The gas station burrito that made me check my oven thermometer

I was at a QuickTrip off I-35 last Tuesday getting gas and a breakfast burrito, and the cashier said 'that microwave is 50 degrees off, that's why your burrito is cold in the middle and lava on the edges.' It hit me right then that I have been blaming myself for burnt cookies and undercooked chicken for literally two years. Got home and checked my oven with a cheap probe thermometer I bought at Walmart for like 8 bucks. Sure enough my oven was running 40 degrees hotter than what I set it to. All those ruined sheet pans of burnt toast and hockey puck biscuits were not my fault after all. Now I keep a thermometer in there all the time and adjust the temp based on what it actually says. Has anyone else found a massive temperature swing in their home oven that totally explained their burnt disasters?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_johnson9d ago

Forty degrees off? That's a whole different world in there. Makes me wonder how many perfectly good casseroles and roasted veggies I've ruined thinking I just couldn't cook right. Checking with a $8 thermometer is a smart move, I might have to grab one myself now. Really puts things in perspective when a gas station cashier knows more about your kitchen appliances than you do.

alice2699d agoTop Commenter

Feel you on that ruined casserole thing. I had a terrible run with a batch of cookies that kept burning on the bottom while staying raw in the middle, and I just figured I was messing up the recipe somehow. Turns out my oven was running 25 degrees hot, which explains a whole lot. That $8 thermometer was the best thing I ever bought for my kitchen, its wild how much it changes everything.