Oven Hot Spots

Every cookie recipe in creation, right? “…reverse the pans halfway through baking for even browning.” One of those little niceties that does make a difference, and I don’t know about you, but I’m very faithful about this – with cookies.

Never noticed it mattering too much with bread, however, until the big pre-surgery flurry of stocking up. (Bill’s a good cook; but he doesn’t bake.) Lesson learned: if you’re trying to find your oven’s hot spot, just pave the whole rack with pans of sticky buns.

sticky buns as hotspot finder

sticky buns as hotspot finder

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5 Comments »

  • Leigh Williams Said,

    What a shame! Those look good, even with the burned spot.

    I invested in a convection oven a few years ago, and it’s been even better than I had hoped. I can make three big cookie sheets of Christmas cookies at a time and they all turn out just right. What an improvement over my last oven; I did one sheet at a time with it, and still had uneven browning.

  • leslie Said,

    Hi Leigh

    You’re right, they were fine, including the burned one which was mostly just extra crunchy and caramelized…

    nevertheless. Your oven sounds GREAT! (especially the part where it’s still performing well after a few years have passed.) What brand/ model is it??

    Not that they’ll still be making that model. Seems like the better they are, the less time they’re in production. But I have been pining for a new oven so can’t help wondering.

  • Dawn Fine Said,

    I will eat the burnt ones!

  • Leigh Williams Said,

    Leslie, sorry for the lng delay in getting back to you. I wish this blog had that handy “email me followups” feature; I often don’t think to check back on threads again!

    Our stove is an odd duck called a Polara, from Whirlpool. It has an extra-large convection oven, PLUS a compressor so that the oven can be a refrigerator! Sounds bizarre, but comes in very handy at holiday time.

    I don’t think they make it any more, but I can vouch for the quality of the oven.

    Whirlpool might not have been my choice were it not for the fact that geeky Mr. Science and equally geeky me had fallen hard for the Polara on the Sears showroom. When we got a chance to buy it at less than hallf-price, we jumped at it.

    All other factors being equal, I guess I’d buy the higher-end GE wall oven nowadays.

  • leslie Said,

    Yo Leigh,

    Thanks for the oven info — I’m lovin’ the dual function. Somehow the very idea cracks me up. Doesn’t seem to have been an idea that caught on, although when you come to think of it it makes a certain sense. An insulated box is just an insulated box, after all, Plus there’s the convection fan.

    Thanks also for the e-mail followup request. We’re right in the middle of a major overhaul of the blog – stay tuned for many more features and functions! – so this is a great time to ask my design gurus to include the necessary.

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