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Coming again after you guys helped me with my previous issue

A quick summary of the previous question: Bottom of cookies and frozen pizza seem to be almost burned but the top and interior were not fully baked
What the guys told me is that the upper heating element is probably not working and convection is the way to go

I took some action and bought a GE oven model: JB655YK6FS
I tried to have the pizza again and in both times the results were still not good
Instructions on the box are 400F for 18-21 minutes
My attempts with convection:

  1. 375F, middle rack [3rd one]
  2. 400F, 2nd rack which is closer to the top heating element

On both attempts, I still reached to 25-30 minutes without the cheese to be fully melted
According to the oven's manual:

The Convection Bake mode is intended for baking on multiple racks at the same time. This mode uses heat from the upper and lower elements, along with air movement from the convection fan to enhance cooking evenness. Baking time might be slightly longer for multiple racks than what would be expected for a single rack. To use this mode press the Convection Bake pad, enter a temperature, and then press Start. Always preheat when using this mode. When baking more delicate foods like cookies and cakes, it is recommended to reduce the input temperature by 25°F for improved cooking performance

I called GE in order to understand how their convection is working and they decided to send a technician [because the guys on the phone didn't know anything!]
The technician made some calls and apparently the upper heating element is not "truly involved" in the baking process
What happens is that the lower element + fan are working through preheat phase and when it is done, fan is working only if sensors detect some issues with temperature and the upper heating element is not really turned on but sort of having small short bursts to help keeping the temperature - it is still used for broil

So my questions are:

  1. Is that how convection ovens work in the US in general? Even for other manufacturers?
  2. Did I just pick the wrong oven? Do you have any recommendations for other ovens that are more appropriate for my goals [mainly cookies\cakes]
  3. In Israel we have ovens that work with symbols as described here
    You can see that you can choose to use both elements with and without the fan
    Are you aware of any differences between the way US ovens work comparing to other places in the world? If so, how do you convert 320F & 10 minutes recipe to US convection ovens?

Appreciate the help!
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6
  • Have you cooked this brand of frozen pizza before? Such pizza’s cheese often doesn’t melt in the traditional sense.
    – Eric G
    Jun 29, 2021 at 21:44
  • Huh. I think that is literally my exact oven.
    – Eric G
    Jun 29, 2021 at 21:46
  • hahah nice! unfortunately in order to know if the cheese should be melted, I'll have to take it to my home country and test it with an oven that its baking mode is having both heating elements working : ) I can't compare a non-convection oven to a convection oven that still doesn't use its upper element in baking LOL this is why I asked how should convection ovens work in the US
    – Oron
    Jun 30, 2021 at 2:39
  • Are you using a non-stick baking sheet? The dark coating on these sheets can cause the pan to get much hotter and result in unevenly baked or overbrowned bottoms of baked goods.
    – LightBender
    Jul 1, 2021 at 13:36
  • See cooking.stackexchange.com/a/57954/34242 for an approach to solving the problem, rather than worrying too much about the oven which is presumably working as designed if it's been gone over by a technician without problems being found.
    – Ecnerwal
    Jul 1, 2021 at 14:52

1 Answer 1

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-1

That is not the way convection baking normally works in the US.

You selected the wrong oven.

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2
  • Sure..can you elaborate? How should a convection oven work? Basically what GE were saying is that they can't have both elements working together because it will cause a failure on the electric circuit..too many amps. A thing to remember that in Israel [and Europe in general] the standard is 220V [may vary a bit] while in the US it is 110V mostly..no idea if that matters when it comes to the way ovens designed for these areas
    – Oron
    Jun 28, 2021 at 3:46
  • 2
    @Oron AFAIK, while the standard US outlet uses 120V, for heavy appliances, such as ovens, they are put on 240V circuits instead. I would be surprised if a wall convection oven was not 220/240 volts.
    – fyrepenguin
    Jun 28, 2021 at 6:14

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