POC Tips: Get Yourself an Oven Thermometer

When people first find out about Piece of Cake, I often become the Dear Abby of baking--regaled with elaborate stories of baking failures and questioned about the dark mysteries of baking. I, of course, love this because I could literally talk about these things all day long (which is kind of embarrassing and I really should keep that to myself). So from here on out, from time to time I'll be sharing some of my favorite baking tips with you and we can all pretend that I know what I'm talking about. To start, here's something I most definitely know: more than half of all baking problems can be solved by getting yourself an oven thermometer.

If there was a religion based around oven thermometers, I would be a Reverend. I can't rave about their importance enough. Baking is a science, people. Sure, it's about measuring your ingredients precisely and not mixing too much or too little and that sort of thing. But even the most perfectly measured and mixed batter will not bake up properly if the element of heat is all jacked up. And for most of us, our ovens are indeed jacked up to some degree. (Pun intended? You decide.)

In order to heat up to the exact temperature that the oven dial indicates, ovens need to be periodically calibrated and tuned up just like a car, and most home cooks will never get around to doing this. So over time, the actual oven temperature will creep farther and farther from what it's telling you it is--sometimes even swinging as much as 100 degrees (!) cooler or hotter. If you are an apartment dweller, this is very likely the case--landlords don't make a habit of calibrating ovens when a tenant moves out (or even get around to cleaning the carpets if we're talking about my last apartment--grrrr). Obviously, you can imagine the difference 100 degrees would make, but even just a few degrees off the mark can greatly effect things like the rise, browning and texture of baked goods, and make all the difference between a "just okay" specimen and an exemplary one.

If you're going to go through the trouble of baking from scratch, why not do something simple to improve your chances of success? An oven thermometer is cheap (around five bucks) and ensures that you are always baking at the right temperature. In an uncertain world, save yourself the guesswork and heartache. An oven thermometer is an essential in the Piece of Cake kitchen!