On Mon, 3 Mar 2014 20:39:26 -0600, "Polly Esther"
> wrote:

>I was reading some Alton Brown and he has this to say about pre-heating the
>oven. IF you set the oven for a temp and it dings and tells you it has
>reached temp, it has. BUT when you open the oven door, much of that nice
>hot air will escape. IF you're baking something that must have the correct
>temp, you need to pre-heat for at least 20 minutes. That way, the oven's
>floor, walls, ceiling, back and assorted other parts will be heated enough
>to maintain temperature even after you open the oven door and insert the
>'grand recipe'.
> Of course, some of you already know everything but it seemed to me that
>this might be helpful to those of you who are hoping to duplicate the
>perfect cornbread, pound cake or meringue like Moma used to make. Polly

It's easy to set the oven thermostat like 25ºF higher when heating the
oven, then after placing the food in to cook turn the thermostat down.