How do you know if your oven needs to be calibrated?!
How do you know if your oven needs to be calibrated?
Answers: you can buy an oven thermometer. Set the oven at 350 - preheat for at least 10 minutes. Put the thermometer on the shelf in the middle of the oven and check it in a few minutes. If it's not at 350, then your oven needs to be re-calibrated.. if your food's burned on the outside and raw inside If your food it burned on bottom and raw on top,that's a good sign.ovens can be calibrated. the flame if it is too low it will take forever to blind bake a pie shell if it is too high all you good pies and cornbread will be burned on bottom. If you food is bottom burned then you have the oven too high or the thermostat has failed to open . normal operation while baking is the thermostat constantly opening and closing the circuit to the safety valve. the valve can be sluggish due to a faulty glow bar. you can tell it by looking at the glow bar in action. if it is real bright then it is OK but if it is orange it might be getting weak and causing all kinds of crazy stuff to your baking. I hate it when that happens. The flame can easily be adjusted using a good fitting wrench and turning the nut located just below the burner.counterclockwise will raise the flame you want it to be not more than half way in the middle of the flame spreader.If the flame is correctly setup then the thermostat will need to be replaced. If the cooking times given on recipes or boxes are never right for your oven, get it calibrated. Of course, you could always just learn to make your own adjustments. Our oven was 25 degrees too cool for years, and we just worked around it. It made the nicest cakes and cookies, by the way. You can about figure that out. Cook a cake on 350 degrees. If it is burnt then yes you should have it calibrated or work with it and figure out your own setting.