# I would have predicted just about the same **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [January 11, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947 "2003-01-11T13:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/41 "2003-01-20T19:08:37Z")
Actually, a convection oven is a little more sophisticated than a regular oven. I _think_ that it’s designed in such a way as to facilitate the movement of hot air inside the oven, and hence to heat food via convection rather than radiation. They’re rather faster than a conventional radiative oven for most tasks, but I don’t have much experience with them. As for more details on the arcs: They were definitely inside the cavity of the oven, and I presume went from one wall to another (although I didn’t have a very clear view of them). I didn’t measure the UV produced, of course, but they were rather bluish. And each one was accompianied by a popping or zapping sound. Yeah, that’s probably not very helpful, but that’s about all the detail I was able to observe. > [@](#): > > We are talking about an old microwave in an office where people do experiments. Correct. At the very least, I’ve seen several CDs which have undergone trial in its bowels, and there are unexplaned scorch marks on the ceiling of the chamber, burnt completely through the plastic liner in places. As of when I got here, nobody was even sure which prior tenant of the office had brought it in, or when, so who knows what else it’s been through before. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/42 "2003-01-26T20:36:59Z")
Okay, I gave an off-the-cuff, ill-informed answer. So I went looking for more info. Found this: [http://www.howstuffworks.com/question228.htm](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question228.htm) > [@](#): > > Baking and broiling are completely different ways to cook food. > > - In **baking** , you are trying to heat food by surrounding the food with **hot air**. > - In **broiling** , you are trying to heat the food using **infrared radiation**. Bolding in original. So when I said a regular oven is a convection oven, I was not completely wrong. In general, an oven is used for baking. Broiling in an oven is less frequent - grills are more popular for that. And baking is cooking with hot air - which is convection. However, a “convection oven” may be something more specific than a conventional oven, with circulating air. [Yahoo American Heritage Dictionary](http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entries/25/c0612550.html) says > [@](#): > > convection oven > NOUN: An oven having a fan that shortens cooking time by circulating hot air uniformly around the food. Well, there we go. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/43 "2003-02-05T12:30:06Z")
Yes, but what always struck me as odd is the fact that my ancient microwave appeared to be both a Microwave and a Convection oven. Two buttons, set side by side, with the same timer dial. One for microwave, one for convection. It is also MIA, I’m sad to say. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/44 "2003-02-05T16:51:11Z")
Microwave/Convection hybrids were all the rage only a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/45 "2003-02-06T07:35:38Z")
Really? wow. Our antique microwave was before it’s time. Seriously, this thing was so old, we would use it, and you could hear it working… _hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm **brrrrrrrrrr** hmmmmmmmmmmmmm **brrrrrrrrrr** hmmmmmmmmm_ And when the brrrrr part was going on, the lights in the house would dim. It was great. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947/46 "2003-02-06T15:25:10Z")
**Tristan,** your post was screwing up the column width, so I broke your sound effects into smaller bits that the system can handle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-would-have-predicted-just-about-the-same/147947.md?page=2)