Here in Norway, almost every oven is convection. And we for sure don't have ovens with only a heating element at the bottom. I have never heard of that before. But have seen it on videos from America. Anyway. Here, it is like most people do not know when to use the hot air or not. So most tend to just use the oven conventional, with fans off. I wonder as well, what should I use? Normally, I use conventional heat, but put on the fan when or if I want something extra golden, or need to rush it to bake faster. Then I turn the temperature up instead of down when I switch to hot air, or just let it be at the same setting as before. But that's not the best way of using convection. I have been working in a kitchen, and they had only convection ovens, with no other options than hot air. That is the standard in industrial kitchens. So it is used for everything, and the result is good. But not even baked, though. But it did happen that especially cheese slices on top of pizza came flying to the door and melted there. A mess, of course. But it can easily be prevented by heating up the oven. Turn of the fan, place the pizza in the oven and shut the door. Fan off. Let it sit there until the cheese starts to get sweaty and melt. Then it will not fly away. What I wonder, is if hot air will make baked goods rise higher, or prevent perfect rising? What is best to use for let's say cakes? Or whole wheat bread with lots of fiber, will hot air make them rise easier? I also wonder when to use the middle and the bottom rack when you use conventional heating without fan? I know pizza should be at the bottom and things that need to be mostly baked on top should be at the top rack. But I am concerned about baked goods and rising again. Where in the oven will muffins have the best rise? I have read that higher heat and on top rack is best. But then again, popovers should be at the bottom, and they for sure rise very much. I guess I'll just have to try different solutions, and see what happens. I like Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake, the powder you know, and that is what I want to bake next. I have made that cake many times, and I know it will look like a perfect volcano. And that is not a good thing. I have always used the middle rack, regular heat with fans off. But now I want to try something different to see if I can get a flat cake top for once, like I have seen that apparently everybody in America gets, every time. At least on Youtube. If I can get a flat top, that will be the first time ever, and I am 40 years old. So you can imagine that a volcano is what I expect and are used to. That is what I consider normal. I forgot to mention that our Norwegian ovens are way smaller than American ovens. I have seen on Youtube those gigantic ovens you have. Our are not like that, about 1/3 smaller or so. So the baked goods will be closer to the heating element. Maybe that is the volcano maker? Well, happy baking, folks!

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