I did a little experiment last night and have a question on something that I have never thought about before.
I have noticed that when I cook in larger pans for cakes such as the 8 by 3 pan or anything other then the two 9 inch cake pans that I end up cooking way longer then what the recipe calls for.
Well last night after making a doctored up cake (thick batter) in the two 9 inch cake pans, that it was kind of flat when coming out and after cutting the cake there was a thin layer of an incooked part a little bellow the middle... it tasted a bit weird.
So I tested my oven with an temperature gage. After I preheated the oven to 350 degrees I stuck the gage in and noticed that it the gage stayed at 325 degrees for about 8 minutes and then it reached 350.
My question is should I wait for the oven to reach the desired cake baking temperature and then stick the cake in or should I stick it in anyway because the lower to the higher temp is part of the process?
Help! Thank you guys

First, I'm glad to see you getting to know your oven!

When baking in large pans, it's a good idea to use a heating core or upside down flower nails to help distribute the heat more evenly. Also, it's a good idea to bake your cakes at 325 rather than 350. They'll rise more evenly, bake more evenly and there's less risk of crispy edges.

Don't worry about what the recipe says. You know your pans and oven better than whoever wrote the recipe. I don't 'time' any of my cakes. I bake them until they're done - regardless of what the clock says.

If you have an electric oven, the temperature cycles - in other words, it rises and lowers in order to keep the temp as close to what you set it at as possible. It will not stay at a constant 350 (or whatever you set). So, don't be alarmed by that.

If you have a gas oven, the temp shouldn't vary much during the cooking.

Of course, when you open the oven to put your cake in, the temp will decrease. I have a few cookbooks that call for preheating the oven 25 degrees higher, then turning the temp down once the food is in the oven. I don't think that's necessary. If your oven is less than 20 years old, it should be able to heat right back up quickly enough.

Also, when testing your oven with a thermometer, you'll need to place the thermometer in different areas of the oven. In a perfect world, the entire oven would heat evenly all the way around, but this ain't a perfect world. Find out where the hottest and coolest spots are so you can arrange your food accordingly.

Good luck!

Wow thank you so much that has helped alot... now off to make more cakes to eat... err I mean to test lol