Hi Margie, great question for an article I’ll have to write. I have an electric oven that also has the convection feature, but I don’t use it that much and I’m not sure why. With a convection oven the hot air circulates around your food move evenly therefore the food cooks faster than without. This helps especially when you are baking a pie crust or cookies but really shouldn’t make too much of a difference when you cooking a stew in a Dutch Oven.

Most ovens typically have hot spots where it gets hotter in once part of the oven than another, one of the reasons I rotate roasts. A convection oven moves the heat around so it isn’t as critical to be careful of hot spots. The hot circulating air allows you to cook at lower temperatures, as much as 25 degrees less and in less time. So I’m wondering if you just need to raise the temperatures to your favorite recipes and cook them a little longer for your previous results. I think with a little experimentation and practice, you will be back making delicious pizzas once more. Let me know if this works for you. - RG

On the subject of convection, you lump all convection into one basket. Just as not all pots, or chef tools are the same, not all convection ovens are designed or work the same. When I hopped for convection, I found that Samsung was the only one to use three fans in their oven. So while I agree on the comments about large items that will brown before being fully cooked, I disagree about t how much rotating is required in a convection oven. In most cases, none, in rare cases I might turn something only if its shape is odd and air circulation is hampered. My convection oven has more than one setting for convection cooking, and I may also turn convection off if I feel that I don’t want or need it. I feel I have the best of both worlds. I would love a gas range on top of my convection oven.