I am assuming you are talking about electric wall ovens. Convection can be used for both and intermittently. What oven are you buying? Some ovens have just an on and off fan while others have all kinds of modes for baking, roasting and 15 other functions. Some have a third and fourth element by the fan(s). They might have variable fan speeds.

Convection fans move air so it they are superficially drying, promoting browning, great for a lot of things. It also increases heat transfer. It will cook some things 10-30% faster but also changes the direction of heat making it come more from all directions instead of the bottom so it changes the way things bake, maybe for the good, maybe for the bad.

I use it for most cookies, some pastries, roasting meats. I might use it at the end of baking cakes or anything that rises for browning and to brown casseroles.

Convection is marketing as making heat more even. In one sense it does because you have heat coming in more direction rather from the bottom. The air current, because it is drying can produce hot spots, especially on higher speeds. Add the third element as the source of heat and it can have a blow torch effect. It can bounce off of pans and side walls. There are also a variety of baffles and some change the direction of the fan periodically.

I use convection for both baking and cooking, but I think I choose not to use it a lot more for baking. Egg rising delicates don't really like it. Because of the effects Wekick mentioned, it can be either great or dire for small things like appetizers and cookies. Exceptions--I've made paté choux puffs (small and egg rising) on multiple levels with convection heat only (no top or bottom) and had them come out perfectly. Whereas a quatre quarts pound cake (egg rising) doesn't rise well with convection, and it's totally wrong for souffles. Written out like that, I think it's the relative weight that makes the difference. I also prefer to use just bottom heat for pies.

Each oven is different. There are as big differences maker to maker, model to model as there is between convection and not.

If you've never used convection and don't intend to, I don't see why you should get it now, unless you can't get the quality you want without it. If that's the case, I'd think you'd want the same quality oven for both.

Ask your real estate agent, and anyone you know who's looking for a new house, if having a convection oven or not would affect their willingness to buy the house. I don't think most people would notice or care, but I could be wrong, so ask those who know. Remember, you're selling ovens that are years old, not brand new. I would care that they were bargain ovens, convection or not, but it wouldn't affect my decision about the house. They might be great, so I'd try them out. If I didn't like them, I'd just replace them.

As far as I know regarding appliances viz house sales, they need to LOOK good to be a plus. That means they can't look very dated unless they're cute, should have no scratches, dings or stains, be scrupulously clean and shiny (like get in a crew to steam clean them) and should match the expectation level of the neighborhood (i.e., not big box store brands if buyers expect KitchenAid or Electrolux, not KitchenAid if buyers expect SubZero). Otherwise, they're just there. Like white plastic light switch covers. Part of the house, missed if they're missing, but no other bearing on the sale. Have to have them, but you don't get bonus points for shrug worthy.

Agree with Plllog not sure I would even get it. Most people I know have no clue about it. Almost no recipes are written for it. Of the people I know that have it, they don't use it. As much as I love it and would not be without it, it is oversold.

I love convection ovens for cooking and roasting (use them almost all the time), but I rarely use it for baking. I'm pretty sure it would give me good results in baking, but I'd need to experiment a lot to adjust my recipes, which I don't want to bother with.

In the 17 or so years I've had it, I don't think I've ever used the convection feature of my oven. It sounded like a good idea at the time of purchase, but I'm just too afraid of failure.

Thank you all for your feedback. I agree Sammy, I guess I am too afraid to go outside of my comfort zone. Even though I rarely adhere to a recipe, and can wing it if I don't have a required ingredient on hand, there is something about the convection feature that intimidates me. And the more I read, the more confused I become. Even though the other appliances are Wolf, Sub-Zero, and Bosch, I think I'm leaning towards popping in 2 basic electric ovens, and let the next cook decide what they need.

I don't do much chef-like baking ... the occasional cheesecake, chicken breasts, and scratch or box cakes, brownies, frozen pizza, etc. I always use convection for frozen pizza, can biscuits or rolls, chicken breasts. Not for the cheesecake, brownies, cakes and such but perhaps I should try it.

plllog, thank you, I’ve learned something new. I’ve not had a convection but we are getting one with both regular bake and convection options and I was excited to try convection. I can see how air flow would help Pâte à choux, but didn’t think about soufflés, let alone pound cake. Does the air also then not dry out roasts or chicken?

The air dries meat superficially. The evaporation of water promotes the Maillard reaction and so browning. The amount of moisture in the meat is determined by the end temperature. You want to balance the drying so browning with the proper internal temp. You will also have an increased rate of heat transfer with convection which also helps with the superficial evaporation and makes the meat cook quicker from the outside, in.

This is a great site for meat science.

http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/meat_science.html

There are changes within the muscle fiber as the temperature rises that expels the moisture.

This is from this article.

http://blog2.thermoworks.com/2017/02/coming-heat-effects-muscle-fibers-meat/

If you want to use convection and haven't, just try it for part of the cooking/baking time. I rarely use it for the whole time. Everyone's recipes and ovens are different but, I never use it for things that rise to start because I don't want to inhibit the rise by drying it prematurely and inhibiting starch gelatinization. It also changes the direction of heat. I use it after the rise is complete to help browning. Other people use it the whole time and it works for them. For roasting, I might start with convection but turn it off and finish without it. It is easier to do that then put it on at the end and have the meat come to temp before it is brown enough

If you are buying a convection oven, they often have convection bake(slow fan) convection roast(fast fan) and all convection which is high speed fan plus the back element(s). About the only way you can tell this is by listening. Almost no one states this in the manual. Most gas ovens with convection have on and off.

