To ask if you buy cake mix, or just bake from scratch? Convection oven

[hellokittymania]

I'm experimenting at the moment. I can make biscuits, although they never come out round, and sometimes can be quite Runny I have a convection oven and I think this could possibly be making the difference? I have bought cake mixes, but for some reason they don't rise much.

Cake mix? What is this cake mix you speak of?

Always from scratch. My grandmother taught me how to bake when I was just a tiny dot who had to stand on a chair to reach the kitchen worktop. If I ever even considered using cake mix she'd be turning in her grave!

Yes 5 mins sounds about right, might check it at 4 just in case :)

I used to have a panasonic microwave/convection oven/grill combination, it had a trivet like the one in your photo, and I loved it, but it never took that long to cook things. Mbe you need to experiment with the settings to get the right one? Miss mine, the xdh got it

Palace, do you remember if it was the Kenwood oven by any chance? Maybe it's because I don't use the trivet. I always put the pan on top of the microwave plate as it's easier for me.

Does your convection oven come with an instruction manual with recipes in it?
It may be worth googling convection microwave oven recipes and giving them a go as it is slightly different than using a regular oven. They also can give tips on how to get the best out of cooking with it - right pans, extra moisture etc.
There are some here media.datatail.com/docs/manual/115086_en.pdf

Cakes are on Pages 61-67

I have this type of oven although a different make.
To bake I find it works better if I place the cake tin on a low wire rack rather than directly on the glass dish, seems to distribute the heat better.
A trick I use to help cakes and cupcakes rise is to chill cake batter in fridge, preheat oven to a high setting (mine is 230 Celsius) then lower setting to whatever is recommended for that particular recipe so 180 or whatever is called for.

Have you used an oven thermometer?

This type of wire rack directly on the glass

Cake mixes are artificial shite. Basic victoria sponge mix - weigh three eggs (without shells), same weight of butter, SR flour, sugar. Whizz together. Bake.

Bob's your uncle.

I think your main issue is oven temperature. We have an elderly gas oven, and like a non-fan electric oven (i.e. yours!) the temperature is much higher at the top than the bottom. I always cook cakes in the top third of the oven - it wouldn't be hot enough at the bottom. Could you buy an oven shelf (assuming your oven has fittings to take one)? Otherwise you want the cake as high as you can get it. Our oven is slowly losing power, and at gas 4, cakes don't work (they don't rise). Moving up to gas 5 is almost magic! Nice (risen) cakes again...

Incidentally, I bake from scratch (I enjoy it; I appreciate not everyone does), so I can't comment on packet mixes, but I would expect temperature to affect both.

With convection oven you have to put the tins on the metal shelf thing you took a picture of. If you just put them on the glass plate they won't cook properly.

Do you have two sizes of shelf? We had a tall one like that for grilling but also one with shorter legs that I used for the oven.

You don't have to use baking trays either. I bought a round sandwich tin that was roughly the size Of my shelf thing and used that for everything.

It's a pain baking in a convection oven but it's possible. I did small shelf, round tin and baked in small batches.

I hate cakes made in the microwave although the 2 minute mug cake is
Ok. Just remember if you use the
Microwave bit DON'T use a metal tin/shelf.,,

Your oven doesn't have a shelf How ?! misses the point entirely

These are combo bench-top ovens, they are microwave, convection and grill. Most don't have shelves although some do.
Mine doesn't but I wish it did.
The ones which don't have shelves usually have two trivets, a low one for convection cooking and a high one for grilling.
When I microwave I remove both trivets. When I roast or bake I use the low trivet and when something needs to brown I use the high trivet.
When combining convection and grill I'll use whatever wire rack is most suitable, for example for lasagne I start it off on the low rack and then to brown the top will put it on the high rack to finish.

Mine only included the high rack so bought the other one.