A batch of flat cookies made me check my oven with a thermometer

I baked three dozen chocolate chip cookies for a bake sale, and every single one spread out flat. My oven dial said 350, but I put a separate oven thermometer on the rack. It only read 300 degrees! The low heat melted the butter before the cookies could set. I've been trusting the dial for years. Has anyone else found a big gap between their oven's setting and the real temperature?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana207d ago

Trusting the dial for years is a mood. My last apartment's oven ran so hot it would burn frozen pizza in ten minutes. I started using the broiler drawer for regular baking, which sort of worked for biscuits. You never really know until you test it.

grace_bailey6d ago

My grandma's old gas oven had a 50 degree swing depending on which burner you lit first. We kept an oven thermometer hanging from the rack and just did the math, like setting it to 300 for 350 recipes. It became a weird family ritual to check the temp before putting anything in. That broiler drawer trick is actually pretty smart for dealing with a super hot main chamber, gotta work with what you've got.