Problem with Baking Stone & Convection Oven
The background: We recently got a shiny new electric induction range. It's an LG convection oven and is billed as a true convection oven "inspired by pro-style ranges." When we were looking at ranges we liked this one best but were hesitant because all the other convection ovens had the heating element on the bottom while the LG has it at the back of the oven with no element on the bottom. The promo material states that most convection ovens simply have a fan at the back that blows the warm air around, while the LG is a true convection oven because it has a fan and a heating element at the back. The salesperson assured us it was an excellent design and they'd had no issues with it, and the reviews were good, so we decided to purchase it. We've been very happy with it, except where the baking stone is concerned.
The problem: I've used a baking stone for years in my three previous electric ovens without convection. The stone has always given me a nice brown, crispy crust. But with my new oven I'm not getting the same results with my stone. I've tried baking with both convection and non-convection mode and the results are the same...a pale/soft bottom. The bread will cook through and the top is nicely browned. If I'm not using the stone and instead baking in a loaf pan for example, I get decent results with nice even colour. So it seems to me that the stone is just not getting hot enough in this oven. I'm perplexed because the oven heats up quite quickly (went to 550 F in 15 minutes today) and I leave the stone in for an hour to preheat before baking bread on it. But I'm still not getting a brown crust on the bottom. With my previous ovens I would typically pre-heat the stone for only 30 minutes and it browned the crust perfectly.
Question: Could the placement of the heating element at the back vs on the bottom of the oven be the cause of this issue? I would have thought that after an hour at 500 the stone would be plenty hot no matter which direction the heat was coming from. Anyone else have this type of convection oven and encounter this issue? Hoping for some suggestions as I love baking on my stone!