Oven thermometers

[Steve Maskery]

I used to bake a lot, at one time. Every weekend. But not so much in recent years.
Since moving in to this house, I've had a few attempts at cakes, but they have always been a little disappointing in the rising department. They taste OK but don't look good, and some have had a deep sunken hole in the middle.

I started to wonder what I was doing wrong, and lots of places suggested I check the oven temperature, so I treated myself to an oven thermometer. According to that, my oven is 10 - 15C cooler than the oven itself purports to be. So yesterday I made a Lemon Drizzle cake using my new gadget and lo and behold, it is risen indeed!

Unfortunately something appears to have happened to it, can't think what, so I don't have a photo, but it did really happen, honest!

So if you have problems getting it to rise, treat yourself to an oven thermometer, it might make all the difference.

If you are interested:
Grease and line a 1lb tin (yes, it's a small one)
Sift 100g SR flour with 1 level tsp of baking powder.
Cream 100g Stork with 100g caster sugar.
Add zest of one lemon.
Beat in two eggs adding a spoon of flour with the last one to stop it all curdling
Fold in the rest of the flour
Pour into the tin, bake at 180C for 35m.
Remove from oven but leave in tin for 5 mins
Squeeze the lemon. Mix half of it with 50g sugar
Stab the cake all over with a skewer, pour the other half of the juice into all the holes
Pour the lemon icing over the top.
Remove from the tin and allow to cool properly on a wire rack

Eat. Ah, so that's what happened to it.

 

[bugbear]

I started to wonder what I was doing wrong, and lots of places suggested I check the oven temperature, so I treated myself to an oven thermometer. According to that, my oven is 10 - 15C cooler than the oven itself purports to be. So yesterday I made a Lemon Drizzle cake using my new gadget and lo and behold, it is risen indeed!

Having read a comment that most oven thermostat dials are a mile off, I too bought
a cheap oven thermometer. I then spent a happy afternoon setting the oven thermostat to
every temperate at 10 degree intervals, letting the oven settle, and writing down the actual temperature
on a piece of card.

(I also found that the thermostat has around 15 degree hysteresis)

So now I can just look at my calibration card, and set the dial to get the temperature I want.

BugBear

 

[Steve Maskery]

That's a good idea, I might do that. Although I see no reason not to just let it live in the oven and read it through the window.

 

[bugbear]

That's a good idea, I might do that. Although I see no reason not to just let it live in the oven and read it through the window.

It's easier to write up a card than to keep an oven window squeaky clean enough to read through...

BugBear

 

[ayuce]

If your oven has a electromechanical thermostat, 10C-15C offset seems to me "normal". Electronically controlled ovens should have better accuracy, perhaps around 5C. But after all, temperature across the oven is not uniform at all. Some ovens have meat probe, you stick a probe to meat, chicken directly to measure the temperature. But max allowed food temp should be around 90C ~ 100C with meat probe, since meats is cooked when internal temperature reachs to this values. So its useless for cakes which needs higher temperatures.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

a lot of the posh chefs/restaurants use water baths for cooking the fine meats now. The meat is sealed in a vacuum pack and then left for many hours at the requisite temperature for rare/medium etc and then just flash seared in a hot pan to caramelise the sugars before serving. It means they can prep them miles in advance and the temperature is controlled to within 1 degree so they can avoid all the toughness associated with knackering the proteins through overheating. Not terribly complicated technology and there are domestic versions available from John Lewis and good cook shops. My brother bought one a few years back and steak (or fish) is stunningly good done in one. It is a bit of a foodie item but does make a difference.

We ate in a Michelin starred restaurant in Cambridge a while back (House on the Bridge, Summer's House, something like that) and went into the kitchen for a tour late one Saturday night. The chef there has an upright "fridge" style device which is an oven with different compartments. Each section has a completely enclosed space with the temperature controlled to within 1 degree and he had all his different meats cooking away...50 deg, 55 etc. Apparently they cook some for 24 hours because they cant overcook. I've no idea how they control bacteria growth but it was amazing to see. He also had a stock making machine that was essentially an industrial centrifuge, also the size of a washing machine. In goes the veg and broth etc for the stock, the thing gets to temperature and cooks it then he centrifuges the bits out and drains off a perfectly clear stock from a tap at the base. Apparently only this guy and Heston have one in the UK. £15 grand a pop he told us.

Professional kitchens have some fabulous gadgets in. Our tired old ovens are almost a temperature lottery by contrast

 

[woodfarmer]

Most things cook well with mark 4 logs, for bread I use mark 5 logs.

for a tandoori I use short ends

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Having read a comment that most oven thermostat dials are a mile off, I too bought
a cheap oven thermometer. I then spent a happy afternoon setting the oven thermostat to
every temperate at 10 degree intervals, letting the oven settle, and writing down the actual temperature
on a piece of card.

Is there a 3rd column marked "HRC" ??

 

[Harbo]

The method is called Sous Vide.

I use a similar method using a vacuum sealer from Lakeland which cost about £50 which is also useful for freezing things like fish etc.
I use a large saucepan and a thermometer and something to keep the bag under water.
I warm the water it up to 70°C (I read that temp will kill bugs) maintain it at 50°C and cook say salmon for about 20 mins.
No mess and no smells - I add some oil, seasoning and herbs before vacuum sealing for extra flavour.

Rod