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Reader Tyler Morgan shared an article on Why Your Oven Temperature Is Not Accurate (and How to Fix It). If you suspect your oven temperature is not what you set it at (perhaps because your bread/cakes are coming out underdone or taking too long to cook) the easiest fix is to buy a cheap oven thermometer and go by its reading, not the stated temperature on the oven gauge. A more complex challenge happens when zones of the oven are hotter than others, a subject we explored in How to find hot spots in your oven.
That post was written shortly after we bought our 48 inch BlueStar range, which has both a major oven that will hold a full sheet pan and a second oven for simpler tasks such as heating leftovers or keeping food warm during service. Five years in, we use the small oven almost exclusively. Temps are accurate and consistent throughout, except at the very back. That zone runs about 25 degrees hotter, possibly due to heat reflected off the back wall.
The main oven, per our test, had hot spots in the right rear and left front. Your mileage may vary; Tom Thibeault, then of BlueStar, said his spots are top front and bottom rear. His wife Michelle Hines Abram Thibeault, who uses their oven for her catering business, advises simply cooking with the convention fan which solves the hot spot problem by redistributing heat around the food. If you go this route, remember to set the oven temp at 25 degrees lower than the setting you’d use without convection.
We continue to be very happy with our BlueStar which has had zero mechanical problems, in contrast to Old Thermy which was constantly breaking down. Our favorite feature may be the low-BTU burner which we adjusted (easy) to burn even lower. We use it the same way restaurant cooks use the pilot light, to keep stocks and sauces warm and at a food safe temperature. Also a fan of the stovetop broiler which we used a lot during our past miserable winter; to do this you need good ventilation such as the massive solid brass Abbaka vent hood that Tom took on as a project to rebuild. Abbaka has sent been acquired by BlueStar, which should make matching range and hood an easier process (though not exactly cheap).
