My oven doesn't heat correctly, now what?

[twainny]

So I got an oven temperature thing and put it in the oven. It consistently reads about 50 degrees cooler than what it should. So if I am suppose to bake something at 400, and it around 355. Should I turn the temp. dial to like 440, and see what the inside temp is? Is that better than trying to add more time?

NOTHING comes out well.... every weekend we make the Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls, and it takes at least 15 minutes to cook. (at our old house it was max 8 minutes, and I didn't preheat!)

TIA!

[tenofcups]

Our old oven was like that. We just upped the temperature on the dial till the internal thermometer read the correct temp. Since you know it's about 50 degrees off, just use that as your starting point (e.g., set it to 450 when you want to cook at 400). I actually think that's a fairly common problem, but as long as you know, you can compensate for it.

[Hello Kitty]

I would get an oven thermometer and learn to adjust the temperature setting so that I'm getting the heat I want in the oven. The subjectivity of cooking things indeterminably longer at a lower temperature would drive me crazy.

[ellidew]

where did you buy your oven thermometer? How much was it? I'm pretty convinced my oven runs cooler than it's set too. I usually up the temp 10 degrees to start with but i've never tested it.

Since you know it's about 50 degrees off, just use that as your starting point (e.g., set it to 450 when you want to cook at 400).

Agree!

[dana b]

mine is also off by 50 and i just go by the oven thermometer and up the temp on the knob. i've had my (new) oven repaired many times and the guy said to not go by those thermometers :rolleyes: i do if i want my food cooked right.

[Missy2U]

What in the world is it with the 50 degrees? Mine too!! 50 degrees too hot. We rent so it isn't worth getting it fixed, but as long as I adjust the dial to compensate everything comes out fine - baked goods and all.

[Smillow]

A dial thermometer can take a long time to adjust to the oven temp. We had a repair person come in to fix our new oven because when you turned the temp down on the oven it would just shut off. We had a dial (or analog?) thermometer in the oven and he showed me that his probe was reading a much higher temp. It was the type you use to put in a piece of meat and run the wire out of the oven to a digital display.
My oven runs hotter than the control would indicate.

[jenjunum]

I believe all gas stoves work by cycling on and off to maintain temperature. So it would probably be best to be able to check the temp over a couple of minutes to see if it's changing. You can imagine if you set it for 400, it might heat to 425 turn itself off, cool to 375, turn back on, etc. I don't think electric ovens work the same way though.

That being said, I would turn up my oven a few degrees to compensate. Though maybe not 50 to start out with.