Pro tip: check your oven temp before baking a big batch

Last Saturday I was making 4 dozen cookies for a catering order and my oven was running 50 degrees hotter than the dial said. I only noticed because the first tray burned in 8 minutes flat. Ruined half the batch before I grabbed my trusty Thermapen to check. Anyone else had a surprise oven calibration issue mess up a big order?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_james8d ago

Your oven was running 50 degrees hotter" is a pretty big miss, but honestly I think most people overreact to this stuff. A Thermapen is nice but a cheap oven thermometer from the grocery store works just fine for checking, no need for the fancy gear. If you're baking all the time you should really just know your oven's quirks after the first few times, not wait until a big order to figure it out.

uma_lopez8d ago

Yep, @the_james is right. A $10 grocery store thermometer does the same job as a $100 one for checking if your oven is lying to you. I've seen it a hundred times at the shop where someone's engine temp gauge is off and they just assume it's fine. Same deal with an oven. Stick a cheap thermometer in there, leave it for 15 minutes, and that tells you everything you need to know. If your oven's off by 50 degrees you just adjust your dial the same amount going forward, no big deal.