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AdamO
AdamO
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Electric ovens cycle on and off. On average, your oven is colder than its target temperature. The element cycles off once the capillary registers the target temperature. The oven is also colder away from the convected heat, (in the corners and sides) and hotter between the element and the capillary when the element cycles on. As @Ecnerwal's answer mentions, it's a huge leap of faith to assume that the instruction "Bake at 350F" really means the heat inside the oven is a consistent 350F; but a cheaper oven will almost always give inferior results.

I take the baking temperature for a given recipe as a "suggestion". If the actual temperature of the oven is just a surrogate for the desired outcome, consider that what you really ought to be doing is monitoring the external and internal temperature to whatever you're cooking. For meats this is a matter of safety and preference. There is no rule that will give you even good results for a number of hours to roast a bird versus its weight; conventional rules verge on the side of safety which can be a horror when it comes to the actual eating.

Because of that, I like using a leave-in internal probe thermometer for almost everything. I've found temperatures of 200F to be good for breads and cakes. YMMV. Experiment and rethink baking temperatures and times so that the crust and interior have a perfect texture and doneness for you. Even low-end modelsprobe thermometers take readings at the tip and at the hilt - so for instance, even if the oven is 350 you might know that the heat in the air immediately outside your roast/cake/bread is only 300. The difference will be a function of the size of what you're roasting, it's oven location, the size of the pan, etc. so there's no clear rule to offset a oven, even one that runs cool.

Electric ovens cycle on and off. On average, your oven is colder than its target temperature. The element cycles off once the capillary registers the target temperature. The oven is also colder away from the convected heat, (in the corners and sides) and hotter between the element and the capillary when the element cycles on. As @Ecnerwal's answer mentions, it's a huge leap of faith to assume that the instruction "Bake at 350F" really means the heat inside the oven is a consistent 350F; but a cheaper oven will almost always give inferior results.

I take the baking temperature for a given recipe as a "suggestion". If the actual temperature of the oven is just a surrogate for the desired outcome, consider that what you really ought to be doing is monitoring the external and internal temperature. For meats this is a matter of safety and preference. There is no rule that will give you even good results for a number of hours to roast a bird versus its weight; conventional rules verge on the side of safety which can be a horror when it comes to the actual eating.

Because of that, I like using a leave-in internal probe thermometer for almost everything. Even low-end models take readings at the tip and at the hilt - so for instance, even if the oven is 350 you might know that the heat in the air immediately outside your roast/cake/bread is only 300. The difference will be a function of the size of what you're roasting, it's oven location, the size of the pan, etc. so there's no clear rule to offset a oven, even one that runs cool.

Electric ovens cycle on and off. On average, your oven is colder than its target temperature. The element cycles off once the capillary registers the target temperature. The oven is also colder away from the convected heat, (in the corners and sides) and hotter between the element and the capillary when the element cycles on. As @Ecnerwal's answer mentions, it's a huge leap of faith to assume that the instruction "Bake at 350F" really means the heat inside the oven is a consistent 350F; but a cheaper oven will almost always give inferior results.

I take the baking temperature for a given recipe as a "suggestion". If the actual temperature of the oven is just a surrogate for the desired outcome, consider that what you really ought to be doing is monitoring the external and internal temperature to whatever you're cooking. For meats this is a matter of safety and preference. There is no rule that will give you even good results for a number of hours to roast a bird versus its weight; conventional rules verge on the side of safety which can be a horror when it comes to the actual eating.

Because of that, I like using a leave-in internal probe thermometer for almost everything. I've found temperatures of 200F to be good for breads and cakes. YMMV. Experiment and rethink baking temperatures and times so that the crust and interior have a perfect texture and doneness for you. Even low-end probe thermometers take readings at the tip and at the hilt - so for instance, even if the oven is 350 you might know that the heat in the air immediately outside your roast/cake/bread is only 300. The difference will be a function of the size of what you're roasting, it's oven location, the size of the pan, etc. so there's no clear rule to offset a oven, even one that runs cool.

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AdamO
AdamO
  • 2.1k
  • 3
  • 19
  • 32

Electric ovens cycle on and off. On average, your oven is colder than its target temperature. The element cycles off once the capillary registers the target temperature. The oven is also colder away from the convected heat, (in the corners and sides) and hotter between the element and the capillary when the element cycles on. As @Ecnerwal's answer mentions, it's a huge leap of faith to assume that the instruction "Bake at 350F" really means the heat inside the oven is a consistent 350F; but a cheaper oven will almost always give inferior results.

I take the baking temperature for a given recipe as a "suggestion". If the actual temperature of the oven is just a surrogate for the desired outcome, consider that what you really ought to be doing is monitoring the external and internal temperature. For meats this is a matter of safety and preference. There is no rule that will give you even good results for a number of hours to roast a bird versus its weight; conventional rules verge on the side of safety which can be a horror when it comes to the actual eating.

Because of that, I like using a leave-in internal probe thermometer for almost everything. Even low-end models take readings at the tip and at the hilt - so for instance, even if the oven is 350 you might know that the heat in the air immediately outside your roast/cake/bread is only 300. The difference will be a function of the size of what you're roasting, it's oven location, the size of the pan, etc. so there's no clear rule to offset a oven, even one that runs cool.