Range Question

How much roasting/baking do you do? Con ovens will provide more even heat...a good thing for baking. They also require less energy to produce heat, gas or electricity wise though running the fan motor is an offset. Home resale value is also a factor.

I looked at convection ovens carefully a few years ago. Assuming nothing really significant tech wise has changed, it appears to be just a fad. Yeah, you can reduce cooking time on some things, but if you follow recipes and start out not knowing how your oven will cook, it will be a long, maybe painful learning curve. Baking can be easier in terms of time and evenness of temp inside the oven, but again, you have to do the trials to figure out how to compensate from established recipes. If you have the option of turning convection off, you can avoid those problems and then you are left with the issue of cost vs resale value, unless you plan to live there forever. Me, I'd avoid it unless I could identify a real need and the extra cost was reasonable. Call me old-school (i.e., just old).

We just picked up a couple of used convection ovens and we love them. We do a lot of hot sides for catering and they are so much quicker than regular ovens or cooking the sides on the smokers.

Shop around and I bet you can find what your are looking for in a used model at a great price.

Like Max said, convection significantly reduces hot & cold spots which allows for more even baking. If you plan to use it for cookies, cakes, pies, & breads then don't hesitate to spend the money (how much are you talking?). Mine was $100 more for a double wall oven (years ago). I've never seen one that you couldn't turn the fan off so if you don't like it for something, don't use it. The only "adjusting" you'll need to do is plan on things finishing a little earlier (and getting used to not having all the cookies on the back of the sheet burnt while the ones on the front are still raw)!

At home I have a 48" Wolf range that incorporates 2 ovens; a 16" conventional and a 30" convection. I do have the option of fan or no fan. When using the fan, I adjust the temp down by 25 degrees to account for the quicker cooking time.

Fan or no fan, you will have slight hot spots...more so with no fan.

We have 2 built in convection ovens. I, who use them a few times a year, always use the convection. My wife, who is really the indoor chef and uses the ovens more, never uses the convection.

I like the even cooking and the faster cook times. Looks like old habits are hard to break for the co cook.

We re-did/expanded our kitchen a few years ago and included a Frigidaire electric wall oven with convection and a Blue Star gas range with a full size oven with convection and a half size oven. They(the convection) are nice but not necessary (just a fan that stirs the air). If you can afford it then I say why not? Prior to this, we had a Farberware Turbo convection that we used for years and after that, a Cadco convection oven. Both were counter top units.

The down side is that until you make adjustments to your recipes and/or cooking methodology, you can wreck a couple loaves of bread, turn chewy cookies into hard discs, and over cook a roast. Been there, done that many many years ago. And now there is steam convection. Times change.

See, I knew I'd get some good advice here. Don't do a whole lot of baking, cornbread maybe. Plan to be in the house for a while, and it's not too much more so I think I'll go for it. Still less than the FEC was.

I wonder how fast I'll be able to make ribs?

According to Emeril Lagasse, 3 hrs

The FEC is the ultimate convection oven! At higher temps you don't oversmoke.