How to Cook a Turkey in a Convection Oven

The oven is undoubtedly the super star of the holiday meal.  When cooking in a convection oven, most of us are intimidated because it’s something we are not used to.  Let’s help take the guess work out of convection.  The cooking results will amaze you!

What is the main difference between convection and conventional?

A convection oven has a fan that circulates heat around the entire oven cavity, sometime using more than one heating element.  A regular oven has a single heating element and the heat only flows in one direction, from the bottom up.  Convection is cooking from the outside to the inside evenly.  In a convection oven you have 3 racks.  You could bake cookies on all three racks and the cookies will cook evenly.  If you did this in a conventional oven, the bottom cookies would burn and the top wouldn’t cook all the way.

What are the benefits of using a convection oven?

When baking or roasting with convection you typically reduce your time and temperature by 25%.  You also get better cooking results.  When baking a pie for example, if it often difficult to achieve that golden browning on top without overcooking the pie.  With convection the even heat that circulates make this easy to achieve in less time.  You can also cook multiple items in one cooking session without mixing food flavors.  This makes serving everything hot at once a breeze.

What temperature do I use and for how long?

Depending on this size of your turkey and if you plan to stuff it, below is a cooking chart:

• 12-15 pounds, 1.5-2 hours
• 15-20 pounds, 2-2.5 hours
• 20-25 pounds, 2.5-3 hours
• In a conventional oven you typically cook the turkey for 20 minutes per pound.

Make sure your bird has reached 165 degrees F.   If your turkey is stuffed make sure the stuffing has also reached 165 degrees F.

There is no need to cover your turkey with foil.  Since the convection fan is evenly cooking, the bird will brown evenly.  Make sure you baste the turkey every 20-30 minutes.

Please come see us if you have more questions about convection ovens.