Oven Temperature Fluctuations
Bob Giel
If set at 350 degrees F., what is the most it should go above or below the
set temperature?
Is there actually a standard or "generally accepted range"?
Is the acceptable range a percentage of the target temperature (e.g. up or
down 5%) or is it an absolute (e.g. up or down 10 degrees F maximum?)
My oven is way out of whack, can vary as much as 150 degrees when set at 250
deg F (down to 100 and up to 289!) and +/- 70 degrees when set at 35.
Obviously this is crazy, but I need to know what is acceptable for good
baking, as the repair people are worthless in this regard, and I'm sick and
tired of throwing out food!
I've searched the internet for weeks and found NOTHING even remotely like a
standard.
Please help!
TIA
Bob in Los Angeles
Vox Humana
"Bob Giel" <gi...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:YXTtf.4933$R84....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
You might post over at rec.food.equipment. Someone over there will probably
know if there is an industry standard. My opinion would be that the oven
shouldn't vary more than about 25F +/- the set point.
chembake
net can sort your equipment problem..
If I have that problem...I will immediately contact a qualified oven
technician or I will throw that piece of junk and get a new one.
Its less stressful that way<grin>
Rowbotth
"Bob Giel" <gi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
You might find out that your temperature controller - wherever it may
be, or whatever it may look like - has had the biscuit. I had a gas
oven that constantly cooked far quicker than any cookbook guide said
food should cook (poultry in particular). The new gas oven seems to be
spot on for cooking times. I suspect it is just that the controller in
the new range is a lot more accurate.
H.
binarybill
"Bob Giel" <gi...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:YXTtf.4933$R84....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
http://www.ehow.com/how_8260_check-adjust-ovens
>
Mike Danielson
temperature using a Fluke meter with thermocouple. At 350 F , it fluctuates
+ and - 50 degrees from the setpoint of 350 F (once it is heated up). Since
the oven is not a convection oven, this is probably pretty good behavior.
Yours sounds real bad but it could be due to having something in the oven
that interferes with the hot air coming in contact with the temperature
probe, such as ceramic tile on the bottom for bread baking. A convection
oven should be much better for temperature control since it uses a fan.
Mike D
"Bob Giel" <gi...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:YXTtf.4933$R84....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
King's Crown
"Vox Humana" <vhu...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:UoUtf.15335$Pi.1...@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
was having oven problems. I have a double oven and switched to the bottom
oven when the top one got too crazy. So, when it was working properly it
varied by 25F +/- the set point like Vox had suggested. This was acceptable
and baked things properly. When it started varying 50F+/- things were not
baked properly. I am currently setting here at home waiting for my new
double oven to be delivered and installed. The old one was so out of date
it wasn't worth the money they wanted to repair it.
Lynne
Vox Humana
"King's Crown" <q...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:x8juf.5298$nu6....@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >
> I've been keeping an thermometer in my oven for the past year, because I
too
> was having oven problems. I have a double oven and switched to the bottom
> oven when the top one got too crazy. So, when it was working properly it
> varied by 25F +/- the set point like Vox had suggested. This was
acceptable
> and baked things properly. When it started varying 50F+/- things were not
> baked properly. I am currently setting here at home waiting for my new
> double oven to be delivered and installed. The old one was so out of date
> it wasn't worth the money they wanted to repair it.
What oven did you get?
Charles Quinn
Buy a good thermometer, not one of those cheapies at 99 cents only. Next
go to a hardware store and get a non-glazed floor tile, measure your oven
first to get the proper size, either one large one or several small ones.
The tile will help even out your oven as the temperature will most likely
vary depending on locations in your oven. My oven was horrible, one $5
tile later I love my oven. The temperature is now even and I can bake
consistently. An added benefit is it makes a nice pizza stone.
--
---
Charles Quinn
"Choosing the lesser of two evils, is still choosing evil" - Jerry Garcia
binarybill
"Vox Humana" <vhu...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:UoUtf.15335$Pi.1...@tornado.ohiordc.rr.com...
>
http://www.ehow.com/how_8260_check-adjust-ovens.html
bill
King's Crown
impressed with the convection oven. I baked 3 sheets of chocolate chip
cookies at the same time and every sheet was equally cooked. I've never
been able to cook more than one and have it cook properly. I've done 2
sheets and switched them halfway and they are never quite right. I baked 2
loads of 3 sheets of cookies and had thirty-six 3 1/2 inch cookies done in
under 30 minutes. That would have taken me over an hour in the past.
I'm amazed that the oven takes up about 2 inches less room on the outside of
the cabinet it's in and yet the ovens are bigger on the inside than my
previous ovens. I kept one pan that was too big for the previous ovens. It
was a favorite bread stick pan and I just didn't want to get rid of it. I
put it in the new oven and it clears the sides by about 2 inches.
Lynne
Vox Humana
> >
> > What oven did you get?
