I had an issue tonight with one of my larger cakes 12x18, not baking evenly. (before anyone asks, I don't use strips.. hehe)
Anyway, I was baking the cake, and I even had a heating core in it because I didn't feel like digging out my flower nail (doing a bit of rearranging so some things are hard to get to), and toward the end, like in the last 10 minutes or so, I smell burning. Well, I had checked the cake earlier and thought the sides looked a little dark, but the center was far from being done, so I finished it up. When I flipped it over the bottom of the cake was completely burnt. The sides, almost completely, but the top and center were fine. (yeah, cake balls for everyone! That's two cakes ruined so far, the first is a different story)
Ok, now I've known since I moved in this house the oven was off and have always cooked 25 degrees lighter than necessary. I had no idea how far off it actually is. I was very discouraged, because I have to bake 8 of these cakes to do my groom's cake in a couple of weeks, plus I have 2 cakes to do this weekend for family birthdays.
So, I go to walmart to purchase an oven thermometer so I can see exactly how far off my oven is. I double up a silpat, put that on a cookie sheet, and put the thermometer on that, because I wanted to make sure it wasn't touching any metal at all, and I turn my oven up to 300. A few minutes later I check.. Oven at 300, light is off indicating it's there, and my thermometer says 351! 
I had no idea it was this far off!!
Now, my question (yeah, finally getting to it) should I just bake my cakes at 300, or even at 275, to get them to come out perfectly? Is there a way I can fix it so my oven bakes at the correct temperature, or should I just call my landlord and tell him my oven is on the fritz and I have to have someone come fix it, or get me a new one?
If I do the latter, I'm sure he would get right on it, but then if it takes a few days how will I ever get my cakes done on time? Should I just go ahead and try to bake them up using a lower temperature and hope for the best, then call him?
Thanks for any advice anyone can give. I greatly appreciate it.
my poor shop oven has issues with temps also. I keep the oven thermometers in both ovens all the time. Sometimes I set it for 350 and it works, other times I have to set it at 300* and the therm. says 350*. I have even set it at 275.
You can calibrate your oven but since all ovens are different, I wouldn't be able to tell you how. You can probably look it up on the manufacturer's website, with the model number. Try to contact the company and ask them how to calibrate it.
Yeesh.. This oven/stove is so old I don't know if such a place even exists. hehe It's that nice yellow color that was so popular in the 70's. 
I'll see what I can find out, thank you.
Do you think baking at a lower temperature would work, then? I'm afraid if it has to stay in there longer it will make the cake too dry. Even at the temperature it was baking it still took over a hour to be done. (Is this normal for that size pan?)
Thanks again!!
Holly
My oven is 8 years old. I have been having trouble for a short while, so I also went to Walmart and bought an oven thermometer. My oven was 50 degrees hotter than I was setting it. My DH went online, and my oven manual has directions for making temp adjustments. The manual said that it is normal to have to make adjustments over time.
"Holly", I have people tell me that my cake is so moist, they just don't know how I get it like that, so it won't dry it out. Just don't overbake it.
I got my oven on Craig's list and it is one of those old ovens that has a smaller oven attached well above the burners. It is great for size. I am no longer waiting for one batch of cake to get done. Before I can put the next one in.
Well, my husband looked things up for me, and said the company that owns my oven sold out to Maytag years and years ago, so my landlord will have to call them to have it fixed. Not a big deal, I guess. I don't have the owner's manual, since the stove was here when we moved in, so I can't do it myself, and I'd rather not anyway. I'd be afraid of breaking it.
I did bake another cake tonight. I set it at 275, and it came out perfectly. It took over a hour, but I think that's the norm for a cake that size. The only issue I had was the fact it didn't quite bake up as high as I would have liked, but I think that's because I added an extender recipe. The taste is fabulous, and it's very moist, so I will just deal with it being an inch and 3/4 instead of a full 2 inches.. heh I needed it to be about 17 inches high, so I was thinking eh.. 8 cakes, it can be a little short, but I might just go ahead and throw one or two more on top of there, and with it not baking up completely, it might end up being the perfect height.. 
*crosses fingers*
I'll work something out.. and I thank all of you so much for your help. I was really afraid this was just going to be another one of those times where nothing went right.. heh I'm so lucky to have found this site, and all of you.
Thank you!!
Holly
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