Nrtighe, with your other appliance selections, I think you might be wise to look at the side opening Bosch ovens. They'd fit in well with the SZ/W without the price or potential lining problems of Wolf, and give a "feature" which is really nice to have and might help with the resale impression. I haven't used them, but they seem to be popular here. I do have side opening Gaggenaus (higher tier sister company to Bosch, though totally different ovens) and have to say I like it a heck of a lot more than drop down.

Thanks for posting the science, Wekick.

I don't turn the convection on and off the way Wekick does. I make a decision, set it, and only change it if something seems to be going wrong.

2Many, sometimes you want to dry out the chicken--you get a nice crisp skin. :) I wouldn't worry about the convection drying out the meat inside unless you're going skinless. Then, using a sided pan may be all the protection you need.

EVERY oven has quirks and most require adaptations of one's recipes and a few months of getting the feel of the timing and features. The trick is to mark out some time that you can use learning your new oven, rather than freezing up because it's different and foregoing some of the features.

Before you buy, it might be useful to make a log of what you're making in your old oven. Record quantity, time, temperature setting, real temperature (as in a $10 (or better) oven thermometer), and internal temperature on being done (as in a probe thermometer (a cheap dial meat thermometer will do)). This may make the transition a lot easier, especially the oven thermometer. 350° F. on your old oven might average out to 330° or 368° and on the new oven it might actually be 350°. Or vice versa. You can adjust the temperature for your recipes or the timing.

Thanks for showing the correct spelling for what I usually just type out as "choux paste", and which I know better when I'm fully awake. :) That was beyond mere typo. :) It has been happening with a lot of words, that my fingers sound them out even though my brain knows proper ways to spell them...

I think you might be wise to look at the side opening Bosch ovens. They'd fit in well with the SZ/W without the price or potential lining problems of Wolf, and give a "feature" which is really nice to have and might help with the resale impression.

Except they aren't inexpensive either and they have all the extra features she doesn't seem to need. I had the Bosch 800 in my condo and felt it was definitely more than I needed or wanted to learn. I was constantly even after 6 years referring to the manual. Of course that's because I mostly use my cooktop and only occasionally use the oven for baking, roasting, etc.

I am sticking with Bosch for my new build, but I'm going with theBosch 500 with the convection feature. I figured for the way I cook, I didn't need to spend $1000+ more for the fancier oven with the bells and whistles.

It was not my intention to highjack the OP’s thread, but am learning so much – I hope others are as well.

wekick, thank you for the links and additional explanations, you’ve been so helpful.

plllog, thank you for offering up so much information on the use of convection ovens, as well as…

The trick is to mark out some time that you can use learning your new oven, rather than freezing up because it's different and foregoing some of the features. Thank you for that statement. I’d downloaded the instruction manual and read about the induction and convection uses/features and have been quite excited, but this thread caused some trepidation for me. I want to try and use these features, not be fearful of them. I hope with time I can make use of the convection in areas it will be beneficial, and now understand time, experimentation, and patience will be my friends.

I used a dial thermometer in my current ‘regular bake’ oven, so will use it in the convection to help adjust for time (although I admit, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, and will now have to open the darned thing to see the thermometer, loosing heat!) – I feel sure I’d not have thought of that as it’s not been used in some time and sits in a cupboard!

plllog, I am embarrassed about the pâte à choux – I think it rude to correct people’s pronunciation or spelling and that was not my intention! I sincerely apologize. Trust me, words escape me all the time! For the past year I had forgotten the word ‘joconde’ (which I always spell jaconde) and in attempting to describe it have had to be creative. For the life of me I still can’t remember the name for ‘that thing’ I spread the batter with, making the indentations… not that anyone asks. I rarely say mise en place except to myself and where it’s written in my recipes, and never say maillard reaction now… I am met with the dreaded “oh, so you’re a snob’ look, and quite frankly, can’t blame my friends! “Get things ready” and “gonna brown that” just works better around these parts! Still, I like using correct terminology to myself, at least when I can remember it!

No, no, 2Many! I don't think you were being rude or trying to correct me! I was just grateful that you used the correct spelling, because my brain was saying it right and my fingers were typing in a different language. :) I would have edited my post if I hadn't seen yours and was truly grateful that you'd posted it correctly.

Thank-you as well for "joconde" which I've never seen before, nor "biscuit joconde" (my knowledge of French baking is even more minimal than my knowledge of the French language, which I can often read more or less). I basically know two kinds of foam cake, with or without fat. Well, also with or without baking powder since I've just read of people putting it in chiffon cakes and I didn't know that was a possibility. I don't generally put baking powder in something egg rising unless I'm following a recipe that calls for it.

This is very cool!

Cpartist, thanks for the opinion of one who has actually had that oven. I was suggesting it mainly as something to tie together with the high end appliances if there's a snob factor for a not too distant resale. There are some places where SZ/W is expected, and the OP seemed to suggest that was so for her. Whether it's worth is another story...