Baking with convection yields a rounded, taller cookie with a crisp exterior. Even heat created by the air circulating in convection yields the irresistible combination of crunchy and gooey – and some say it’s the secret to the perfect cookie. But, if you prefer a softer, chewy cookie, use Bake mode without convection.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F convection.) Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place equal two 2 1/2-tablespoon portions on the baking sheets 3 inches apart. Use either a cookie scoop or cut the frozen dough into rounds.
The simple answer, yes, you can bake a cake in a convection oven. But it is far trickier than baking in a conventional oven. This is mostly because cake batters are light, and the circulation of hot air can flatten air bubbles and create a short, flat, and dense result.
Oven Temperature
Generally, cookies are baked in a moderate oven — 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) — for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Our Top 10 Baking Oven for Cakes and Cookies in 2022
- Panasonic NB-G110P-K Cookie Baking Oven.
- Black+Decker Countertop Oven.
- Toshiba Digital Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking.
- Cuisinart Chef’s Baking Oven.
- LUBY Large Countertop Oven.
- Breville Smart Oven Pro.
- Oster Digital French Door Air Fry Oven.
- Prism Bakery Oven.
What is the difference between baking and convection baking?
A regular bake setting is fairly straightforward. The heated air inside the oven surrounds the food and cooks it from the outside, in. By contrast, a convection bake vs regular bake setting uses a fan at the rear of the oven to circulate the heated air inside. It also utilizes an exhaust system to help expel moisture.
Rest the Dough A secret baker’s trick is to rest your cookie dough in the fridge. You can rest it for at least an hour, which will evaporate some of the water and increase the sugar content, helping to keep your cookies chewy. The longer you allow your dough to rest in the fridge, the chewier your cookies will be.
Follow our simple tips and techniques and you’ll turn out perfect cookies every time.
- Bake Better Cookies.
- Soften Your Butter.
- Creaming Butter.
- Measure Your Flour Correctly.
- Line Your Pans With Parchment Paper.
- Add Eggs One at a Time.
- Add Flour or Dry Ingredients in Batches.
- Fold in Chocolate Chips by Hand.
Sugar Satisfaction
And when it comes to making the perfect Sugar Cookie, bakers actually prefer convection ovens for that lightly crisp on the outside, soft and moist on the inside effect that turns a simple Sugar Cookie into a gourmet delight!
Keeping them on the sheet too long after baking can cause them to get hard or stick to the sheet. Cookies are done when they are firmly set and lightly browned. When you touch them lightly with your finger, almost no imprint will remain.
Do you have to preheat a convection oven?
Yes, all convection ovens need to be preheated. In some modes, more than one element is used during preheat, which can cause the food to burn. The oven will indicate when it has finished a preheat cycle. You should always start with a hot oven or a hot pan.
When should you not use convection?
Don’t use convection for cooking cakes, quick breads, custards, or soufflés.
Do professional bakers use convection ovens?
Convection ovens are one of the most common pieces of commercial bakery equipment. They do a great job of quickly and evenly baking a variety of products, from bread loaves to cookies to cakes, pies, and brownies. Their use of internal fans to circulate the air creates even browning and repeatable results.
Lining a baking sheet when making cookies: Not only will the parchment help cookies bake more evenly, the non-stick quality also helps prevent them from cracking or breaking when lifting them off the sheet. Decorating home-baked goods: Parchment paper makes the perfect wrapper for baked goods.
1. Definitely heat from the bottom but bake on the center rack. Place a thermometer inside the oven to check that the temperature is accurate–home ovens can be off by 50 degrees or more, making a huge difference for cookies. 350 degrees Fahrenheit is a good temp for chocolate chip cookies.
Preheat Your Oven
Make sure your oven is fully preheated before you start baking your cookies. If you put the cookies in before your oven reaches full temperature, they’ll take longer to bake. This gives the butter in the cookie dough more time to melt and spread out, and you could end up with thin, flat cookies.
Should you bake on top or bottom rack?
When in doubt (or when your recipe fails to mention a rack location), here are some general guidelines to follow. For rich, even browning, stick with the top rack. Once the oven is preheated, the heating element on the bottom of the oven turns off and on throughout baking to maintain an even temperature.
What foods are best cooked in a convection oven?
