Do You Really Trust Your Oven's Temperature? Why It Pays To Use An Oven Thermometer

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Ovens aren't perfect. While they do their best to maintain a constant temperature, the actual degree number can fluctuate depending on something as simple as opening the door for a second. It might be fixed with a recalibration, or it could just be how your oven functions. While you're probably used to how your oven cooks certain meals, if you follow a recipe that says to bake something at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, and it's not done or overcooks in that time, then it's worth investing in an oven thermometer to better understand what your true oven temperature is.

Ovens work via internal thermostats. The heating element turns on when the oven is preheating, then turns off, and turns back on to bring the oven back to where it should be once that internal thermometer reaches too low of a temperature. In short, your temperature hardly remains exactly at 350 degrees Fahrenheit the entire cooking process. But, with an oven thermometer, such as the well-rated and $6 Pecula Stainless Steel Oven Thermometer, you can better understand those fluctuations and see the true temperature at which your oven cooks. Most oven thermometers even come with a hook to attach it inside the oven so you can see it at all times.

Temperature fluctuations are one of the most common reasons to invest in an oven thermometer, but there's another secret about your oven: it might be stuck cooking at an entirely different temperature than what it says. This can be due to anything from an aging heating element to an inaccurate internal thermometer or just a difference in manufacturers, but there's a chance that an oven preheated to, say, 350 degrees Fahrenheit is actually cooking as high as 370 degrees Fahrenheit without those fluctuations, causing your food to burn. It could also consistently be cooking well below that, which is why your food isn't done when the recipe says it should be.

If you purchase an oven thermometer, you can see exactly what temperature the oven cooks at and get to know your specific oven. If it cooks above or below 350 degrees Fahrenheit, you can then adjust the on-screen oven temperature accordingly, ensuring your food cooks at the desired temperature (the same goes for other temperature settings, not just the 350-degree baseline).