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5 of the Best Convection Ovens for 2019
Convection ovens, also called as fan ovens, are a kind of oven with a built-in fan and exhaust system. The fan blows the hot air around the food. This enables the food to cook quickly and and be evenly cooked on all sides.
There are many different models of convection ovens with various features, functions and sizes. It may be difficult to choose which one to purchase. This article aims to help you choose a convection oven based on your needs and budget.
Lastly, there is also a list of the recommended five (5) best convection ovens to buy online.
Contents
What is a Convection Oven?
First off, do not confuse a convection oven with a toaster oven. An oven toaster simply toasts, bakes, and roasts. Oven toasters usually only come with one rack and are generally smaller.
Convection ovens have built-in fan and exhaust systems, while toaster ovens do not. The fan and exhaust make the hot air circulate around the food. This helps the food cook faster and evenly. Convection ovens tend to cook faster and operate at lower temperatures than toaster ovens. Convection ovens usually come with a rotisserie which allow you to cook meat on a spit.
Convection ovens are more energy efficient than traditional toaster ovens. They save on electricity in the long run as they cook food at lower temperatures due to the fan. If you enjoy cooking meats, a rotisserie convection oven is a good idea.
Here is a YouTube video explaining how convection ovens work:
The video explains the difference between a convection oven and a conventional (radiant heat) oven. It shows how convection ovens cook faster and evenly than a conventional oven. This results into energy savings.
How to Choose the Best Convection Ovens (Buying Guide)
The convection setting with its built-in fan and exhaust system (which distributes heat evenly), allows everything inside the oven to get cooked evenly.
When at Oven Setting, the fans and exhaust will be off (top photo). This converts our convection oven into a regular oven. The heat will now come from the top and bottom heaters of the oven (bottom photo).
Without the fan, heat concentration from the heaters will be at the top and bottom. Cooking time will be slower as the temperature inside will be uneven.
This setting is ideal for cakes or bread. The uneven air temperature and slower cooking time results soft and moist cakes.
Some convection ovens have settings which allow you to turn on the top heater only which is ideal for grilling.
Using the top heater setting setting only applies heat directly on the exposed side of the food. If grilling meat, fish, chicken or vegetables, you may need to turn them over to cook both sides.
The top heater function is also ideal for melting cheese toppings like in baked macaroni.
The Rotisserie function allows you to roast meat while skewered on a spit. A spit is a long solid rod used to hold food while it is being cooked or roasted in an oven. The convection oven on the photo above also allows you to turn on the fans.
Determine Your Size Requirement
How Much Space Do You Have?
When choosing a convection oven, take into consideration how much space you have in your kitchen.
The physical size of your convection oven needs to fit on the space available in your kitchen. Make sure that you take measurements before buying a convection oven.
The area around the convection oven can get hot so there should be some free space around the oven for heat dissipation.
Take note that the bigger ovens have more functions and have higher cooking capacity.
Small convection ovens are as big as the standard oven toasters. They will take less space in your kitchen. However, the smaller sizes mean that your cooking sizes may be limited.
The capacity of the convection oven is the space inside the oven itself. It is measured in liters. The capacity determines how much food you can cook. The bigger the capacity, the more food you can cook inside the convection oven.
Although space is the primary factor in choosing a convection oven, please take note that there are convection ovens with the same physical size but have different capacities. So try to go with the larger capacity convection ovens, you will not regret it.
Typical sizes and capacities:
small (approximately 5 liters)
regular (approximately 8 liters)
large (approximately 15 liters or more)
Large convection ovens are good for roasting chickens, pork belly and baking large batches of cookies. They also have more options on rack placement. They also allow you to use two racks at the same time. This saves time and effort if you plan to cook a large batch.
Small convection ovens, with their limited capacities, allow you to grill small pieces of meat or fish and bake smaller batches of cookies.
The Breville Smart Oven Pro BOV820 is a smart oven with a slow cook function. This countertop oven will help you bake the perfect pizza pie, crispy yet chewy cookies, toasts evenly and roasts succulent meat. The convection setting reduces cooking time by up to 30%.
It has five (5) independent quartz heating elements that move the heat above and below the food. Each element adjusts automatically based on the setting you choose. The right temperature is delivered at the right time ensuring a precise cooking process.
The oven has has an interior oven light allowing you to view the food you are cooking.
The Breville Smart Oven Pro BOV820 has ten (10) Pre-set cooking functions that include:
Toast
Bagel
Bake
Roast
Broil
Pizza
Cookies
Reheat
Warm
Slow cook
The Slow cook function automatically switches to “keep warm” mode once the slow cook cycle is complete.
SUMMARY:
PROS
Energy Efficient
Smart Oven
Installment Mode and COD available
CONS
May be expensive for some people
Buyer reviews picked-up from LazadaPH: by Camille K. Love this oven! Consistent ang baking temperature. I use it for baking daily whenever I have cookie orders. Thumbs up dito! Might seem expensive pero super worth it! Took a week for the item to be delivered pero kebs! Masaya ko sa oven na ito! 🙂
by Emilia F. Very much satisfied with my new Breville Smart Oven. I’ve already baked Chiffon Cake on a 9” pan, it’s perfect. The Meatballs I baked last night was done right on time & temperature indicated on the recipe. Thank you Lazada & IAJ Wellness Corp. Nice packaging & fast delivery!
by Andrew S. Delivery was late. But very satisfied with the oven.