Convection is good for:
- Roasting ham, turkey, roast-ready beef cuts, and similar meats.
- Roasting vegetables and potatoes for an extra crisp.
- Cookies and muffins—especially when you have a big batch to bake at once.
- Pies and pastry.
- Casseroles—when covered they won’t lose much moisture.
- Toasting breads or buns.
Is it better to bake brownies in a convection oven?
Convection ovens tend to bake approximately 25 percent faster than conventional ovens. You can use them to make everything from a turkey to brownies.
How do you convert baking time to convection?
When following recipes for conventional ovens, the formula is this: Reduce the temperature by 25 degrees and reduce the cook time by about 20 percent. To calculate the latter, multiply the cook time in minutes by 0.8.
Basically, cookies made with butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough. However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening. Cookies made with shortening bake up taller and are more tender, but aren’t as flavorful.
Sugars, like fats liquefy in the oven. White sugar will make your cookies crispier while brown sugar contains more moisture and will result in a softer and more chewy cookie. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes call for both sugars.
To keep your moist cookies soft and chewy, place a quarter slice of bread (per dozen) into the container. The cookies will absorb moisture from the bread, keeping them soft longer. White bread is best, as it won’t transfer its own flavors to the cookies.
Vinegar is a surprisingly common ingredient in baked goods, considering that it has such a sharp flavor. But as an acid, vinegar is often included in cake and cookie batters to react with baking soda and start the chemical reaction needed to produce carbon dioxide and give those batters a lift as they bake.
Tips for getting that perfect cookie texture
- If you want chewy cookies, add melted butter. Butter is 20 percent water.
- If you want thin, candy-like cookies, add more sugar.
- If you want cakey cookies, add more eggs.
- If you want an open, coarse crumb and craggy top, add baking soda.
The Problem: Your Oven Is Too Hot
If your cookies repeatedly turn out flat, no matter the recipe, chances are your oven is too hot. Here’s what’s happening. The butter melts super quickly in a too-hot oven before the other ingredients have firmed up into a cookie structure.
Place one baking sheet at a time onto center rack of preheated 350 degree F oven. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, still have pale tops, and are soft in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. (Do not overbake! They will firm up more during cooling.)
The short answer is, you can expect to bake cookies at 350 degrees F for between 8 to 12 minutes. That said, a lot needs to be put into consideration when determining how long to bake your cookies – the type of cookies, the size of the cookies, and the content in the dough.
Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, 10 to 12 minutes. For super-chewy cookies: Substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour.
Can you use parchment paper in a convection oven?
Parchment paper is a high density paper that can be used as wax paper. Is this true? According to Reynolds, it can be used in a conventional oven, a convection oven or a toaster oven at temperatures up to 400 F.
How much faster is convection baking than regular baking?
Also, even with the temperature adjustment, you’ll find that convection ovens cook 25 percent faster than conventional ovens, especially if the food is a large item, like a turkey. You will need to reduce the cooking time, or at least keep an eye on your food. A faster cooking time is good, though.
Can you use aluminum foil in a convection oven?
Answer: The oven trays supplied with the Convection Steam Oven can be covered in aluminum foil. Any baking mode can be used. Never place foil or foil pans on the floor of the oven, or allow foil to touch the back wall of the oven as it will cause permanent damage.
Do convection ovens take longer to preheat?
Unlike traditional ovens that heat food from the bottom, convection ovens heat food from both the top and bottom of the oven, leading to quicker and more evenly cooked food. Like a traditional oven, convection ovens should be preheated before you cook your food.
What are the cons of a convection oven?
Cons of Convection Ovens:
- Some fans can be louder than a traditional oven.
- They’re more expensive than traditional ovens.
- The fan can sometimes blow around foil or parchment paper, interfering with your food.
- Food is more susceptible to burn if the cooking time is not properly adjusted.
Can you bake everything in a convection oven?
The answer is simple: You can cook just about anything in a convection oven, and while learning to use one certainly isn’t a big deal, the results you get—evenly cooked cookies, crisp pastry, and juicy, well-browned meats (including that Thanksgiving turkey)—are.
Can I bake cupcakes in a convection oven?