> >
> >
> I got a GE Profile. I've baked several things already and I'm very
> impressed with the convection oven. I baked 3 sheets of chocolate chip
> cookies at the same time and every sheet was equally cooked. I've never
> been able to cook more than one and have it cook properly. I've done 2
> sheets and switched them halfway and they are never quite right. I baked
2
> loads of 3 sheets of cookies and had thirty-six 3 1/2 inch cookies done in
> under 30 minutes. That would have taken me over an hour in the past.
>
> I'm amazed that the oven takes up about 2 inches less room on the outside
of
> the cabinet it's in and yet the ovens are bigger on the inside than my
> previous ovens. I kept one pan that was too big for the previous ovens.
It
> was a favorite bread stick pan and I just didn't want to get rid of it. I
> put it in the new oven and it clears the sides by about 2 inches.
I'm glad to hear that your oven is satisfactory. I find that the convection
setting is great for bread, pies, and biscuits also. Have fun
experimenting. I'm sure you will be happy with the results when roasting
meat and poultry.
Eric Jorgensen
"Bob Giel" <gi...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> How much can an oven's temperature vary and still give good results?
>
> If set at 350 degrees F., what is the most it should go above or below
> the set temperature?
> Is there actually a standard or "generally accepted range"?
> Is the acceptable range a percentage of the target temperature (e.g. up
> or down 5%) or is it an absolute (e.g. up or down 10 degrees F maximum?)
Maverick - people who made the oven thermometer i used until the
thermocouple died - said it's normal for the temperature to fluctuate up to
15% during use, and that their (reasonably good) digital oven thermometer
thus averages the temperature readings it gives you. Which is totally
valid.
Anecdotally - A good friend of mine was working for a semiconductor
company when they developed a laboratory grade electric oven controller
that was far cheaper than any that had come before - back in the early 80's
- so they decided to market it for use in high-end home ovens.
It was capable of regulating the temperature inside the oven to within
+/- 1 degree Celsius, and no oven made with it was ever worth a damn.
Nothing that came out of them was ever cooked properly. Every recipe had
to be adjusted. People hated them. It was a total flop.
The engineers determined that since baking methods have evolved over
time with these temperature fluctuations as a constant, they were actually
required for proper baking without reformulation.
nancy
Kenneth
Howdy,
With respect, I don't buy it...
I used (for about 20 years) a Garland commercial gas oven
that fluctuated by about 40F at any setting.
I eventually replaced it with Bongard electric oven that
holds its temperature within a degree or two.
The results from the Bongard are far superior.
I would like to learn more about the ways that the
fluctuations could possibly be of benefit.
All the best,
--
Kenneth
If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."
Rowbotth
Kenneth <use...@soleSPAMLESSassociates.com> wrote:
I think I would agree with Kenneth. When I bought my first house in
'87, I bought a Magic Chef gas range. (Gas was out of vogue at the
time, so I had to go to my gas Utility to find a gas range.)
It used to cook much faster - like a turkey that should take 5 hours to
cook at 325 F would take maybe 3 hours at 325 in that range. Then I
bought a new home in 200, and got a new Sears gas range. This thing has
a much more accurate temperature controller, and actually takes the time
that cook books say it should. I find the meat more moist and tender,
and less dried out.
I was just thinking that the new controller is a recent development.
And I approve. With the anecdote, I'm not certain that I'm buying into
this theory, either.
Oh, well...
H.
Vox Humana
"Rowbotth" <rowb...@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
news:rowbotth-1EF4A1...@news.telus.net...
And I didn't know that Sears has been around since 200! ;)
graham
Graham
Vox Humana
"graham" <g.st...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:IX_uf.21603$tl.15344@pd7tw3no...
>
> >
> > And I didn't know that Sears has been around since 200! ;)
> >
> Have you seen some of the "fashion" they sell? :-)
> Graham
This is a really awful story, but I will tell it anyway. I worked at an
office that leased space inside a Sear store. We had an employee in our
central office with some sort of deformity that made him limp rather
noticeable. One day he was in our office, and upon seeing him make his way
toward the door to leave, someone said, "See, that's what happens when you
buy your shoes at Sears."
Boron Elgar
wrote:
>
>"Rowbotth" <rowb...@telusplanet.net> wrote in message
>>Then I
>> bought a new home in 200, and got a new Sears gas range. This thing has
>> a much more accurate temperature controller, and actually takes the time
>> that cook books say it should. I find the meat more moist and tender,
>> and less dried out.
>>
>> I was just thinking that the new controller is a recent development.
>> And I approve. With the anecdote, I'm not certain that I'm buying into
>> this theory, either.
>>
>> Oh, well...
>
>
>And I didn't know that Sears has been around since 200! ;)
All the Barbarians got their stuff there.
Boron
>
graham
Rowbotth
"Vox Humana" <vhu...@hotmail.com> wrote:
OOPS! (Dog years???)
H.