Bread – save time by baking banana bread using the convection setting of the oven

bananasconvectionquickbread

I am following a banana bread recipe that calls for you to heat a conventional oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook the banana bread batter for one hour.

Banana bread

I want the bread to be done sooner then one hour. Is it possible to cook the bread faster using a convection oven, and achieve the same or better results then with a conventional oven?

Some websites (here and here) seem to imply that you should cook cakes/cookies/bread for the same amount of time as you would with a conventional oven. I believe the idea is that you can not shorten the amount of time it takes for the bread to rise.

Other websites (such as here and another website I had open but cant find now) seem to imply that you can shorten the amount of time it takes for the bread to cook.

So which is it? Can I save time, by using convection setting to bake my banana bread, or am I asking for somehow lesser quality bread if I do so?

*Note, the batter is recessed within the bread pan so the whole "wind blowing your batter over" is not an issue or concern.

Best Answer

When you heat something in the oven, a thin layer of vaporized water will settle around the good where it is exposed to air. This thin layer acts as a (minor) insulation. In a convection oven this thin layer will not form.

The contradicting statements result from the fact that the answer depends on how much the baked good is actually exposed to environment.

  • Cookies on the baking tray will need less time.
  • Bread on the baking tray will need less time.
  • Bread in a bread pan will not need (much) less time, as the pan is rather high compared to the top surface - the volume compared to the surface is too high for the convection to work efficiently. The convection will heat the top surface better though, so you will end up with an uneven result, top done, bottom not done. You can get rid of this problem by protecting the surface with aluminum foil or by lowering the temperature. Obviously, lowering the temperature is the most widely employed solution.
  • Bread in a closed clay pot will need the very same time.

So, to sum it up:
A banana bread in a bread pan will only slightly benefit from the convection oven regarding baking time. I would assume the effect to be around 5-10 minutes. The more time you save though, the harder your top surface will be - so there is no way you can save time and get the same or a better result.

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