Convection Oven Bake-Off

KIMA

Story Published: Jul 7, 2008 at 5:54 PM PST

By Heather Reese

Consumer Reports tested 64 electric, gas, and dual-fuel ranges. Several are convection ovens, which are heavily touted by manufacturers. They’re supposed to speed up roasting and make multi-rack baking more even. But they can also be pricey. Are they worth it?

Consumer Reports decided to have a cookie bake-off to determine whether more convection fans really mean better-baked cookies. Samsung claims its “three-fan true convection system cooks food more evenly.” Consumer Reports pitted it against the LG range with two convection fans and the Jenn-Air, which has one. The challenge: baking three racks of cookies at the same time. The Samsung did a fine job of baking all three racks of cookies evenly. But so did the other ranges with fewer fans.

The bottom line: More convection fans don’t necessarily deliver better baking results. And tests show you don’t necessarily need a convection oven at all to get perfect cooking. So you can save money there, too.

Consumer Reports’ top-rated electric smoothtop range doesn’t even have the convection feature. It scored very good in baking and is a Best Buy. It’s the Kenmore #9641 range, which retails for $750.

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