It really is so very very tempting to keep opening the oven door to check how a dish is coming along, isn't it? Unfortunately, this is one lesson we've definitely learned the hard way...
Quick Tip: Keep the Oven Door Closed!
For the longest time we'd check the temperature on a roast by opening the oven door, sticking the thermometer in, and waiting...waiting...for the internal temperature to appear. All while leaving the oven door open. And we wondered why the roast was taking so long to cook!
Shirley O. Corriher, in her recently published book Bakewise, says that the oven temperature can drop 150° or more if the oven door is left open just thirty seconds! The oven can then take several minutes to come back up to full temperature.
So if your dish is almost done cooking and you're checking it for doneness every few minutes, this means that the oven never has a chance to recover. No wonder it sometimes seems like a dish is taking forever to finish cooking, right?
Sigh... Live and learn...
P.S. We'll be doing a full review of Shirley O. Corriher's book soon! You can also order your own copy for $26.40 from Amazon.
Related: Essential Kitchen Tools: A Baking Stone
(Image: Flickr member Tomhe licensed under Creative Commons)
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Tips & Techniques, Frugality, Food Science, oven, baking tips, oven temperatureRelated Links
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This is why most oven have a window... ;)
view Marie-Eve's profile
What great advice. I actually looked at that book as a holiday present for my husband but we both passed with the insistence of not substituting ingredients in the recipes. With food allergies and a love of whole food ingredients we would need substitute. I still love Cookwise, but am not as keen on Bakewise.
view kmarie's profile
I bought the book a couple of weeks ago and have only had the chance to browse it but this also made a deep impression on me!
This and adding boiling water to a pan in the oven when baking stuff that needs to rise.
And I agree, I prefer cookwise to bakewise but then again, I haven't spent much time with basewise.
To me, Bakewise feels kind of like a publisher's assignment whereas cookwise feels passionate.
view anothersplash's profile
Now I REALLY wish my half-size oven had a window.
view suzyblue's profile
I'm glad my new oven has an internal temperature probe. I just set it to the desired temperature and the oven switches to "warm" once temperature is reached.
view Kathryn's profile