Hi,
I'm baking 300 sugar cookies for shower favors. I'm going to use my sister's convection oven because it bakes 3 sheets of cookies at one time. I have never used a convection oven. My question is, the recipe calls for (a conventional oven to be at 350 degrees), what should I set the convection oven to??? The recipe calls for the cookies to be baked for 11 minutes, how long should I bake the cookies in a convection oven??? Thanks so much for your advice!

"Until they're done".

I'm not being a smart-a$$, really. I don't use a timer. A time on a recipe is just a suggestion to me. I bake until they look done.

I would definitely reduce the heat, though. Do just one tray the first time to get a feel for it and keep an eye on them.

I baked all of my cookies in a convection oven at 325. No matter what the recipe called for, they ALL got baked at 325. Some baked longer (like the 425 degree recipes) and some baked for shorter times (like the 350 degree recipes). But in a high volume environment, I couldn't afford to keep changing the temp on the oven with every batch of cookies.

Most newer convection ovens will automatically lower the baking temp. For example, if I set mine to 350 it will automatically change it to 325.

I agree with indydebi, you will just have to keep an eye out and look to see when they are done, after the first batch you can gauge how long they will take.

Thanks Indydebie, you answered my question about the oven temp. I guess I'll just have to keep my nose to the oven window when it comes to the bake time. I'll take your advise and cook one tray first, see how long it takes to cook then take it from there. I wasn't sure if there was a big difference between a convection oven and a conventional oven.

Spend the $3.00 on a themometer since it is not your oven. My brand new one jumped 25 degrees on about the tenth baking project. Not a good time to find the temp is wrong on 300 cookies.

Hello!
My convection oven arrived three weeks ago in my home...and guess what the manufacturer says...do not bake cakes and cookies using the convection oven for best results...so, I turn off the convection fan when baking my cakes and cookies. Granted, it is not like my commercial oven, but I do like to bake at home when I am not at my work!

lutie, there are home convection ovens that accomodate baking. The fan is more indirect and maybe a little slower. Mine is so great I ordered two for my business. If you really want to bake convection at home, you might consider exchanging it. Mine is a Ktchenaid. There is also an option for steam during bread baking.

I used to sell residential kitchen appliances, and the general rule of thumb for doing any kind of convection baking was to either reduce the temperature by 25 degrees F and cook for the same time, or to keep the temperature the same and reduce the baking time by 25%.

That being said, every convection oven is different. It really matters where your bake elements are, and the size of the fan. Of course the less expensive ovens have smaller more spaced out elements, and a smaller fan, meaning more chances of uneven cooking regardless of air circulation. Higher end models tend to have more elements, closer spacing, and a heating element around your large fan to make sure they are forcing heated air around the oven evenly.

Basically what it comes down to, if it's lower end appliance, I don't even know if I would risk putting multiple trays in. I would probably do 2 max, and really keep an eye on it. If it's middle to upper end (Kitchenaid, Bosch, Dacor, Viking, Wolf, etc) you can get away with the multiple trays, but as they said, bake them until they are done. I would definitely recommend if the oven doesn't automatically reduce the temp by 25 degrees to do so on your own. HTH!