IS 350 REALLY 350? TESTING YOUR OVEN WITH A FIREBOARD

"Have you ever wondered if the thermostat that controls your oven’s temperature is off?  Wouldn’t it be nice to know?  Cooking at the wrong temperature is obviously counterproductive.  Results can range from radically over or undercooked food to being slightly off by a few degrees which can still affect  texture and flavor.  What follows is an easy way to prove your oven’s controls are accurate using a FireBoard 2."

More on the post : Fireboard Oven Blog

Conclusion

"Our test results yielded a non-linear delta.  Meaning that all three temperature differences were not the same amount over or under the oven’s set temperature.  If the test results yielded a consistent difference, this could be an easy fix, as ovens, such as the Maytag tested here can be calibrated by the end user. (i.e. the oven is displaying 20 degrees warmer than actual measured temperature, you would off set this by adding 20 degrees of offset).  These adjustments will vary by manufacturer.

Putting this information into action, I have been using these adjusted temp settings and have enjoyed the results.   My favorite frozen pizza, that  I baked at 456ºF instead of the the 450ºF on the box has never tasted better!   I plan to log more differences, testing my commonly temp settings to build a compensation  “cheat sheet”.  Stay Tuned!"

By: Jeff Nichols