O.K. I'll admit I have no idea where to post an oven problem . . .

I suspect that my oven is overheating. When a recipe suggests 10-15 minutes bake time, my cookies are done (or overdone) at 7 minutes! I have to keep my nose pressed against the oven window to watch my cakes 'cause I'm too scared to leave for fear of scorching my cakes.

Pound cakes are particularily hard for me to judge the bake time. They always come out raw in the middle and burnt around the edges. I have had my oven's thermostat replaced, but still have the same problem.

I put my digital meat thermometer in the oven while a cake was baking one day (at 350) and noticed that the temp. rose to 375 F, stopped and gradually dropped to 325 F before heating again. This same cycle repeated over & over. Basically, the AVERAGE temp. was 350, but shouldn't the temp. stay closer to 350? I don't know if this is normal behaviour for the oven temp. or not. I have e-mailed this very same question to Fridgidaire (the maker of my oven) and have received no reply . . .

Has anyone else ever monitored their oven's temp. while baking? I just want to know if this is normal. Thanks.

You can buy an oven thermometer that hangs from the rack at Lowe's or Target or wherever, they are pretty cheap.

I was told that the ones that hang or sit on the rack are unreliable. I used to have one, and it got baked to death. Also, you can't read the temp. without opening the oven door as the lightbulb in the oven is behind the thermometer. Thanks for some input though . . .

Butchering a roast keeps my in-laws away, but my cakes . . . That's where I DRAW THE LINE!!

I used to have an oven that was possessed by a demon. It would overheat by 100F sometimes. I bought an oven thermometer and I'd preheat the oven and tweak the temp setting until I got it close to where I wanted it, then I'd put my cakes (or whatever) in. This method saved me a lot of burnt cakes!

I just got a new oven....my old one had a quirk ever since I got it, to where every once in awhile the oven light would go on, but the heating element would not. So you'd think something was baking away, and an hour later you'd open the door and find a lukewarm pan of batter! That of course was half baked and ruined! But it only happened every once in awhile, so could not be fixed nor predicted. Hopefully those days are past!

Ovens do cycle as far as the temperature goes, but generally it should be close to whatever temp you set it. I'd have someone come out and calibrate your oven and check the heating elements to make sure they're not the problem.

I got an oven thermometer recently and when the oven had been on at 350 for a while, the temperature thing still said like 320 and I know that was wrong. I never have problems with my oven; I was just curious how accurate the little thermometers are that you can set inside the oven. Not very was my conclusion!

I was told that the hanging or shelf style thermometers were unreliable because they are slow & don't read the temperature changes quick enough. You also can't read the thermometer while it is in the oven. (the oven light is behind it, therefore the temp. reading is shadowed) the only way to read it is to open the oven door, and that in itself will change the temperature.

I would think the range of the temps should not be 30 degrees in the cycle.

This video may help some test the temp without an oven thermometer-

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/video/default.asp?newVideo=y&docid=11784&Extcode=L9NA1BA00

I will most definately give that a try. Thanks zoomzone!

Thanks for the link zoomzone, I have to try that myself. I was wondering too if ovens 'cycle'. Seems they would have to since the element goes on and off. Mine ranges by like 50-60 degrees sometimes, and is never consistent. So, the only thing the little hanging thermometer does is tell me that the temp isn't right, by the time I make adjustments, I end up too far the other way. Urgggh!!!!

I'm going to go by an instant read thermometer and maybe an element and see what I can do.

OP, thanks for asking this! I've been having problems for months and keep forgetting to ask.

That is pretty weird to me. I would think that it would range no more than 10 degrees in either direction of the 350.....hmmm...

My Maytag oven has been a nightmare since I bought it almost 2 yrs ago. It is a regular and also convection oven. It is electric. We have had the convection fan replaced. The servicemen have been here 4 times in the last 4 months. They have replaced the bottom element, checked the temperature probe, adjusted the calibrations from -20 to + 20 without success! Finally they changed the control head...we will see how this goes. It was taking 50-60 minutes to bake 2 6" round cakes. I have successfully baked a 9x13 chocolate cake, that took 45 mins.( I use 2 cake mixes and fill my pans 2/3 full ) Soon I will try a vanilla cake... then I will know. We were told that the bottom element and the top broiler element cycle every 15 onis. with the broil element staying on for only 15 secs...It is normal for the temp to vary 15 degrees up or down also according to Maytag. The oven still bakes hotter on the right side? We were told not to use convection for cakes...we can use it for cookies. We were also told that the newer energy efficient ovens took longer to bake anything... Anyone else have a Maytag and trouble with it?

Sue

Sue- I have a Frigidaire electric & convection oven. My conv. oven started to take too long and wouldn't warm up- so something is wrong there.
Cheap me - when I want to use the convection- I preheat first on the regular oven and then switch to convection when I put the cake in. This seems to work fine.

I love to use my convection when baking cakes/cookies as I love the even way they turn out with convection.