Oven problem...

[miss_thenorth]

I put this in the frugality section, b/c I really don't want ot have to buy a new oven.

It is baking day here, and I just made four loaves of friendship bread, a pecan pie, and my sourdough is on its final rise.

When I baked the friendship bread, I took it out when the toothpick came out clear on three of the loaves, still a little gooey on one, but not too bad,-- but when I removed all of them from the loaf pans, the bottoms were burnt. bad. A few days ago, I made sourdough blueberry muffins and they burned too, I even had to take them out early. Would replacing the element fix this?

My SD bread is ready to go in the oven soon, and I don't want it to burn too. I'm also a bit concerned, b/c when I bake my WW bread, I do it at 400F for 10 minutes. the SD recipe says 375 for 30 minutes. That, and the fact that I burned my muffins and friendship bread. (the pie turned out fine)

 

[keljonma]

Have you tried testing the oven with an oven thermometer yet? It is much less expensive than replacing an element, and will give you an idea of how off from true the temp gauge is operating.

Once you test the oven temperature versus the gauge temperature, you should be able to adjust the oven temp ... usually there is a screw behind the dial handle. Your owner's manual should give details for your particular stove. If you don't have it, you might be able to find it online by stove mfgr and model number.

I know that our current oven if a bit off - but only for temps higher than 350F. It is very frustrating!

Good luck MTN!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Thanks, I had a thermometer in it when we first moved here (built in unit), and it was off also on the higher temps, but I guess I should test it again, since in just the last few days I have been having issues. It also heat more on one side than on the other. I think I will just replace the element, since it was already off a bit, but now seems worse. but in the meantime, I dig up my oven thermometer, and test the temps again. I just baked the SD bread, and I took it out 10 minutes early.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Seeings as it is loaves you were working on, maybe you can decrease the temp, so the sides don't scorch before the middle is done.
I find the left hand, back of my oven to be a hotter temp than the center, so placing multiple pans could be a problem, which might be helped by rotating.
I have not lite up my oven much since I discovered making cakes in skillets on the stovetop, but I did bake Saturday for a church bake sale. I was lucky. No burns or gooeys, but I did use small baking tins, so I was baking very small cakes at a time.

 

[Emerald]

Not sure if it will help too much but when my older stove decided to not work as well due to a sprung door- we went and bought 6 brand new fire bricks and put them in a single layer on the bottom of the oven, not covering the heat holes from the burner, and that seemed to stabilize the heat in my oven.. sure I had to let it warm up for about 25 to 30 minutes to heat those bricks thru but I cooked pita and pizza right on the bricks themselves and when baking it really made my breads and other yummy stuff cook thru just right- in the winter the stored heat from the bricks slowly leached back out into the kitchen and helped keep it warm.
I also had to buy another oven thermometer due to the numbers finally wearing off the dial!
The hubby bought me a new stove this spring and while I love it to death- it is a learning curve! It is hard to work with an oven that actually bakes like it is supposed to!

 

[journey11]

My old (OLD!) oven did this too, burnt everything, and I put a store-bought oven thermometer in there and used it for about 3 more years to get by. I had to watch it like a hawk, adjusting the dial carefully and it would be either too hot or too cold in a heartbeat and I still had problems.

I think it was the thermostat on mine, because the element seemed fine. Usually the element will just burn out all at once and you will see one end of it where it plugs in is scorched looking when that happens. My MIL replaced her element for $35 which I thought wasn't too bad. On most electric ovens, they just plug in. Some have screws to hold them in place.

Now my old oven was from the 80's and came with the house when we bought it. So I saved up for a new one, decided on the model I wanted online, watched for Sears to have a sale (watch around the holidays) and got my new ceramic cooktop for $450, shipped to the store because if I'd gone in person they wouldn't have had this one in stock and the salesperson would have tried to talk me into a more expensive one!

Or if you're REALLY frugal, you can haunt Lowe's like my MIL did and talk 'em down on a scratch and dent floor model. Man, do I admire that woman!

Sounds like you are quite the baker, so it will be hard for you to tolerate a testy oven for too long!

 

[miss_thenorth]

Yeah, I think it is the thermometer also. DH is on the task, but right now, it is on the sideburner, so to speak , it's butcher season here. Trying to downsize the number of animals we have to overwinter. Gone so far are 5 roosters, and three ducks..