Hard Truths: Your Oven Is Lying to You

Yes, everybody makes basic cooking mistakes. Like, say, something as simple as overcooking mushrooms or toasting grains and spices. Below, reader Francis confesses to unevenly baking a cake to associate food editor Rick Martinez. Welcome to Effed it Up.

__Dear Rick,__I made the Rhubarb-Almond Cake from the April 2015 issue of Bon Appétit. I followed the directions to the letter and baked it at 350°F. After about 45 minutes, the cake was brown and the rhubarb was getting soft and browned…but the recipe said to bake for 70 to 80 minutes. I panicked and pulled it out of the oven early. It looked just like the picture on the outside, but it was raw in the middle. I don’t understand. H-E-L-P.

Thanks,
Francis

Italian Plum and Almond Cake. Photo: Alex Lau

Dear Francis,

That cake is so good that several staffers actually made it this past weekend (and, thankfully, brought some in for the rest of us to polish off). So this is truly tragic. Yes, your cake needed more time in the oven, but I think the real culprit here was your oven, rather than something you did or the way the recipe was written. Let me explain.

The Culprit

You were right to be concerned that the visual indicators occurred well before the prescribed cooking time. In baking recipes, the most important information we can give involve what the dish should look like when it’s fully baked.

I’ll give it to you straight: Your cake should not have browned that quickly if you followed the directions (and I believe you when you say you did). But every oven is different. In our own Test Kitchen, we have 14 ovens—eight gas, six electric—and every single one of them has its own unique temperament and personality.

I think your oven is subjecting your cake to what I like to call a disco inferno. When you set your oven to 350°F, your oven preheats to that temperature. It takes as little as 15 minutes to heat (maybe 35 minutes on a slow oven). Ovens are calibrated to hit their set temperature, then shut off the heat until the temperature falls below a certain point—usually 25°F to 50°F below the set temperature before heating back up again. This cycle is the problem. While you rest assured that your cake is baking at 350°F, the reality is that your cake is in the ~*disco inferno*~, experiencing temperatures of +/- 50°F…and badly browning the top of your cake when it hits close to 375°F without your knowledge.

Raspberry-Ricotta Cake. Photo: Nicole Franzen

Nicole Franzen

The Solution

You can still get your perfect cake, but you’ll need to troubleshoot. The longest-term fix involves calling in a repair person; it’s expensive and time-consuming, and you run the risk that nothing will be resolved.