One of the many things that can go wrong for novice bakers is that your oven can be inaccurate. Impress your family and friends by calibrating your oven using phase transitions.
While you can't depend on your oven manufacturer, you can depend on the fact that sugar melts at 366°F (186°C). And since we're impressing friends and family, tell them that sugar transitions from the solid (crystalline) phase to the liquid phase at 366°F.
Here's how you do it:
- Set your oven temperature to 365°.
- Put half a tablespoon of sugar in an ovenproof dish.
- When the oven reaches its target temperature, put the dish in the oven and leave it there for 15 minutes.
- Check to see whether the sugar has melted. Use oven gloves to handle the dish. It may look the same, but it will be really hot! Don't burn yourself!
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| Sugar is still crystalline |
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| Sugar is melting |
Some ovens won't let you set a temperature that's not a multiple of 5. If your oven allows more precise settings, you can keep going to find the exact setting at which the sugar melts.
When I did this, I found that the sugar melted at a setting of 357°. So now I know to set my oven to 9° lower than the temperature I really want.
4 comments:
This is an amazing idea, Simon! And when I compare that fact to the common baking temperature of 350 F, I now will be able to test my oven to compare "melts sugar" with "bakes cookies" to see if my oven is hotter or cooler than expected. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback.
Great article.
Thank you, Adrian.
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