Why are my cakes taking longer to bake?

We recently moved back to the States. In Germany, I had a small oven (about 15" square) and all of my cakes baked at 325 for 36 minutes. In my bigger American oven, they are all taking at least 50 minutes, usually longer, at the same temperature.

I ALWAYS use an oven thermometer, so I know that isn't the issue.

And, I get the same results whether there is 1 cake or several cakes in at the same time.

What is going on?

do you preheat the oven? it would be fair to assume the bigger oven will take longer to warm up.
things like altitude seem to affect baking time too.
diferent ovens can be very different to use, but with the oven thermometer, id have figured it was alright.
xx

yes, I preheat. And, I check the thermometer to make sure that the temp is correct before putting in the cake. We are in OK, so altitude is not a problem. And the thermometer is new and good quality, it should be calibrated correctly.

Oven's take a while to preheat- even when it hits the desired temperature, it is still not constant, and fluctuates. It can take about 30 mins for the oven to preheat and remain at the desired temperature. I think you problem might be because larger oven = more space to heat consistantly.

Yes, that could be it. More temperature fluctuation. That makes sense, but it's still frustrating!

I don't know the altitude differences, but maybe that has something to do with it?

No, it's not altitude, it's definitely oven.

How's the seal on the door?

Mike

Now, that is a good question. I'm not sure how to check, but it's a new oven - only 1 or 2 years old. How do you tell?