Do y'all find that getting the oven temperature that exact is helpful or
necessary? I have an ancient electric oven that gets pretty close to
the right temperature, but who knows if it would do for a test kitchen?
Probably not. 400 degrees is hotter than 350 on that thing, but 350
(on the dial) could easily be 325 or 375 (in reality). I'm not sure.


I have a meat thermometer for checking the doneness of roasts, the sort
you poke into the meat itself. That works for me. I don't go so much
by the estimated time it should take to cook that's listed in the
cookbook. I go by when the meat thermometer says it is done.


For baked goods, I check for browning around the edges and put a clean
fork in the center to see if it comes out clean. I don't bother with
the estimated time the recipe says it should take to bake. This works
for me.


--Lia