Convection ovens

Unless you're one of the elite few who work for a company bailed out by the government – and getting a bonus from your company on top of that – the recession is affecting you negatively.  If you're like me, in the penny pincher crowd, you're probably looking long and hard at ways to save money.

Even before the current recession, I was somewhat of a tightwad.  Being a single guy, who knows how to cook, the thought of the old electric meter spinning around faster because of my Whirlpool oven really bugged me. Conversely, even though I have a efficient microwave, I never like the way these devices cooked.  Toaster ovens never did it for me either as their small size never allowed one to cook anything bigger than a chicken pot pie.

A few years back, as I was considering a replacement for a over used and now dead toaster oven, I remembered a mid sized convection oven that my mom had purchased in the 70's.  At the time she was not trying to save money on electricity, but she was looking for additional oven capacity.  From the moment she turned the oven on, the whole family was intrigued with it.  For me, it was that whoosh sound as the hot air blew around in the oven – magically cooking food in half the time of the gas fired oven that we had at the time.

So instead of purchasing another toaster over, I stepped up to a mid sized convection oven – and I've been hooked ever since.  Aside from the obvious benefits of decreased food cooking times, there are other benefits as well with these devices.  A big bonus is the savings in electricity that convection ovens offer.  For instance, it takes my Whirlpool oven up to 25 minutes to heat up to cooking temperatures – my current convection oven, a Cuisinart, only 5.

Since I've been using convection ovens, I find myself rarely using my main oven.  This is because the convection oven has the capacity to handle all of my single guy cooking needs. It also provides near microwave type speed in terms of cooking – which is a real time saver. Most of all, convection ovens save electricity, which appeals to the penny pincher in me.

So after reading this, you're considering purchasing a mid sized convection oven – make sure you do your homework first.  This means doing some comparison shopping, checking out the specs, user opinions and manufacturers.  Also, don't be lured so much so much by low price – let the main attraction be quality.  Remember, you're looking for a good return on your investment, which a good quality convection oven is certainly able to offer.