If your roast chickens are coming out of the oven black on one side and raw on the other, don't assume that your cooking skills are the problem – it could be your oven.
They say a poor tradesperson always blames their tools, but in this case the blame could lie with the tool (your oven), rather than the tradie (or the cook in this case).
But how can you tell where the hot and cold spots are? And is there anything you can do to tweak your methods so you don't have to settle for serving up half-burnt, half-runny cupcakes every time?
CHOICE kitchen expert Fiona Mair knows all about ovens.
CHOICE's resident kitchen expert Fiona Mair has been testing ovens in our kitchen lab for a huge 27 years.
In that time she's cooked approximately 8000 scones, 4000 roast chickens and 5000 pizzas, so she knows all the ins and outs of ovens, and how to make an oven perform at its best.
So before you decide to ditch your oven – or to just forego using it at all – here are her tips for how to figure out what's going on inside it.
On this page:
- How to test your oven for hot and cold spots
- So your oven isn't cooking evenly. What now?
- How to identify the problem
- Hacks to make your oven cook more evenly
- What to do if your new oven isn't cooking evenly
How to test your oven for hot and cold spots
We wish we could give you a simple test that'll show you precisely where your oven runs hot and where it doesn't, but it's a matter of trial and error.
"These steps will help you diagnose whether your oven is struggling to distribute heat evenly, but unfortunately they won't help fix the problem," says Fiona.
(We'll share Fiona's tips for improving your oven's heat distribution after this section.)
Get your bake on
First up, tap into your inner Master Baker and whip up some scones.
This is how CHOICE's kitchen expert Fiona Mair assesses heat distribution in all the ovens that come through our kitchen lab.
She pops two trays of scones into the oven on different shelves, then compares how evenly browned they are, plus the evenness of rising, height and crumb tenderness.
Baking a batch of scones will reveal any hot spots in your oven.
The idea is to see whether the oven cooks everything evenly, both between shelves and across a single tray.
The ovens that get the tick of approval from our experts all perform very well in our rigorous heat distribution tests.
Check the 'Multiple shelf baking score' and 'Roasting score' in our detailed reviews to find the best wall ovens and best freestanding ovens that will cook your food evenly.
You don't need to be an expert to conduct this test yourself – have a go at home. If all the scones come out with approximately the same golden hue, you're good.
If they range in colour from blonde to almost-black, it's bad news: you have a heat distribution problem. (Hopefully you have enough edible scones left over from your experiment to drown your sorrows in.)
Not a scone fan? You can do the same with two trays of cupcakes, two (or more) regular cakes, a few loaves of bread – you get the idea. (Or you could try the sliced bread method below.)
Just pop them on different shelves and cook them as normal, then check for inconsistencies in their colour and doneness.
If your oven doesn't have fan-forced mode, you'll need to stick to just one shelf at a time.
In most ovens, shelves two and four are the best positions
Fiona Mair, CHOICE kitchen expert
"Where you place the baking trays is also very important when cooking across multiple shelves," says Fiona.
"To get the best heat distribution, you need to know which shelves to use. In most ovens, shelves two and four are the best positions, as this allows the fan to circulate the heat evenly."
The stark difference between these two roast chickens means the oven isn't cooking evenly.
Cook a chook
Another way that Fiona tests heat distribution is to roast a whole chicken or two.
This is another great way to assess whether your oven is cooking evenly: because the chicken is a non-uniform shape (ie, it's thicker in some parts than others), any issues with heat distribution will be more obvious.
Look for variations in browning, burnt sections, undercooked meat, skin that's crisped in some sections but not others, and dried-out meat.
Most importantly, use a meat thermometer to check whether the meat is cooked to a safe temperature. This can not only prevent food poisoning; it will also show whether your oven is cooking different sections of the chicken at the same rate or not.
This grill 'heat map' shows a significant discrepancy between one side of the grill and the other.
Get grilling
Wondering why your grill isn't so brill? You can check whether it's cooking evenly by laying out slices of bread on a tray and giving them a blast under the grill.
The results will effectively be a heat map, showing you which parts of your grill are doing their job and which parts aren't.
If your oven is new and it's doing this, contact the retailer or manufacturer; a new oven should be cooking properly from the get-go.
If your oven is older, you may need to call out a service person to try to repair it – or you could just do all your grilling under the sections that you know actually work.
CHOICE tip: Besides testing your grill, you can also use sliced bread to assess whether the rest of your oven is cooking evenly. Just lay the slices out over a couple of trays and cook them on different shelves for the same length of time.
So your oven isn't cooking evenly. What now?
As Fiona says above, these tests will tell you what's going wrong with your oven, but not what to do about it.
Once you've identified that your oven isn't distributing heat evenly, you have a few options, depending on the age of your oven, your budget, how much time you have, and what (and how often) you like to cook.
Some manuals include troubleshooting tips, so give them a go before you give up on your oven
Fiona Mair, CHOICE kitchen expert
"Before you do anything, take a look at your oven's instruction manual and make sure you're using it correctly," says Fiona.
