November 22, 2008
convention cooking — like a party, but more delicious
First things first: it’s a convection oven, not a convention oven, but I have heard “convention oven” more in the past two weeks than I ever imagined I would. A convection oven is one that has a fan built into it, to circulate the air around whatever it is that you are cooking; things cook faster and more evenly in a convection oven.
You know, assuming that you actually COOK things in your convection oven. Which, until recently, I had not.
Our house came with a set of fancy-schmancy double ovens, one over the other, with a really nice convection oven on top. The two ovens are great when I’m making a frozen pizza and some box brownies at the same time. Ha ha kidding! Sort of. When my mother-in-law, who is a FANTASTIC cook, saw the kitchen in this house, she smacked me on the arm and said, “That is NOT FAIR. I have never had two ovens and I COOK.” She was totally right.
While I have used both ovens at once, I had steered away from the convection function, because it seemed scary and confusing. But then I had all these plans to cook turkey, which takes FOREVER, and so I decided to give it a try.
(And no, it doesn’t take all that long to cook a turkey, even in the conventional oven, but I’m impatient these days.)
The really sweet part about a convection oven is that it reduces the cooking time for various things, which means better meals in less time. If you have a convection oven, I highly suggest figuring out how to use it, especially if you’re someone who wants dinner on the table without a lot of fuss. Or if you’re someone who forgets to start dinner at a reasonable hour and is scrambling around to cook stuff at the last minute. Like me.
Plus, telling people that you cooked something in the convection oven is an easy way to impress them, since everyone assumes that convection cooking is mysterious and hard. Just don’t call it a “convention oven,” I’m begging you.
Yesterday I cooked a 15 pound turkey in my convection oven, and a couple of you asked for instructions. So here you go!
You will need the following:
shallow roasting pan (you can use the one that came with your oven, but ONLY the bottom part, not the rack thing that sits on top)
open rack of some sort (I used foil coils — take a big piece of foil, make a snake out of it like you do with PlayDough, and coil that up so it looks like a cinnamon bun; rest the turkey on it, to keep it off the bottom of the pan — for the 15lb turkey I used two, for the 3lb breast I used one)
reliable thermometer (I have a fancy digital one — the thermometer part goes into the turkey’s thigh while the screen part sits on my counter)
Take the turkey out of the package, pat dry with paper towels, set the turkey (breast up, of course) on rack or foil coils. Stick the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, NOT touching the bone (you’ll know if you’re touching the bone trust me) and put the whole thing in the oven.
Set the oven to 325 — do NOT preheat. Cook until the thermometer reads 180 for the thigh and 160 for the breast. My thermometer has an alarm that I can set to go off when the target temperature is reached, which is really helpful; my oven also has a reminder to check the food approximately 30 minutes before the cooking time is up. At that point, I stuck a little foil tent on the breast so it wouldn’t dry out.
It took me just under two and a half hours to cook a 15 pound turkey this way. SO EASY. And if I can say that, it MUST be true.
Posted by Susan @ 12:47 pm • everyday life
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November 22nd, 2008 at 1:40 pm, Sherry Says:
Thank you!
November 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm, Rhi Says:
Ever since an unfortunate crock pot incident at Christmas about 10 years ago, we’ve gotten our dinner catered. BUT, I will have you know, they bring our turkey to us COLD and we warm it up in an convection oven. And, when I say we, I mean my father.
November 22nd, 2008 at 3:56 pm, hollygee Says:
Just don’t use the convection oven for muffins — they look like they are getting up out of the pan to leave! Maybe because it’s because mine is a convection-toaster oven and the fan is too strong for the size or something.
Really fabulous roast potatoes and vegetables done at 375 degrees — crispy on the outside, soft and luscious in the center.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm, jenB Says:
I love you for this. I have always been afraid of my “Convention” oven.
November 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm, Sue @ My Party of 6 Says:
Awesome! You are turning into a food blogger!
November 22nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm, STL Mom Says:
I love my convection oven. I write little notes in my cookbooks so I remember how long things take to cook in the convection oven, because it can be 25% sooner, or even faster.
I miss my last house, with the double ovens. I didn’t use both that often (mostly I stored pans in the lower oven) but when I did use both it was really, really wonderful.
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:01 pm, Miss Virginia Says:
Could not be more nervous to cook my first turkey, ever, this thanksgiving…and yes, I am 39 (how pathetic) but you are easing my anxiety a bit. Don’t we need to take the stuff out of the center of the turkey? What is that stuff and why do they put it in there. EEEEEWWWWWW!
November 22nd, 2008 at 8:29 pm, Jenn Says:
“A convection oven is one that has a fan built into it,”
…and a convention oven is one that bakes the fans??
Sorry, that just gave me a giggle — when I read the title of the post, all I could think of was cooking for a bunch of SF or comic fans!
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:19 am, standing still Says:
Um, shall we call you Martha? My goodness, Susan, aren’t you getting all fancy!
BTW, a frozen pizza cooked in the convection oven gives the top a delightful crispness (just a hint of browning of the cheese) and it takes less time.
Not that I’ve tried that, of course. I use my convection oven for only things like roasted quail and angel food cake.
November 23rd, 2008 at 10:11 am, Angella Says:
I use the convection part all the time when baking more than one item, but didn’t know that it’s best to use it for everything!
Thanks for this, Susan
November 25th, 2008 at 5:24 pm, Julienne Says:
As a child of the desert (born an raised in Palm Springs) we completely rely on our convection oven. Why? you might ask (well, maybe you might not, but I’ll tell you anyway), because we get self-contained ones and put them on tables on covered back porches. That way, when its 120 degrees outside and nearly 100 in the house, I can still cook! I use mine all the time though.