Checking Your Oven for Accuracy

There is no tool more fundamental to baking than your oven.  Let’s face it, you couldn’t bake without it.  But did you know that your oven could be off as much as 100 degrees!

Most people don’t think twice about their ovens’ accuracy.  In a perfect world, you would set your oven to 350 degrees, and it would bake at 350 degrees.  It is estimated that most home ovens are off by 25-100%.  Even a brand new oven could be off if not properly calibrated.

When following a recipe, many people rely completely on the time given to bake.  If your oven is calibrated wrong, it could result in an over-baked or under-baked product.  As a standard rule, you should always check your baked goods at least 5 minutes before the time is up.  To test your oven for accuracy, make sure the oven rack is centered in the middle of the oven.  Place a good quality oven thermometer in the middle of the rack.  Some people think that you should place the thermometer in the back or side of the oven.  Those areas near the oven walls get too hot and will not give an accurate reading.  The thermometer should be centered in the oven.

Set your oven to 350 degrees.  Allow at least 20 minutes for it to preheat.  A sign that your oven could be inaccurate is when it signals that the oven is ready after only 5-10 minutes of preheating.  After 20 minutes or so, quickly open the oven door and check the thermometer reading.  If the temperature says only 325 degrees, the next time you should set the oven to 375 degrees.  That should bring you variably closer to 350 degrees.  Make a note of what it says so that the next time you bake you can adjust the temperature.  It’s probably a good idea to check your oven temperature on a monthly basis to get the best possible results from all of your hard work!

 If you discover that your oven is off 50-100 degrees, you may want to invest in a new oven thermostat.  You can also contact a local professional to perform some adjustments that could help to stabilize the temperature.

Once you have figured out where your oven temperature really stands, you can easily work around it.  Don’t forget to make the adjustments each and every time you bake.

Happy baking,

Pam