What Is Convection?

Convection is the transfer of heat from one place to another by the movement of fluids. Convection is usually the dominant form of heat transfer in liquids and gases. Although often discussed as a distinct method of heat transfer, convective heat transfer involves the combined processes of conduction (heat diffusion) and advection (heat transfer by bulk fluid flow).

Convection is when heat is carried to the food by a fluid such as air, water, or oil. Cooking a steak in your kitchen oven where it is surrounded by hot air is convection cooking. If you get one side of your grill hot and put the food on the other side, it is cooked by natural convection airflow. Most gas grills cook by convection. Airflow only cooks the exterior of the meat, the interior of the meat is cooked by conduction as the heat travels through it.

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Convection Oven Vs. Traditional Oven

The difference between a convection oven and a traditional (radial or thermal) oven is that the convection oven has the added bonus of a fan. The fan has two major advantages: It circulates the hot air resulting in more even cooking, browning, and crisping, and in doing so, also shortens cooking times by about 25%. Even browning also helps seal meats, resulting in a juicier product. Your food will look and taste better, will be more moist, and you will get out of the kitchen sooner. It's a win-win situation.