Convection ovens warm food similarly to a traditional oven, but they also make use of a fan at the back of the oven to evenly distribute heat throughout the oven. This allows food to cook more evenly and more quickly. There may be instances, however, where you do not wish to have the convection setting turned on in your oven and would prefer to turn it off. In most ovens, it is fairly straightforward to turn off the convection fan, depending on the manufacturer.
Whirlpool Convection Oven Fan
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To turn off the convection fan in your Whirlpool oven, you can choose not to operate the appliance in convection mode. The fan provides circulation of air throughout the oven during preheating and other oven cycles, which makes it important in some instances, even if you are not using convection mode.
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When you open the oven during the convection cycle or during preheating, the fan will turn off. In addition, the heating elements turn off after 30 seconds. Once the door is shut, the fan will turn back on.
To choose convect, you can select "CONVECT BAKE" or "CONVECT BROIL" on the oven. This will mean the fan spins. If you opt to not use the convection setting, the fan will only spin during preheating or for normal and minimal air circulation. You should be able to use the "conventional" oven setting and the fan will only spin minimally.
Frigidaire Convection Oven Fan
If you are cooking cookies, bread or other foods that are best prepared in a humid or moist environment, you might wish to turn off the convection fan. On a Frigidaire convection oven, the fan stays on unless you choose to turn it off. Like with other manufacturers' brands, the fan will spin during the preheat cycle and occasionally during other cycles as needed.
To turn off a Frigidaire convection oven fan, you will need to opt out of convection mode. Otherwise, the fan will run continuously unless the door has been opened.
Convection-Only Ovens
Some ovens are convection-only ovens, or like the Samsung Flex Duo, have two smaller ovens, one of which is convection only. If you have a convection-only oven, you will not be able to turn the fan off. If the fan is off, it means that something is broken, and cooking will not be even. If this is the case, contact your manufacturer for assistance.
Foods Cooked Best Without a Fan
Some foods may be better cooked without a convection fan. This also may be highly dependent on the specific oven you have and your preferences. In general, pies cook well in a convection oven. Cakes and cookies, which may dry out, might be better served by a traditional oven without a fan.
When you are reading a recipe that was written for a traditional oven (which is the case for most older recipes), you will want to reduce the suggested temperature by 25 degrees F. Some ovens may compensate for this on their own when in convection mode; for instance, if you set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F in convection mode, the oven may only heat to 325 degrees F, because it has adjusted for the extra 25 degrees F.