HELP! I keep burning cookies!

[rfd...@optonline.net]

Tonight I threw out four dozen cookies, all burnt to a crisp on the bottom.

Last year I had problems with the oven and after the holidays, I called a
service man who came out and checked thee oven temp with his digital thermometer
and said it was running at the right temps. I found out that the problem had
been my own stupidity. I was putting things on the lowest rack because I thought
the heat came from above, Guess I was thinking of the broiler which gets used
much more than the oven. He corrected me and I thought all would be fine.

So tonight I baked a batch of those Nestle's Toll House cookies that come in a
brick that you break apart into little squares and bake. I set the oven for 350
as the instructions say, moved the cookie sheets to the TOP rack, and cooked
them for 11 minutes like it said. I also used parchment paper, which I've never
used before. I bought some at the store today just for the cookies. They all
came out black and burnt on the bottom. I had to toss them.

I decided to try a second batch, and this time lowered the oven to 325 and even
cut a minute off the time. Same thing. The cookies were all burnt.

Four dozen cookies in the trash. What could I be doing wrong if the oven temp is
correct according to the serviceman, and I'm using the very top rack? It's a
shame I can't do cookies for the holidays. Thanks.

[Polly Esther]

<rfd...@optonline.net> wrote in message > Tonight I threw out four dozen

Just random thoughts:
Just because a service guy said your oven temp was running right last year
doesn't make it accurate now. Get your own oven thermometer and check it
yourself. Often. They don't cost much.
The top shelf may not be the best place. I like just above the center and
just below the center.
and an AHA! I notice that you are saying cookie *sheets*. Two?
Both on the top shelf? Not good. Placing them that way, unless you have a
mammoth size oven, will block circulation and surely cause cremation.
Just for now - back off that oven temp to maybe 300. Put your cookie
sheet, ONE, dead center. Use your eyes and nose. After about 7 or 8
minutes, take the sheet out, pull up a cookie and check it's bottom. Sort
of like you're trying to tell if it's a boy or a girl. If the cookies are
turning just slightly brown, it's time to take them out. If not, go for
another 2 minutes .... until you get it just right. We can get you through
this and Merry Christmas. Polly

[zxcvbob]

My oven runs way too hot. (makes it good for baking pizza) The preheat
shuts off at the right temperature, but then it quickly drifts higher.
So I typically set it about 50 degrees cooler than the recipe says and I
have to shave a few minutes off the cooking times.

A lot of times when you are baking, your nose will tell you when
something is done before your eyes or the timer.

-Bob

[rfd...@optonline.net]

On Tue, 20 Dec 2011 21:31:18 -0600, "Polly Esther" <Poll...@cableone.net>
wrote:

Well, yeah. they were right next to each other on the same top shelf with no
space between them or the sides of the oven. Looks like stupidity struck again.
No air circulation. Makes sense. Thanks.

[Polly Esther]

<rfd...@optonline.net> wrote >

> Well, yeah. they were right next to each other on the same top shelf with
> no
> space between them or the sides of the oven. Looks like stupidity struck
> again.
> No air circulation. Makes sense. Thanks.

NOoooo. Not stupid. Just part of learning. I invented 'Blackened Pop
Corn' only yesterday. The smoke detectors have calmed down and we're
finally able to close the windows and doors. Polly

[Storrmmee]

now go try it again using poly's advice and report back, Lee
<rfd...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:rgl2f7pij1v2rvc1h...@4ax.com...

[z z]

You threw away the cookies, tonight I threw away the cookie dough. I was
experimenting-never a good sign <sigh>

[Julie Bove]

<rfd...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:bti2f7pij1v2rvc1h...@4ax.com...

Get an Airbake pan or two. Yes they are expensive but you'll never burn a
cookie again. You can overbake them to the point of being dried out and
super crispy. But they won't burn!

I don't bake much of anything any more. But I used to bake hundreds if not
over a thousand cookies for the holidays. Once I got the Airbake sheets it
was all smooth sailing.

Also be sure to cool your sheets well between batches. I like to use just
one pan at a time. I find they bake more evenly if the oven isn't crowded.
I use the middle rack.

