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Hi I am of the older generation of cake makers that started out before fan ovens were the in thing so have always used conventional oven for my cakes. I purchased a fan oven recently (not through choice but it was part of a deal,. but I still use the conventional setting for my cakes and always bake them one at a time in the centre of the oven. I realise that if I used the fan setting I could bake 2 at a time and I am obviously using double the electricity I need to. Even my ovens hand book says to use conventional settings for cakes so I am rather loathe to try out the fan setting. Help!!!. What is the general opinion on using fan oven for cakes

CakeFlix Guidance

Conventional oven vs fan oven for baking: Both fan and conventional ovens can bake excellent cakes. The best choice depends on your recipe, oven and the type of cake you’re making. When comparing a conventional oven vs fan oven, the main differences are air circulation, temperature settings and how quickly the cake bakes.

What is the difference between fan and conventional ovens?

A fan oven circulates hot air around the cavity, helping distribute heat and transferring it to your cake more efficiently. A conventional oven uses heat without that circulating fan, so shelf position can make more difference.

“Electric” and “fan” aren’t opposites: an electric oven can offer both fan and conventional settings.

What temperature should you use in a fan oven?

As Madeitwithlove explains in the original discussion, a common guide is to reduce a conventional recipe temperature by 15–20°C when using a fan oven.

For example, 180°C conventional usually becomes 160°C fan, while 160°C conventional becomes 140°C fan. Follow your oven handbook and the recipe’s stated settings. If the recipe already gives a fan temperature, don’t reduce it again.

For further guidance, read Nigella’s advice on baking cakes in normal and fan ovens.

Should you use a fan oven for baking cakes?

Fan settings can work well for sponges and may help when baking more than one cake. Leave space around the tins for air to circulate, and follow your manufacturer’s shelf recommendations. Check towards the end of baking rather than assuming every cake will finish sooner.

Madeitwithlove found that some cakes needing a long, slow bake, including Madeira and certain chocolate cakes, developed dry top edges in her fan oven. She preferred conventional heat for those recipes. That is useful experience, rather than a rule that these cakes cannot be fan-baked.

Does your cake tin make a difference?

Your tin matters too. Dark tins generally absorb more radiant heat and can produce darker edges than light aluminium tins. Before blaming the oven setting, consider the tin, batter depth and cooking time together.

Keep notes of what works in your kitchen. Explore our cake baking tutorials and 10 inch cake baking-time guide for more practical help.

Need more Important Information on Baking and Cake Decorating?

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Hi fancycakes12

I use a fan oven and have done for years. Fan ovens bake quicker because they generate a more even heat throughout the oven. As a general rule you would need to drop the temperature by 15-20 degrees, so 160c conventional would become 140 fan. The information should be in the oven handbook.
I think some types of cakes which need long slow bake eg Madeira and some chocolate cakes like Paul’s recipe can become dry around the top edges in a fan oven. They tend do better in conventional. For some pro and con discussion have a peek here http://www.deliaonline.com/Community/forum.html?forum_action=5&forum_threadid=12457
I also found recently when I bake in my dark tins ( they hold heat) my cakes tend to be darker. In the lighter aluminium tins the cakes are less dark and baking time also reduces. Most of my tins are ancient and of the dark variety so I double or triple line them if baking low and long. Will be interesting to hear other member’s opinions.

Thank you for that. A lot of useful information. Interesting point on the colour of your tins too. Like you a lot of my tins came out of the ark. I will definitely pay attention to which tins I am using and how long the cakes take. I think I am still more inclined to use conventional oven as a lot of the cakes I do are of the madeira kind as I find this stands up better to being covered in fondant.
Thank you again. I’ll let you know if I find any more useful information on the subject.
Regards

Hi fancycakes12,

I have recently discovered that using my conventional top oven makes for an overall better bake in all of my sponges including cupcakes; the bake was even and my sponges retained a lovely moistness. I was finding that my larger fan oven was drying the sponges out even with double lining and often encasing the baking tins in newspaper when baking a cake requiring a low heat (140-160), a water filled dish on the bottom of the oven didn’t seem to make much difference either. I think when I decide to replace my larger fan oven I will definitely buy one with the option to turn the fan off. I am aware that most ovens vary somewhat but the conventional oven I have definitely works better overall for me.
I made two batches of Mrs Jones’ vanilla cupcakes yesterday…one batch in the conventional and one in the fan(temperatures and times adjusted to suit)….the difference was amazing; the conventional oven cupcakes were an even bake and lovely and moist, the fan oven cupcakes came out much drier with a slight golden crust. Perhaps I am doing something wrong and would happily take any advice on this…….
Hoping that my experience of this may have helped in any way……..Tracey x

Hi
These comments are great as I often wondered if I should change to fan oven, but will stick to conventional oven.
Jackie