How to test temperature in 1960s electric GE Americana range?

[mgresh56]

Hi! (I'm not sure I'm doing this posting thing correctly!) I have a 1960s GE Americana electric range. Yesterday, I cooked a pork roll in its upper oven set to 425...in a Pyrex baking dish lined with aluminum foil. (I'm also no cook, really, so if there's anything I shouldn't have done in the actual basic baking process feel free to call me a bozo.) The Pyrex broke in half at some point during the baking. Now, admittedly, it's an *old* very scratched up dish, so I'm not sure if the dish's integrity played any part in it, but I'm wondering if the oven itself is running wayyyy higher than 425? How do I and what instrument would I use to gauge whether the oven is at the temperature I've chosen? Thank you so much for any advice!!!

 

[DADoES]

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[circlew]

Hi! (I'm not sure I'm doing this posting thing correctly!) I have a 1960s GE Americana electric range. Yesterday, I cooked a pork roll in its upper oven set to 425...in a Pyrex baking dish lined with aluminum foil. (I'm also no cook, really, so if there's anything I shouldn't have done in the actual basic baking process feel free to call me a bozo.) The Pyrex broke in half at some point during the baking. Now, admittedly, it's an *old* very scratched up dish, so I'm not sure if the dish's integrity played any part in it, but I'm wondering if the oven itself is running wayyyy higher than 425? How do I and what instrument would I use to gauge whether the oven is at the temperature I've chosen? Thank you so much for any advice!!!

If you're glass baking dish was scratched, especially deeply, that would make it much more likely to break. This is particularly true if it is the newer soda-lime glass, rather than the older borosilicate glass. The aluminum foil probably didn't help matters, either.

 

[mgresh56]

If you're glass baking dish was scratched, especially deeply, that would make it much more likely to break. This is particularly true if it is the newer soda-lime glass, rather than the older borosilicate glass. The aluminum foil probably didn't help matters, either.

Thanks for replying! This Pyrex baking dish was very likely about 40 or more years old and foggy with scratches. I wondered about the aluminum foil, too . I'm hoping it's just a dish problem and my ignorance in lining it with foil, so I'm going to get one of those gauges another respondant posted to verify it's not a run amok oven. Thank you for taking the time to help me!

 

[mgresh56]

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Thank you! I'm on it! I really appreciate your pointing me in the right direction! Thank you!

 

[combo52]

Testing your oven temperature on a residential range

Put the thermometer in the middle of the rack in the middle of the oven, set the temperature to a common baking temperature you use whether it’s 325 or 375 etc. close the door and turn on the oven. Don’t even bother trying to read the temperature before 20 or 30 minutes as the oven temperature will stabilize and then watch it for the next hour and see if it’s running high or low, etc..

On your GE oven if you find the temperatures off, you just remove the temperature knob and you can reset the temperature on the back of the knob, there’s an adjustment range of about 50° either way. If the temperature is off more than that, you need a new thermostat.

You really should not cook in Pyrex or glass dishes in an oven, the stuff is too likely to break. It doesn’t happen very often, but it can be a real mess. This is why glass cookware is not allowed in restaurants for safety reasons, etc..

I would either use Corningware or metal cookware in an oven for safety.

Good luck let us know how your oven testing works out.

John L