Fan assisted oven for baking?

[reallydeepthoughts]

I am trying to learn to bake but nothing ever seems to rise very well. I made scones today and followed the recipe exactly bu they aren't much taller than when I put them in the oven

Is it the oven? Or am I blaming my tools? It was a Mary berry recipe if that is of any relevance

My scons never seemed to rise very well so I just put in a little extra baking powder.

Your fan oven shouldn't really be a problem unless it's simply not heating up enough. How is it for other cooking? Might the thermostat be a bit iffy?

I tend to find the main problem with our fan-assisted oven is just that it has hot and cool patches that make buns bake at different rates.

Make sure the baking powder is newish, it doesn't store well. Handle the dough as little as possible. Don't roll out too thin. My mum says scones like to be close together on the tray to rise (but she is a crazy Swedish lady).

Thanks for your replies

My oven is newish so it should be working fine, I think I am just blaming it for my lack of baking prowess!

The baking powder is really old and I cut them quite thinly. Also the dough was room temperature when it went in the oven. Google has just told me it should be cold?

Scones can be tricky to get right first time. You have to be really careful to not over handle the dough (just bring the ingredients together and pat out; the less you mess with it, the better). Make the scones quite thick (about 2cm), and when you cut it out, go straight down (don't twist the cutter). If using and egg wash, be careful to put it on the top and not let it dribble down the sides.

Once you've got the hang of it you'll be whipping up a fresh batch of scones whenever you have friends round for tea!

This is the recipe I use, I use a food processor to mix up all the dry ingredients, then add the liquid and blast for a couple of seconds until it just holds together.

I’m been making Scones for many years but somehow in the last few years they don’t seem to rise. I definitely blame the flour . Years ago my Scones used to rise really high but now they appear flat. Im not doing anything different so why??