A similar model, the Breville BOV845BSS, is available at AMAZON.
The Imarflex IT-350CRS is a 3-in-1 convection oven: it can be used for turbo-broiling, baking and roasting meat in a rotisserie.
With a 35 liter capacity, this allows you to roast whole chicken and pork belly with plenty of room to spare.
The body is made of stainless steel and it comes with two (2) stainless steel racks and a stainless steel skewer spit.
The double insulated glass door helps maintain the oven’s temperature. The oven’s cavity is non-stick, making cleaning an easy job to do.
SUMMARY:
PROS
Large Capacity
Mid-range price
Stainless steel construction
Installment Mode and COD available
CONS
The physical size may be an issue for small kitchens
Buyer reviews picked-up from LazadaPH: by ascii31415 Received this the day after ordering!! Box was in good condition, so was the oven. Everything as described. The door can be opened incrementally (can leave it open at 45°), which is cool.
by maria S. Cooked 1 cheesecake one night, and 2 chicken gallantina another night. All went well. Totally satisfied with the oven.
by Carlo H. Got the oven quickly. Okay na sana lahat pero sira yung timer. Too much of a hassle to return. Good thing I always use kitchen timers anyways. edit: after a couple of days, the timer started working. maybe it just needed to be broken in. 5 stars.
The Imarflex IT-180CS is a small convection oven in which you can bake delicious cookies or make french toasts. It has an 18 liter capacity and the body is of stainless steel construction.
At 34 x 45 x 32 cm, it may be small but it offers a convection heating system for you to savor a juicier and crispier chicken, pork and fish recipes.The Convection switch gives you control of the heat, so you don’t burn or under cook anything. Cook and toast with ease!
Even at its size, the Imarflex IT-180CS still delivers an ample amount of capacity. You can even fry on the oven’s built-in pan. The tray is designed for easy cleaning.
SUMMARY:
PROS
Small size ideal for small kitchens or single person use
Mid-range price
Stainless steel construction
Installment Mode and COD available
CONS
The capacity may be an issue if you want to cook large meals
The 55 liter capacity allows you to cook large volumes of food. Ideal for parties or if you want to cook large batches of cookies or pastries.
It has a 120 minute timer with bell ring. Most ovens come with 60 minute timers only. The timer can also be set to stay-on if you want to. It has a sturdy tempered glass door. Construction is double-walled and has enough holes for proper ventilation.
It has four (4) cooking functions:
defrost
roast
broil/rotisserie
broil/roast/ convection
The defrost function makes this model different from the other ovens reviewed here. This is ideal for quickly defrosting frozen meat for faster cooking.
SUMMARY:
PROS
Large capacity
120 minute timer
Ideal for cooking large volumes of food
Installment Mode and COD available
CONS
The physical size may be an issue for small kitchens
The Imarflex IT-480CRS is another large convection oven with a 48 liter capacity. This allows you to cook large quantities of food. This is what I currently use.
The body is made of stainless steel and it comes with two (2) stainless steel racks and a stainless steel skewer spit. Even the heating elements are made of stainless steel. It also comes with two (2) enamel coated baking trays. The cavity is non-stick, making it easy to clean. It has a 60 minute timer and tempered glass door. The bottom has a removable crumb tray which is a plus factor for easy clean-up.
The cavity has five (5) tray slots allowing for versatile cooking.
The interior light allows you to see what is inside the oven.
Functions:
roast
broil/rotisserie
broil/roast/ convection
The Imarflex IT-480CRS has four (4) control knobs:
Function Selector
Heat Selector
Temperature Control
Stay On / Timer
Being very functional and versatile, the Imarflex IT-480CRS is highly recommended.
SUMMARY:
PROS
Large Capacity
Stainless steel construction
Installment Mode and COD available
Multi-functional and versatile
Easy clean-up
CONS
May be expensive for some people
The physical size may be an issue for small kitchens
Summary
Convection ovens tend to cost more than oven toasters so expect to pay more for them. Since convection ovens come with different functions depending on the manufacturer, choose them according to your needs. But it is also wise to invest in convection ovens with more features as they may come in handy in the future. You may think that you are a beginner now and you only need the basic convection oven, but who knows? Tomorrow you might become an expert cook!
Choose the best convection oven for you taking into consideration the following:
space in your kitchen
kinds of food you cook
quantity of food that you often cook
Look out for convection ovens that include the necessary accessories. This saves you money rather than buying those accessories separately. The accessories that come with your convection oven are guaranteed to fit into the cavity. These accessories may include baking trays, skewer spits, racks, and pizza trays.
I hope this list was able to help you choose the right convection oven for your everyday cooking. Please feel free to comment below in case you have other thoughts or recommendations.
