Fan vs non-fan oven - what do I cook in each?

[WillSingForCake]

I've just moved into a new house, which to my great excitement has a Rangemaster oven. It has 2 ovens, both the same size- one is a fan-oven the other is a non-fan oven (is that called a convection oven?). How do I know which to cook in? Is the non-fan one better for stuff like cakes?

Fan gives a more even temperature on all the shelves, so potentially better for cakes once you've adjusted your recipes (slightly cooler temp and slightly shorter cooking time). Regular oven gives you the more traditional hotter top shelf, cooler lower shelf so useful if you want to cook slightly faster and slower things at the same time.

Brilliant, thanks Cogito!

I never cook cakes in the fan oven as it dries them out.

The fan is good for heating things eg pizza and for meats eg roasts.

I do cakes, no problem, but have to adjust the recipe. In the book the cupcakes take 15-20 minutes at 180C. I give them just under 15 mins at 170C but they cook on all three shelves equally. A fruit loaf in the book is 180C for 1 hour. Mine get 170C for 50 mins. Bit of trial and error required but cakes are OK.

I do cakes breads cookies pastries yorkshire puddings roast dinners vegetables etc etc in my fan oven. Works fine.