When to use the fan in the oven

When to use the fan in the oven? This is a question that many people ask who don't have enough information about how to use it. The oven fan is important because it distributes hot air around the oven to achieve great results for all types of foods and desserts. You can find out when to use the fan or turn it off. Follow the next lines.

When to use the fan in the oven

Before explaining when to use an oven fan, we must first discuss how it works. This can be done through the following points:

The function of the electric oven fan is to distribute hot air inside the oven. This helps improve air flow inside the oven and regulate temperature distribution, thus improving the desired baking results.
When you want food to cook evenly from all directions, you should turn on the oven fan.
You must follow the cooking instructions for the dishes you wish to cook, as some require using the fan only at the beginning of cooking, while others require using the fan during the cooking period.
Here are a few foods that can be prepared using a fan in an electric oven.
Meat and vegetables: Cook thoroughly and brown the meat and vegetables, reserving the liquid.
Pies, tarts and pastries: You will notice a big difference when using a fan in pastries and tarts. When baking croissants or brioche dough, you will get a soft dough with a wonderful golden color.
Drying fruits and vegetables: Some people prefer to dry herbs and tomatoes in the oven with a fan, which helps them in this process and produces high-quality results.
Cookies, biscuits, and maamoul: You'll notice the difference after baking biscuits, maamoul, and cookies while the oven fan is on. It distributes the heat evenly across the baking tray, resulting in a uniform, high-quality cookie color. However, not using a fan can cause the color to darken and become dry.
Two or more trays at once: The fan will help you place more than one tray in the oven without fear of them not being cooked, but in a regular oven you cannot because the heat is concentrated on one tray.

Do not use the fan in the oven.

It is recommended not to operate the fan during:

Making soufflés, crème caramel, crème brûlée, custard and any similar recipe.
With cake: The fan will brown the cake even if it is not cooked inside.
With choux pastry, such as eclairs and profiteroles, the heat concentration in choux pastry needs to be from the bottom only to rise due to the water vapor, which creates a vacuum in its place and helps in raising it, but the fan makes the steam go down and causes the eclair to fail.
Macarons: The fan causes cracks on its surface when it rises, because it causes its surface to dry out.

Important notes to keep in mind

Using an oven fan can cause food to become more juicy as the food is cooked to perfection, so this should be taken into account when using a fan.
When baking a cake, do not leave the fan running for more than five or 10 minutes, because when it is running, it will cause the cake to rise quickly and brown while it is not fully cooked inside, so use the oven fan sparingly.
Using a fan to grill meat is very good because the meat takes on a wonderful golden color.

Features of electric oven fan

Save time: Food cooked in a fan-assisted oven takes 25% less time than conventional ovens.
Better cooking: The fan helps distribute heat evenly throughout the oven, helping food cook evenly. This is because food cooked in a conventional oven is concentrated in one direction, such as the bottom of the pan. This can result in uneven browning, and you won't get a uniform finish.
While in an oven with a fan, you will notice the difference and uniform cooking because it helps distribute heat from all directions, helping to brown the outer layer and retain moisture from the inside.
Even browning of baked goods: An electric oven distributes heat evenly, thus helping to bake biscuits and baked goods and achieve a uniform and wonderful color. You will ensure that biscuits and cookies are crisp and have a wonderful golden color, better than a regular oven.

Important tips for using an electric oven fan

There are some important tips that must be followed when using an electric oven fan, which are as follows:

Do not open the door continuously, as this causes hot air to escape from the oven and delays the cooking time.
When placing the tray, leave enough space between it and the fan so that the hot air can flow properly.
Read the cooking instructions for the foods you want and make sure to use the electric oven fan at the appropriate time and in the correct way to get satisfactory and good results. Using the fan incorrectly can ruin the recipe.
Do not operate the oven if it is not clean to avoid fire.

Instructions for using the fan in an electric oven

If you are preparing delicate food such as pancakes or cakes, reduce the temperature by 25°C (77°F).
When cooking meat and fish, increase the cooking time by about 10 or 15 minutes.
If you want to make multi-layered dishes like pizza or chicken, place the thick layers on the bottom and the thin layers on top.

The difference between a fan oven and a regular oven

The difference between the two types is that the type has a fan that distributes the temperature evenly around the food.
While in a normal oven the heat is in one direction from bottom to top or from top to bottom depending on the choice of heat distribution.

Are fan ovens only for electric ovens?

No, the fan is found in electric ovens and some types of regular stoves.

Is it possible to have more than one fan in the oven?

Yes, some oven brands have two fans, but this does not have a strong effect, one fan is sufficient.

What is the use of the fan in the oven?

The fan in the oven helps distribute heat throughout the oven, evenly in all directions to the food in the oven.

At the end of the article, we talked about when to use the fan in the oven, because not turning it on at the beginning of cooking can ruin the recipe. Therefore, you must know the types of foods that require the oven fan to be turned on, and which require instructions during operation. You will find all the information you will need to properly operate an oven that contains a fan throughout the article.