oven has a fan that blows hot air on the food."

All "convection" ovens feature a fan that circulates hot air around the food. This constant barrage of heated air cooks the food faster. One of the ways it does this is by ensuring that there is a constant steady high temp at all parts of the food, rather than the more typical hot and cold spots in conventional ovens.

Both gas and electric ovens can be purchased with convection, but European-style (also called "True Convection) is always electric and features a resistance heating element array on the intake side of the convection fan. This serves like a blowdryer or paint-peeler gun to put even more heat on the food quickly.

You will find true convection on many upscale and European electric and dual-fuel ovens and ranges.

Convection mainly cooks the food faster and more evenly. In most cases, this is advantageous, but there may be some cases where it is not needed. Most convection ovens offer the option of turning the convection off should that be desired.
plllog
14 years ago
You didn't mention the size of the range (I'm assuming 30" because of the double oven thing, which I've only seen on 30") and how big your turkeys are. My cousin does Thanksgiving for up to 18 people with a single oven 36" range. There's room in the oven for the casseroles (sweet potatoes, etc.) as well as the turkey, and even room next to the turkey for a small foil tray of hot appetizers. When the turkey comes out for rest and carving, the bread goes in to warm, as well as pies and whatnot.

I make a 22 lb. turkey for Passover, as well as a meat dish, a vegetable casserole, stuffing casseroles, etc. My 30" wall oven can only handle the turkey, and some spare baked potatoes.

Convection, if it's any good, makes the temperature in the oven much more even so you can get away with putting all that stuff in and still have it come out right. True (heated) convection is much better, though you'll have to relearn some of your times and temperatures. That's often true with any new oven anyway.

The extra little oven for heating a baking dish in, or bread or whatever, is very useful. You can accomplish similar things in other ways, however. For instance, do you have a toaster oven? Would you consider trading it for a counter top oven like the Breville SmartOven? That's another way to get a small second oven. Do you have a storage space for a portable oven, or a Nesco roaster? You can put that on top of the dryer, for instance, if your laundry room is adjacent to your kitchen. It's not like you're going to be doing laundry while making Thanksgiving dinner (bar disasters).

You may find that you don't need to start your turkey at high heat with a new convection oven. The reason for starting high in older ovens is that they reach nominal temperature according to the sensor before they've truly stabilized at the correct level. Giving it the time to get to the higher temperature means the oven has more time to heat up to the desired 350, then you adjust the dial to reflect that once it's hot. If you do want to do it the old way, however, even if the oven won't let you change on the fly from convection to not, you could always turn it off, change the setting and turn it back on. You don't want to do that on a souffle, but you shouldn't use convection on a souffle anyway--it disturbs the rise. The turkey doesn't care, and neither do your starches.

Conclusion: If you like the range, get it. If you really like the one without the second oven better, and can supplement with a portable, that works too. Convection is good. You should be able to cook anything you want with one of these combinations.
gardengrl66 z5
14 years ago
Picking up on the "extra little oven" theme, you may also want to consider a combination microwave/convection oven. GE Advantium and Miele make two examples. This way you take the space you'd devote to a microwave and have it do double duty. Worked great for us this Thanksgiving - for example in the morning I made two different pies, one in each oven, followed by bread in the gas range and breakfast (biscuits) in the smaller oven, then on to casseroles while the turkey was in the range...etc etc.