Five Fabulous Convection Cooking Tips and Recipes with a Jazz Chaser

the Dacor Culinary & Design Center

One of the best parts of my job is my connection to so many chefs, experts and gorgeous kitchens. The wheels of my car draw a virtual map, criss-crossing from place to place. Last night, I hit the road to South San Francisco to the marvelous Dacor Culinary and Design Center for a luscious St. Patrick’s Day pre-view cooking class. 


The dynamic Charlene Rouspil and her rocking culinary team led by Janalee Berner brought convection cooking to life with a sumptuous meal of Corned Beef and Cabbage, Teriyaki Broiled Salmon, Chive Mashed Potatoes, Seasonal Vegetables, Glazed Carrots, Irish Soda Bread, dozens of cookies, a fresh fruit tart and an angel food cake. (I know, is that all?!)

Charlene teaches to a full house!

Convection cooking is still a bit of a mystery for most cooks, yet most of us have convection ovens. The two areas of confusion are:



What is convection cooking? As opposed to the “passive”, uneven and inefficient heat of “bake” with just top and bottom elements on, “convection” adds a fan and most often an additional element wrapped around the fan. This “active” heat produces even cooking, marvelous browning and moisture retention and often cooks faster. All around fabulous, right? Watch this fast video to see how it works.

How do I cook with convection? Along with the increased food quality and efficiency come some new things to be aware of. Charlene and her team hit upon five main points for best convection results:

1. “Do not cheat the pre-heat!”: During pre-heat, all elements are on full blast for fast heating of the oven cavity. Wait for the pre-heat signal to be sure your oven heat “settles in” for even cooking.

Moist, even, perfectly
browned cakes

2. Reduce temperature 25° when BAKING, keep the cooking time the same: This allows for thorough, even baking without an overly browned result. Janalee demonstrated this with her Irish Soda Bread, angel food cake and cookies she baked on convection which were perfectly even with great color. She did not once have to move trays of cookies in the oven! )

3. When ROASTING, you have temperature flexibility. You do not have to lower the temperature, but your timing may change: Baked goods are temperature sensitive, not roasted foods. You can roast many foods such as vegetables, chicken and smaller roasts from 350° F on up to 425°F. Smaller or less dense foods will time out the same, a large roast or a turkey will likely be much faster and require more accurate temperatures. BUT, WHEN IS IT DONE?

the buffet, full of flavorful, colorful food

4. Use the probe or Insta-Read thermometer!: Degrees of doneness have changed. Most people know not to overcook fish, meats and poultry. Up to date ovens have probes that you place in the oven wall and into your food for prefect internal temperatures. All roasted proteins must rest out of the oven before slicing to finish cooking and to allow juices to settle back into the food.

Convection Broiled Salmon

5. You can now adjust the HEAT and RACK POSITION of your broilers: Updated broilers work like outdoor grills. You can now cook foods all the way through with increased flavor and color. Many broilers can be set to broil at higher and lower power. Thicker foods should be broiled on high heat convection, but placed on the middle rack position in the oven. Here is the post I tweeted from class. Broiled salmon recipe on Twitter.

Such a meal, such a class!

After class, I went just a few miles away to see my husband Rob playing jazz saxophone to a packed house with the Al Molina Band at the Seven Mile House. I presented the band with half of a (still warm) cake compliments of the Dacor team, and with smiles and gratitude the band played on…

a Full house of Jazz lovers