If you believe your oven doesn't cook evenly, this could cause problems with your recipes, dishes, and baked goods. Resolving this issue doesn't always mean buying a new oven, and the fix could be a simple one. Before you throw in the towel on your current oven, try to determine if your oven does bake evenly or if you are experiencing some cooking hot-spots.
There are some ways to tell if your oven is cooking evenly, including:
The bread test. There is an easy and inexpensive way to determine if your oven is baking properly and to detect any hot-spots: the bread test. This involves spreading out a layer of bread on the middle-rack of your oven, and turning it on. Bake for a few minutes, and then remove the bread to see where it is browned and to narrow-in on where the heating discrepancy may be.
Bake something. The simplest way to determine how your oven is baking is to bake a cake. If you are finding that your cake browns but doesn't cook through, you could have a temperature sensor issue. If the browning is uneven, you may have hot-spots.
Check the calibration. Another common issue that causes uneven cooking is temperature calibration. So, you have set your oven to 350-degrees, but how hot is it actually? You can check and calibrate the temperature of your oven quite easily, which may resolve your issue.
Take charge to change the way your oven bakes, and to get more even-cooking:
- Adjust the racks so that the oven seems to bake more evenly.
- Change your cookware. Maybe it is time to invest in some high-quality pots, pans, and bakeware; this can make a big difference in your culinary results!
- Talk to an appliance repair technician about faulty temperature sensors or heating elements. These can be a fairly simple fix, so ask for an estimate before buying a new oven!