Drop the oven temp 25 degrees lower than the recipe calls for. The cupcakes cook more evenly. I typically bake everything on convection, however America’s Test Kitchen just suggested not to use the convection for cakes/cupcakes as they indicated that it dries them out.
When should you use a convection oven vs a regular oven?
It’s better at browning: Air in a regular oven can become a bit humid, as moisture can’t escape. Convection creates a dry atmosphere that caramelizes the sugars faster when roasting, so foods like meats and vegetables get browner, but the interiors stay moist.
Cookies prepared with lots of eggs have a greater tendency to stick. Try using no-stick cooking spray or parchment paper. The amount of fat in the cookie dough affects how easily the baked cookies can be removed from the sheet. Follow recipe directions, and lightly spray cookie sheets with no-stick cooking spray.
Which side of parchment paper goes down?
There is no right or wrong side to parchment paper, so either side can be used. For the best baking results, use a fresh sheet of parchment paper for each pan of cookies.
As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that and you won’t see a noticeable difference in the final product, says Haught Brown.
Baking with convection yields a rounded, taller cookie with a crisp exterior. Even heat created by the air circulating in convection yields the irresistible combination of crunchy and gooey – and some say it’s the secret to the perfect cookie. But, if you prefer a softer, chewy cookie, use Bake mode without convection.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F convection.) Line baking sheets with parchment paper and place equal two 2 1/2-tablespoon portions on the baking sheets 3 inches apart. Use either a cookie scoop or cut the frozen dough into rounds.
Instead of greasing your cookie sheet, line it with a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Either will prevent sticking and help protect the bottoms of your cookies.
Oven Temperature
Generally, cookies are baked in a moderate oven — 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) — for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of the cookie. For chewy cookies, allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Our Top 10 Baking Oven for Cakes and Cookies in 2022
- Panasonic NB-G110P-K Cookie Baking Oven.
- Black+Decker Countertop Oven.
- Toshiba Digital Toaster Oven with Convection Cooking.
- Cuisinart Chef’s Baking Oven.
- LUBY Large Countertop Oven.
- Breville Smart Oven Pro.
- Oster Digital French Door Air Fry Oven.
- Prism Bakery Oven.
When placing dough on cookie sheet, allow sufficient space between cookies, usually 1-1/2 to 2 inches unless recipe directs otherwise.
What rack do you use on a convection oven?
Baking in Convection Ovens
However, if you’re cooking only one thing, it’s still best to have it on the center rack in the middle of the oven. In a nutshell, if you keep your oven rack in the middle your food will cook evenly 95 percent of the time.
Rather than using the middle racks, place your baking sheet directly on the floor of the oven. This will “provide the hottest, most even and direct heat possible.”
What is the difference between baking and convection baking?
A regular bake setting is fairly straightforward. The heated air inside the oven surrounds the food and cooks it from the outside, in. By contrast, a convection bake vs regular bake setting uses a fan at the rear of the oven to circulate the heated air inside. It also utilizes an exhaust system to help expel moisture.
How is baking in a convection oven different?
Convection Bake uses a fan and exhaust system to circulate heat. In contrast, a regular bake does not use a fan. In a standard oven, the hot air fills the oven cavity without circulating, which can create hot and cool spots.
Can pizza be baked in a convection oven?
A convection oven is perfect for baking pizza. Because the hot air from it moves around, your pizza cooks more quickly than in a conventional oven. Because of this, your pizza will be crisper and have a more even surface than when you bake it in a traditional oven.
When should you not use a convection oven?
Don’t use convection for cooking cakes, quick breads, custards, or soufflés.
What oven mode do you use for brownies?
Experiment with oven temperatures:
If you like gooey brownies, consider baking at a higher temperature, maybe 375 to 425 degrees. This cooks the edges faster while preserving the fudgy middle. For a doneness that’s even all the way through the pan, use a baking temperature of 325 degrees.
How long do you Preheat an oven for brownies?
How Long to Preheat Your Oven Before Baking? In general, the rule of thumb when it comes to baking cakes is to preheat your oven to the directed temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before popping your cake in.
Is it better to bake cakes in a convection oven?
Is it better to bake a cake in a convection oven? No, it’s much better to bake a cake in a traditional conventional oven than a convection oven. Conventional ovens are better suited for denser batters that need to rise and create a fluffy texture without crisping and browning.