The Simple Trick To Find The Hot And Cold Spots In Your Oven

First of all, before we tell you how to check for hot and cold spots in your oven, we think it's important you know why your oven isn't heating evenly. Unlike a sous vide machine, which conducts heat evenly around the food, a range generates heat from its elements or burners and, once the heat conducts, from its walls. This is, of course, why it's essential to preheat your oven. According to King Arthur Baking, the oven you have sitting in your kitchen, big or small, is just a warm metal box, and when it is warmed, not every cubic inch of air will be the same temperature at the same time.

The oven is the hottest nearest to its six walls, so anything baked near those will brown faster. But besides the metal of the oven emanating the most heat, there can be other temperature pockets, and the best way to find them is just to make some toast.

It may seem odd that your oven is baking things unevenly, but no machine is perfect, and it is always better to test out where your oven is hottest and coldest rather than doing guesswork and accidentally ending up undercooking a holiday turkey or burning some cookies.

So, if you are having trouble with uneven bakes or are working with an unfamiliar oven and need to know where to place your baked goods, The Takeout recommends placing slices of white bread on baking sheets around the oven and watching to see which ones darken first and which remain pale. The pale slices indicate a cold spot, while the darker pieces represent the hot spots. Food 52 says that you should turn the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and wait a few minutes before checking to see the differing levels of browning. When done, you'll understand your oven a whole lot better and have a bunch of toast to enjoy!