I'm so used to my gas oven that I keep screwing up with the convection that came with the new house!

I drop the temp to 325, wait for the oven to reach temp, and then pop in my pans... and inevitably end up over-baking the darned things, even when I follow box directions for timing.

How much do I need to adjust (approximately)? It's my understanding that convection ovens generally bake a little quicker because of the air movement and heating efficiency, but I'm not sure what the adjustment ought to be.

Someone help, please? Thanks!

Illy

I have a convection oven as well. I have had very good results. Two rules of thumb, lower the temperature at least 25 degrees than what the recipe requires and shorten the cooking time by ten to 15 minutes. You may have to adjust depending on the recipe etc. When I first started using it I had the same problem you did but with trial and error I "learned" what worked best with my oven. It does take a little getting use to.

I agree! I have both a convection and a traditional electric. drop the temp 25 degrees F and reduce the time. I also use the wet paper towel trick around the sides of the pan anytime I bake a cake to keep the edges from over cooking before the center of the cake is done.... (after filling the pan, fold a paper towel until it's the same height as the cake pan is deep, then wet the towel until it is dripping and wrap the strip around the outside of the pan and repeat with another towel until the sides of the pan are covered, ok to overlap, now pop the pan in the oven, don't worry they will not burn if you pull them out when the cake is done, they will bake off of the pan as they dry. the idea here is that the water in the towels keeps the temp lower around the edges where as the center of the cake takes longer to come to cooking temp because it doesn't have the hot edge to assist in reaching temp as quickly)

Our rules for the convection oven at work are:

-lower the temp by 50 degrees from a recipe

-things bake 25-33% faster in convections

Chocolate cakes bake better at 50 degrees lower, however I usually turn down the temp when the chocolate is about half way done and I rotate the pans.

Your problem is you are baking to the box. let your nose tell you when the cake is done. If you cook to the time on the box shave off at least 10 minutes and then check it to see if the cake is done.

I was used to a convection oven, and when I baked my first cake in our new house (gas oven) it came out half raw!

I never thought that there is so much different. I thought 350 F = 350 F, but I learned my lesson