Why Your Oven Lies to You

Most home ovens run hotter or cooler than the dial says. Here is how to find the truth and cook around it.

Set your oven to 350 and there is a fair chance the air inside is anywhere from 325 to 375. Ovens cycle their heat, and the dial reflects a target, not the temperature at any given second. This is why the same recipe can brown beautifully at a friend's house and turn out pale at yours.

The fix costs about ten dollars: an oven thermometer you hang from a rack. Preheat, wait a full twenty minutes past the beep, and read it. Now you know your oven's personality and can nudge the dial to match.

Once you know the offset, trust your senses over the timer. A cake is done when it springs back and pulls slightly from the pan, not when the clock says so. The thermometer just gets you into the right neighborhood.