Trying to figure out the gas oven....
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@Rontuner said in Trying to figure out the gas oven....:
Just don't leave any plastic bowls in there when you fire it up....
Probably a good idea to get an oven thermometer. Seems like all of ours over the years have had different accuracy!Yea, a decent oven thermometer is handy. I usually don't spend a lot, but I decided to spring for the ThermoWorks Square Dot, which has two probes, one for taking the oven temp and a second you can put in food.
https://www.thermoworks.com/square-dot/
I either got mine on sale or maybe it was a closeout on a old model. Or the price has just really jumped. I only paid $45 for it, not $69.
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I have a cheapo instant read thermometer that @Steve-Miller recommended. It was $10 or so bucks and seems to work fine. The ThermoWorks version is like$100. I'm not that good a cook.
You could get something from the grocery store like the chocolate chip cookies in the tube to bake as an experiment. Or something else that you're familiar with, so if it bakes really fast or takes forever, you'll have an idea of whether the oven runs true to temp.
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I have a cheapo instant read thermometer that @Steve-Miller recommended. It was $10 or so bucks and seems to work fine. The ThermoWorks version is like$100. I'm not that good a cook.
You could get something from the grocery store like the chocolate chip cookies in the tube to bake as an experiment. Or something else that you're familiar with, so if it bakes really fast or takes forever, you'll have an idea of whether the oven runs true to temp.
Umm, yeah, we are not "$100 thermometer" cooks either!
@wtg said in Trying to figure out the gas oven....:
Or something else that you're familiar with, so if it bakes really fast or takes forever, you'll have an idea of whether the oven runs true to temp.
Ooh, good idea!
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I’d set the thing to 325 or whatever temp you normally use and bake as normal. There really isn’t any difference except the gas oven is cheaper to run. Do check the actual temp, ignore which burners ignite.
The wet heat vs dry heat thing is nonsense. The convection feature will save time if you’re coking something that takes a long time - like a roast. I doubt most people use it.
I like the idea of a test run with something like pre made cookie dough. Maybe put samples in various places to see if you have hot/cold spots, and then see if the convection fan evens things out.
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@Steve-Miller thank you! This is very helpful! Esp re not worrying about the dry heat/wet heat thing.
Mr SK likes the idea of a test run with pre made dough. And if they come out ok, we can serve those on Sunday along with what he makes. If they don’t come out ok, we will learn something!
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Back when Consumer Reports actually tested things, they did an article on ranges. I remember they tested how even the ovens were by covering the rack with white bread slices and evaluating the shades of the resulting toast.
Might be overkill but it would be interesting to try.
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They did that in one of the videos I watched yesterday. I’ll pay attention if I make garlic bread sometime.
Today we’re going to buy some premade cookie dough and test it. The cookies should give us an idea of whether one side of the oven cooks tater than the other.
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Not sure if this applies to gas ovens too, but I notice that on electric ovens, when using the “bake” function, usually both the upper and the lower elements heat up during pre-heating, and the upper element will shutdown after the target temperature is reached.
The one time you want to be mindful of which heating element/burner heats up is when you’re following instructions that tell you to heat something “covered,” and the “cover” maybe made of material that cannot withstand direct high heat. I found out the unpleasant way that “pre-heating” instructions need to be observed because during pre-heating the heat also comes from the upper element and the direct heat from above ruined the “cover” and the food underneath it. Silly me!