When the cookies are removed from the sheet, I run cold water over both
sides. This is necessary because each side will get hot. Yes, the pan will
seem to warp a bit when you do this. Yes, it will likely make a noise. But
it will resume the correct shape when it is at room temp. It will also tend
to do this when you put it in the oven. You will hear a popping sound.
Don't freak. It is due to the change in temperature. After you've rinsed
the pan, wipe it dry with a paper towel if it doesn't have enough time to
air dry before you use it.

[Julie Bove]

"zxcvbob" <zxc...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:9ld2u6...@mid.individual.net...

Yes. I learned to use my nose. I do still set the timer just to make sure.
But my nose always knows.

[Judy Haffner]

rfd...@optonline.net wrote:

>Tonight I threw out four dozen cookies,
> all burnt to a crisp on the bottom.

I have a GE electric range and ever since we got it, it has baked at a
higher temperature, and so I have to compensate for that, by turning the
oven temperature down a little, and watching closely, as cookies
especially are temperamental. I can check them and they are still not
done, and 1 minute later, they are too done, so I have some that are a
little TOO brown, though wouldn't say exactly that they were burned.

I bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven. One thing you need
to check is the bottom of your baking sheets, because if they are too
dark on the bottom, this will cause your cookies to bake too dark, as
well. I just bought some new Wearever insulated sheets before I started
baking cookies for the holidays. Have been having really good luck, and
have made 17 kinds so far, which probably calculates at approximately 50
dozen cookies, at figuring 3 doz. per batch, but some I don't get that
many, and some twice that many.

Judy

[dsi1]

The first thing you have to do is buy an over thermometer and use it.

[zxcvbob]

Julie Bove wrote:
> "zxcvbob" <zxc...@charter.net> wrote in message
> news:9ld2u6...@mid.individual.net...

>> My oven runs way too hot. (makes it good for baking pizza) The preheat
>> shuts off at the right temperature, but then it quickly drifts higher. So
>> I typically set it about 50 degrees cooler than the recipe says and I have
>> to shave a few minutes off the cooking times.
>>
>> A lot of times when you are baking, your nose will tell you when something
>> is done before your eyes or the timer.
>
> Yes. I learned to use my nose. I do still set the timer just to make sure.
> But my nose always knows.
>
>

My nose always knows, but only if it's listening :-)

-Bob

[Polly Esther]

"dsi1" <> wrote >

> The first thing you have to do is buy an over thermometer and use it.

While we're into a cookie production, do you know that the chocolate chip
cookie dough can be chilled? That gives me time to put away the
ingredients, mixer and tools and clean up the mess. If you want to, you can
even shape the dough into rolls, chill and slice instead of scooping. I
haven't had much luck with slicing cookie dough but maybe a sharper knife
would help. Polly

[Hell Toupee]

On 12/20/2011 9:06 PM, rfd...@optonline.net wrote:
> Tonight I threw out four dozen cookies, all burnt to a crisp on the bottom.

> I decided to try a second batch, and this time lowered the oven to 325 and even
> cut a minute off the time. Same thing. The cookies were all burnt.

Never assume the baking time and temperature listed for the
recipe/package is going to work perfectly in your oven. Basically, you
can't walk away from something that bakes that fast, you really need
to monitor it. I always bake a test sheet first to get a feel for how
that particular recipe is working out, time-wise, in my oven.

If they seem to be baking too fast, reduce the oven temperature (as
you did), but also set the timer for *half* the time given in the
directions. At the halfway point, check the cookies. If they're not
yet done, set the time for just a couple minutes more and check again.
Also, if you're going to bake more than one sheet at a time, place the
two racks in roughly the center of the oven, and swap the sheets
between the racks at the halfway point when baking. Also, rotate the
pans, so that the edge facing the oven door is now facing the back
wall. If the cookies need further baking, continue to check them every
couple of minutes.

Once you've pulled the properly-baked sheets out of the oven, you have
a feel for what the proper baking time will be for that remaining
cookies. Even so, continue to swap the pans at the halfway point if
you're baking two sheets at a time, and still check on them a couple
of minutes before they're supposed to be done. A little bit of
hovering saves a lot of cookies from being burned.