"Every oven is different, so it can take a bit of practice to get used to a new one. And some ovens have dedicated functions for specific foods – if you haven't read the manual, you won't know the best function to choose for a perfectly-crisp pizza base or light and fluffy cakes.
"Some manuals also include troubleshooting tips, so give them a go before you give up on your oven."
How to identify the problem
Wait! We're not suggesting that you start pulling the oven apart yourself. But before you call out a technician, check a few parts of the oven to see if the problem is visible.
- Carefully take a quick look at the oven when it's on: In an electric oven, you should be able to see the top and bottom elements glowing red. If you have a gas oven, it should produce a visible flame; check to see if it's burning evenly.
- Check the temperature sensor: this looks like a thin metal tube, and it measures the internal temperature. If it's been knocked out of place then it might not work properly. Make sure it isn't touching the oven wall; if it is, move it slightly away from the wall. If you've tried this and your oven still has hot and cold spots, the sensor may need to be replaced.
- Assess air flow: if your oven can't circulate air properly, it'll end up with hot and cold spots. Double-check the fan to make sure that it's not obstructed.
- Inspect the seal: a well-sealed oven will retain heat more evenly. If your oven seal is perished or damaged, it won't cook well. Having it replaced will be well worth the effort.
- Recalibrate: there could be a discrepancy between the temperature you've selected and what the oven thinks you've selected. You may be able to recalibrate your oven – check the manual for instructions.
Some oven problems just can't be fixed, but there are plenty of parts that can be replaced to give your oven a new lease of life
Fiona Mair, CHOICE kitchen expert
"It's worth considering repairing your oven rather than just replacing it. Seals, thermostats, elements, sensors and fans can be reasonably affordable to replace and will get your oven up and running again."
However, once your oven is more than 10 years old, it could be more difficult and more expensive to repair than replace. Here's how long your appliances should last.
Hacks to make your oven cook more evenly
Whether you're a renter who's stuck with a crummy oven, you're feeling the pinch and can't afford a new one right now, or if your patchy oven isn't causing you a huge headache, you'll need to work with what you've got.
Here are some of Fiona's top tips to help your oven distribute heat more evenly.
Stick to the middle rack
For most dishes, putting your tray in the middle of the oven is your best bet to ensure good air flow around the food.
Turn up the (pre)heat
Make sure you give your oven plenty of time to warm up before you start cooking – allow at least 10 minutes (but check your oven's instructions as preheat times can differ between models).
Preheating your oven will give you a better rise, texture and more even browning
Fiona Mair, CHOICE kitchen expert
"Preheating is especially important when baking cakes, pastries and biscuits," says Fiona.
"If your oven is the right heat from the moment you put them in, you'll get a better rise, texture and more even browning."
Don't overdo itMake sure you haven't overloaded the oven with pans, dishes and trays – otherwise the hot air won't be able to circulate around the oven properly.
Space it out
Just like overcrowding, having baking tins too close together will prevent the hot air from circulating properly. Leave at least 3cm between each tin, and between the tins and oven walls.
Opening your oven during cooking will leave you with unevenly cooked food.
Shut the door!
Every time you open the oven door, hot air escapes and the temperature drops, affecting the heat distribution. Resist the urge to open the door until at least half the cooking time has elapsed.
If you're a serial door-opener, look for an oven that has good visibility – we rate how easy it is to view food cooking through the oven door in our detailed oven reviews.
If you can't see through the glass for all the grime, give it a clean: here's our expert guide to cleaning your oven.
"If your oven light bulb has blown, replace it," says Fiona.
"In most ovens you'll be able to change the globe yourself. It's not difficult to do – it's just a matter of getting the right one."
Rotate it
If you know your oven cooks unevenly, stay one step ahead by turning the tray during cooking so the food has a chance to cook on all sides.
Even things out
If you're cooking, say, roast potatoes or chicken wings, they're going to cook far more evenly if they're a similar size and shape.
Light or dark?
"Using the correct trays and pans can make a difference to your cooking," says Fiona.
"Dark trays and baking dishes will absorb heat so you'll get more intense browning on the bottom of your baked goods.
"A lighter-coloured, shiny pan will expose the contents to a lower temperature on the bottom. You may also need to adjust the oven to find the perfect temperature."
Choose the right function
"Multifunction ovens have many modes; knowing which one works best for the food you are cooking will give better results," says Fiona.
"For instance, if you're using multiple shelves, use fan forced mode."
We explain everything you need to know about oven settings and symbols.
What to do if your new oven isn't cooking evenly
"If you've just bought a new oven, it's reasonable to expect that it'll do a great job from the first time you use it," says Fiona.
"But if it's not up to scratch, contact the retailer or manufacturer and tell them what's happening.
Under the Australian Consumer Law, you're entitled to a refund, replacement or remedy if something you buy is faulty
"They should take some action to remedy the problem, either by sending someone out to look at the oven, giving you some tips to help it cook more evenly or, if the oven's performance is especially poor, giving you a refund or replacement."
Under the Australian Consumer Law, you're entitled to a refund, replacement or remedy if something you buy is faulty. See what to do with a faulty product.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
