Range/Oven Tips

1. Convection Ovens
2. Pots and Pans
3. Cookie Sheets

1. Convection Ovens
The advantage of convection baking is the ability to bake evenly on multiple racks and achieve wonderful results. Cookies will bake to a golden brown while bread will be more evenly textured and crustier. Additionally, meals will be juicier when roasted in a convection oven because the circulating air seals the surface more quickly and lets fewer juices escape.  Here are some guidelines  for best results with your convection oven:
Reduce the oven temperature by 15°C (25°F) for convection baking. Time will be approximately the same to a few minute less than the recipe or package recommends.
When convection roasting, roast at your usual temperature and decrease the time. The time savings will depend on the size of the food being prepared - up to 30% for large turkeys.

• Avoid using pans with high sides when baking or roasting with convection heat. The sides interfere with optimal air circulation and can decrease browning.
• Preheating is not necessary for roasting, but it is recommended for a baking procedure if the recipe calls for it.
• Shiny, bright pans reflect heat, resulting in more delicate browning.
• Cookies should be baked on shiny, metal pans without sides when using convection bake. Place cookie sheets, one directly over another, when using multiple racks. This centers the cookies in front of the fan which allows for more even browning.
• When baking cakes, pies or other foods in pans that do have sides, stagger the pans so that one pan is not directly above another pan. This promotes more even air flow and more even browning.
• For multiple-rack baking, additional baking time may be needed for items on the middle rack. A rule of thumb for the middle rack is: 30 to 60 additional seconds of baking time for thin foods such as cookies and1-2 more minutes of additional baking time for thicker items such as biscuits.
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• COPPER is an excellent conductor of heat. It is not a popular pan material by itself as it needs frequent polishing and is highly reactive with food. It is mostly used as a bottom coating for pans made from other materials (such as stainless steel) to improve their performance.
• STAINLESS STEEL pots are made of steel combined with nickel and chromium. They are a popular choice for cookware because it their resistance to rust and scratching. Stainless steel is attractive metal, is easy to clean, and does not react with food. Alone, stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat. A pan made solely from stainless steel heats unevenly, and often has problems with 'hot spots' while cooking. Better performing stainless steel cookware has either an aluminum disk or a layer of copper on the bottom of the pan to assist heat transfer. Other pans have aluminum layers placed between other layers of stainless steel, either on the bottom or throughout the entire pan.
• ALUMINUM is the most conductive of the materials used commonly for cookware. It is lightweight and easy to handle. It reacts, however, with acidic, sulfurous, or alkaline foods. These foods cause the aluminum to darken or pit. Aluminum is also used in combination with other materials to improve the performance of a given pot or pan, often being placed between layers of stainless steel or used on the bottom of a pan. The numeric gauge of aluminum is inversely proportional to the thickness.  The lower the number, the thicker the material; the thicker the aluminum, the better the performance.  Anodized aluminum has been electrochemically treated to produce an extremely hard oxide surface that is non-reactive to food and is very resistant to scratching. Many brands of high-end cookware are made from anodized aluminum. It is not recommended that anodized aluminum be washed in an automatic dishwasher.
• CAST IRON is heavy and relatively slow to heat. However, it is an excellent retainer of heat and cooks evenly once it has reached temperature. Cast iron requires more care as it needs to be hand washed and seasoned after use.
• ENAMELED CAST IRON OR STEEL will have the heating characteristics of the base material.
• GLASS is a slow conductor of heat and for this reason is not as commonly used a a pan material. Glass pans are not recommended for use on glass-ceramic cook tops as they may cause scratching. -- Back to Top

• Darker cookie sheets produce darker cookies with a harder texture. Dark or dull surfaces retain heat, resulting in darker browning. Use this type of pan only when dark, crisp crusts are desired.
• Light, shiny cookie sheets produce golden brown, moist cookies.
• For nonstick cookie sheets, buy the lightest colored nonstick coating you can find, as most nonstick finishes tend to be darker.
• Cookies baked on air-insulated sheets are not quite as crisp as cookies baked on traditional ones. There is less potential for burning with these and often baking time needs to be increased. Due to this, cookies baked on air insulated sheets have a tendency to be drier.  They are also more difficult to clean, as they are dishwasher safe and not to be immersed in water.
• For evenness in baking, rimless cookie sheets are recommended; they provide superior air circulation. This is especially important when baking on multiple racks in a convection oven.
• For best results, leave 5 cm (2 in.) of space around the edge of the sheet in the oven. This allows superior air circulation for more evenness in baking. -- Back to Top

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Tech Tips on this page provided by Maytag Consumer Corner bulletin.