I traditionally bake between ninety and a hundred twenty *dozen*
cookies for Christmas, and it gets to be like an assembly line in the
kitchen. Even so, I always have time to check the progress of the
cookies in the oven. Just make it a habit to set the timer for half
the baking time given, switch the sheets around, and check again in a
couple minutes to see how they're doing.

[Kalmia]

My rules of dumb:

One sheet at a time
Look thru the window ( I hope you have one) after about 5 minutes.
Don't depend on the time the recipe recommends.

Did you leave out some ingredient?

Using parchment paper?

Maybe you can offer the scraps to the birds? Hate to see it all go to
waste.
terule

[Jim Elbrecht]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:36:38 -0600, Hell Toupee <w...@menull.com>
wrote:

>On 12/20/2011 9:06 PM, rfd...@optonline.net wrote:
>> Tonight I threw out four dozen cookies, all burnt to a crisp on the bottom.
>
>> I decided to try a second batch, and this time lowered the oven to 325 and even
>> cut a minute off the time. Same thing. The cookies were all burnt.
>
>Never assume the baking time and temperature listed for the
>recipe/package is going to work perfectly in your oven. Basically, you
>can't walk away from something that bakes that fast, you really need
>to monitor it. I always bake a test sheet first to get a feel for how
>that particular recipe is working out, time-wise, in my oven.
>

On that day. . . with that batch.

I get a little more confident with a recipe that I've done several
times-- but I still keep an eye on the first couple of batches.

Jim

[pltr...@xhost.org]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:28:09 -0600, "Polly Esther" <Poll...@cableone.net>
wrote:

>While we're into a cookie production, do you know that the chocolate chip
>cookie dough can be chilled?

Wow, you should suggest that to Nestle and Pillsbury. 8;)

-- Larry

[merryb]

Try double panning them...

[Arthur Shapiro]

In article <bti2f7pij1v2rvc1h...@4ax.com>, rfd...@optonline.net wrote:
>Tonight I threw out four dozen cookies, all burnt to a crisp on the bottom.

It has been my experience that the top rack of the oven causes things to brown
on the bottom more than the middle or lower locations.

I haven't figured out why, but I always bake, say, a store-bought frozen pizza
(yeah, I know, verboten in this group) up top for just that reason.

Guess if I were in your situation, I'd try the lowest possible rack position
to see what happens. I'll also opine that I've never found any benefit to the
double-wall pans with an air gap in between. Other folks swear by 'em.

Art

[Paul M. Cook]

<rfd...@optonline.net> wrote in message
news:bti2f7pij1v2rvc1h...@4ax.com...

At the halfway mark, rotate the pans 180 degrees and switch the top pan for
the bottom pan. Use of heavy duty baking sheets makes all the difference.
Thin pans will burn cookies.

Paul

[dsi1]

I think it's a good idea. Costco sold chocolate chip cookie dough in a
big tub. It was good stuff and offered great flexibility - you could
make a little or a lot. It's one of the few pre-made dough that any
good. Safeway has a new pizza dough that's bagged in the refrigerator
case. It's good stuff. I made some calzones the other night.

[Polly Esther]

<pltr...@xhost.org> wrote in message

> On Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:28:09 -0600, "Polly Esther" <> wrote:
>
>>While we're into a cookie production, do you know that the chocolate chip
>>cookie dough can be chilled?
>
> Wow, you should suggest that to Nestle and Pillsbury. 8;)
>
> -- Larry

Aw now, Larry. I know they produce rolls of slice and bake cookies; I just
only recently discovered that it would work with a big batch at home using
the recipe on the chocolate chip bag. Polly

[Julie Bove]

"Polly Esther" <Poll...@cableone.net> wrote in message
news:9le589...@mid.individual.net...

I always chilled mine. The dough would spread too thin otherwise.

[Julie Bove]

"Arthur Shapiro" <art.s...@unisys.com> wrote in message
news:jct60j$fa$1...@USTR-NEWS.TR.UNISYS.COM...

I swear by them.

[sf]

They're very good at keeping cookie bottoms from browning too much.
One thing I learned the hard way is they don't like being in a hot
oven, keep it to 350° or lower.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.