After putting something in my oven, the temperature drops and is super slow to increase back up despite keeping the door shut

Question

Some details that may help: my gas oven averages 10 degrees off when I heat it up to a set temperature with nothing in it. Also it says it has reached the set temperature before it actually has so I wait until it averages my desired temp before putting anything in it. I also tested and know that calibration is not the issue.

When I put something in my oven, the temperature can dramatically drop, depending on how much I put in. It starts to very slowly increase, but then the time comes that I have to rotate my pans. After rotating my pans, the oven loses any temperature progress it had made. My baked goods “finish baking” (according to the timer) a long time before the oven can finally reach back up to the set temperature. It takes way longer than 10–15 minutes for my oven to recover and come back up to the set temperature. My oven heats, it just really struggles to keep up after I put something in it. Because of that, when I am supposed to bake at 350, I actually end up baking at a way lower temperature; and my oven does not always drop in temperature the same amount every day. I am getting mixed results while baking. I’d really appreciate anyone’s input. :)

Answer 1

This is all very normal, nothing special about it. Some of your assumptions happen to be untrue, and others don't apply to modern ovens.

First, temperature fluctuation is the normal way an oven operates. There's nothing wrong with this, it's expected, and recipes work with it. Less fluctuation is better, but you'll never get rid of it entirely, nor do you need to.

Second, you seem to be very focused on air temperature. That's only a secondary indicator of a well-working oven. What you need for good baking is good thermal mass. This means that you want to heat up the oven's body, or if it's too flimsy, use additional thermal mass in the form of pizza stones (preferably proper ones), cast iron pans, or whatever is convenient to you. Then you have to ensure that this mass is properly heated, which takes around an hour. Once you have reached this state, your root problem will be solved, and you will see improvement both in technical details like measured air temperature, and in real results in the sense of tastier food.

Third, you seem to think that a timer is about "finishing baking". That's also not true. Your food is finished baking when it's baked, which is something you recognize by appearance, smell, taste and texture, or in some special cases, by measuring the food's internal temperature. Any duration mentioned in a recipe is just auxiliary information that helps you plan your day, and gives you some orientation when to start checking the food for doneness. Setting a timer and taking the food out when it dings will mostly result in disappointing food, no matter how good your oven is.

Fourth, that "preheated" indicator is not especially interesting. Producers have strong incentives to make it lie. If you want to optimize for food quality, you should ignore it completely.

Bottom line: an oven is just an enclosing pile of thermal mass. Ensure that it has enough mass (by design, or add some) and then heat it sufficiently. It works like a charm.

Answer 2

Assuming you are measuring accurately, this is surprising. Do ensure you are measuring the oven temperature using an accurate thermometer in a suitable central location, rather than for example measuring the temperature of the dish you've just put in.

If it takes a long time to get back up to cooking temperature, this is a sign that it is heating slowly. You might want to have it checked or replaced as there might be something wrong. The insulation could also be an issue here.

If that's not an option, you can try to reduce the temperature drop from putting food in the oven. Consider putting heavy items like a pizza stone or cookware into the oven which will hold heat better than air; they should go in before you preheat and stay in. Also try to avoid adding big cold things; let food come up to room temperature (if safe) before putting it in.