I’ve been intimidated by one thing on my new Frigidaire Gallery Freestanding Electric Range – the Effortless™ Convection oven. One of the benefits of the convect feature is that food may cook up to 25 to 30% faster, saving time and
energy. Cool, right? But how does it work?
A convection oven uses a fan to circulate the oven's heat uniformly and continuously around the oven. This improved heat distribution allows for fast, even cooking and browning results. It also gives better baking results when using two racks at the same time. Heated air flows around the food from all sides, sealing in juices and flavors. Breads and pastry brown more evenly, too. However, if you’re baking a layer cake, they recommend using the bake pad feature instead.
When using the convect feature you must preheat the oven and reduce the temperature by 25°F from recipe’s recommended oven temperature. Then follow the remainder of the recipe’s instructions using the minimum recommended cook time. If you’re nervous about over cooking your dish, set the timer to check the recipe 10 or 15 minutes before it should be done – it probably will be.
The convection oven is easy to use. You just press convect, set the temperature, then press start. If you don’t want to do the math, you can use the Convection Convert setting, which does it all for you.
Trying out the Effortless™ Convection oven
I decided to make a blackberry cobbler for my first try in the oven. I’ve made this many times and featured it on my blog, My Readable Feast awhile back. This time I tried to make it slightly healthier by reducing the sugar and using wheat flour. The next time I make it, I’ll experiment with cutting back the butter, too.
It came out perfectly using less time and less energy. Can’t wait to use my Frigidaire Gallery Freestanding Electric Range Effortless™ Convection oven more.
Healthier Blackberries from My Backyard Cobbler
(Based on Easy Blackberry Cobbler and Raspberry Peach Cobbler and originally posted at My Readable Feast)
When using a convection oven, set it for 325 degrees F and bake for 50 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 qt. (4 c.) freshly picked blackberries
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 1 c. whole wheat flour
- 1 stick butter
- 1 c. skim milk milk
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt butter in 13 x 9 inch pan. Put the timer on and check every 10 minutes so you don’t forget and accidently burn the butter.
- Combine sugar, flour, milk, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder.
- Pour mixture over melted butter.
- Sprinkle in berries (do not stir) with your hand. Make sure the berries are evenly placed all over the dish.
- Bake 1 hour or until the crust is golden brown.
- Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla yogurt.
