Oven question

[kyles]

Hello helpful technical people. Before I ask this question let me give you some background. We live in a rented house and have inherited this oven, so have very little information on it. It is fan forced and electric.

I have noticed that it seems to cook at higher temperature on one side than the other. If I bake a tray of cookies, half-way through I have to turn the tray, otherwise the cookies on one side are overbrowned and the others haven't finished cooking. (note to Carnivore and Kitchenelf, I am not giving up baking :roll: I know that would be the simplest solution! lol)

Before I spend money trying to find a technician, can someone tell me more about callibration (I have heard some of you mention it but don't know what it means). And is there anything I can do without getting a technician in?

 

[CucumberMan]

Hehe, I have exactly the same problem, Kyles! Unfortunately I can't help you just like I can't help myself. On the other side, my neighbour is an expert for elecrtic things so I will ask him to repair my oven, and than I could tell you what was the problem and everything.

 

[northernMIcook]

Im not an oven expert by any means :roll: but had a similar problem years ago. I was told my coil was bad. It had to be replaced. It was hotter in the back half the oven. Eventually it got so bad that I couldnt just turn the pans to correct the problem. They replaced the coil and it was fine. Could be your problem but maybe not :?

 

[kitchenelf]

When my oven was brand new it did this

But if you are asking exactly what calibrating means it means when you turn your oven to a certain temperature they make sure it doesn't heat to a lower temp. or a higher temp. It is calibrated up or down to the exact temp. But it would not help one side cooking hotter than the other. It does sound like a coil problem.

(Me?????? Say don't bake?????? :P )

 

[kyles]

I might try calling around for a quote for someone to come and look at it. I hate calling technicians, as they charge a fortune to stand in your kitchen, cup of tea in hand, look disparagingly at the oven, saying "eh up lass, going to be an expensive job here....." I want to get a quote before I call the landlord in, if it's just going to be a cheap job I thought I'd just pay for it myself.

 

[BubbaGourmet]

kyles;
The way ovens work here, replacing the coil can be done yourself. It just plugs into a socket in the stoove wall then is screwed into place with a bracket.
I know what you mean about techs. Here, they look at it scratch their heads and go "Whoo...that thing is in bad shape!" and they ALWAYS have to order a part that will be "Here next week...I'll call you"

 

[scott123]

Hmmmm... that's some tricky business there.

I'm guessing since you say "fan forced" you're talking about a convection oven. I know that uneven heating problems with non-convection (radiant) ovens can be resolved with the purchase of a large baking stone or thick unglazed quarry tiles cut to fit your bottom shelf. The stone resolves uneven heating by absorbing/radiating heat very uniformly. They also help to avoid large fluctuations in temperature.