I was looking to buy a Convection Oven and wanted to know if there are any general differences in baking methods between the two.
Oven – Are there any guidelines for converting cooking recipes from Regular Ovens to Convection
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For baking cakes and breads it is important to control the humidity in the oven. In early stages of baking one typically needs the humidity to remain in the baking chamber, which is hard to do with a gas oven. Two of the bakeries near my house use electric ovens with brick lined baking chambers; the other uses gas.
Expansion
Gas and electric ovens can be built to bake the same way if cost is not an issue. Most home gas ovens will circulate the combustion products (mainly water vapor and carbon dioxide) in the cooking chamber. As the flames burn, combustion products need to be vented out of the baking chamber. Electric ovens also need vents in the baking chamber to help maintain the pressure as the air inside expands.
Steam is essential in the initial stages of baking for good crust formation in breads and crack-free cake surfaces. The oven cavity can hold much more steam than released from the gas combustion and it is my inference that the steam content of an electric oven will be higher (I cannot find published steam measurements inside ovens). After the dough expansion, the vapor coming off of the dough or batter needs to removed quickly for browning and for the inside to cook well. The constant flow in a gas oven makes it better at that. In an electric oven a peep or two during the last baking stages will handle excess moisture.
Two bakeries near my house use electric ovens, the other, which makes excellent French baguettes, uses a gas oven. The baker there has had both electric and gas ovens and he prefers the caramelization of the gas oven. But note that he can handle the moisture problem with the steam injector of his professional gas oven. He also noted that using gas ovens require skill as they have temperature and moisture quirks.
Recipes may be adapted to either gas or electric ovens. In the US the majority of recipes are designed for the electric oven (they're more popular).
Update: The KitchenAid True Convection Architect 27" has interior dimensions of 22" width, 16" height, and 18.75" depth, which appears to be just big enough for a 3/4 sheet pan. (per OP)
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Best Answer
The forced movement (convection) of the hot air by fans is what improves the cooking in a convection oven. The beautiful part is that it allows you to cook on ANY or EVERY single rack in your oven. Here are the adjustments you'll need to make:
For baked goods you typically drop the temperature by 25°F (10°C). If the recipe says to bake at 350°F then you'd bake at 325°F in a convection oven. This is most important in baked goods so that the interior has a chance to cook through before the exterior is overcooked or burnt.
You also need to decrease the baking time by 10-15 PERCENT. To make it easier to determine when to check, I usually suggest checking the item about 5-10 minutes earlier than the shorter time indicated in the recipe. If a recipe says bake 25-30 minutes, then check it at about 20 minutes. It may need a bit more time but you'll be pretty close.
When roasting meats and vegetables you can use the above method OR you can leave it at the regular temperature and then cook for 25-30 PERCENT less time.
In the instance of method #1 for meat you'll get less shrinkage and less chance of possibly drying it out.
In the instance of method #2 for meat, it will cook quicker and get better browning and therefore a bit more flavor.
A third option to take advantage of both methods is to cook it at the reduced temperature for most of the time but then turn it up 25-50°F for the last 20-30 minutes of cooking to improve the browning.