How To Calibrate Your Oven's Temperature

Calibrating your oven is an important step in ensuring you're always cooking your food properly. If you notice dishes coming out unusually under or overcooked, it may be a good time to do some maintenance! Even if you aren't having any problems it's a good idea to double-check every few months just to be sure.

You can view our video guide on this subject, or read our full text guide below:

The first thing you'll need for this task is an oven thermometer. These may be sold by your local hardware store, but you're going to want to do some looking around for a high-quality model to get the most accurate temperature reading.

To check the temperature of your oven, set it to 350 degrees, allow it to pre-heat and then place an oven thermometer in the oven. Wait until the thermometer settles on a number, that is the true temperature of your oven. If it is exactly 350 degrees then congratulations! Your oven is correctly calibrated. Otherwise, make note of the current difference in temperature, and move on to the calibration stage.

Electronic Ranges:

On your electronic display, there should be a button that allows you to view the Offset Clock. Check your oven's manual if you aren’t sure. Press this button.

Adjust the clock so it properly offsets the difference in the temperature you noted earlier. Once you’ve selected that, lock it in according to your oven's instructions, and it will be incorporated into your oven's temperature reading. That's it! You're good to go.

Manual Ranges:

On manual ranges, there is a temperature sensing bulb that is located inside of the oven, typically close to the sidewall.

Before we make any adjustments with the manual style thermometer, we want to ensure that the temperature sensing bulb is seated firmly in the mounting brackets attached to the side of the oven wall. That there is no damage to that capillary tube that extends out through the back of the wall and also, and that there are no kinks. If this out of position, damaged or sitting flush against the wall of the oven, it won't sense the temperature accurately. So make sure that it is in good shape before you attempt any adjustments.

Manual ranges will typically have a knob which displays the temperature the oven is supposed to be set to. Pull off the knob, and you may see some screws that will allow you to adjust the knob in relation to the temperature setting.

If you have this kind of dial, you can adjust the temperature using a specialized thin flat blade screwdriver which will fit inside of the knob shaft. If it feels too tight, find a smaller model.

Once the screwdriver is inserted you can turn it to adjust the offset (with clockwise typically setting the temperature higher), until the temperature on the dial matches what is inside the oven. If your oven does not fit the typical design described here, please consult your owner's manual for information on how to adjust the oven's temperature offset.

Once you’ve set that, you can replace the knob and your controls are now set!

That's all there is to it! Now you can cook with full confidence that what is displayed on your oven range, is what is inside in the oven. Happy baking!