Oven design affects finished product

[mattl]

I like Pumpkin pies.  I find that I get very different results from different ovens.  Wondered if anyone else has noticed the same.  I feel like I need different ovens for the various things I bake.  The pies for example.  I made 2 a few weeks ago in my kitchen oven it's a sealed Electrolux 30" wall oven.  Pies came out dull and the crusts were a bit soggy.  I made more pies tonight and used my basement range, the good old 59' Frigidaire CI, and they turned out very different.  Nice shiny top, crust crisp - bordering on over done, and the texture was different too.  This is a non - sealed oven.

 

I also bake bread, a sourdough rye.  I use a pan of water to generate steam when I bake it.  It turns out great in the Electrolux but not great in the Frigidaire.  I need a sealed oven for that.  Both ovens are properly calibrated, so I can rule out that as a factor.  Other than having two ovens , how do you resolve the differences?  I've tried using convection on pies in the E'lux, no major improvement.  Tried adding a bit of the broiler element toward the end and it did help a bit but still the finished product is not what I'd expect. Frustrating.

 

[johnrk]

Yep-

I have two ovens and where I notice the difference is in baked goods that rise, particularly breads. Cakes--not as much. I should have said yeast breads. Cornbread, which I'm making this morning, I'll use a particular oven because it comes out better with a beautiful browning on top. And yes, they're both calibrated properly. So I understand.

 

[frigilux]

The double-oven GE 860 I've had since moving to the apartment in August behaves differently than the 2002 and 2014 Frigidaires I had at the house. The GE keeps a tighter rein on temperature and it's very accurate. If a recipe calls for baking at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes the product is nearly always done in 30 minutes. This holds true for both the small upper and larger lower ovens. Products baked in the 2014 Frigidaire--even after recalibration--generally required 37-40 minutes. No complaints about the finished product from either brand, although the GE doesn't bake a sheet of cookies quite as evenly as did the Frigidaires.

Frigidaire's double oven ranges have two ovens of the same size--something I really liked--and both were true convection. Have to admit I use the small upper oven on the GE almost exclusively. I used the larger, lower oven for only the 2nd time when baking Thanksgiving pies last night. In fact, it still gave off that slightly acrid 'new oven smell.' The small oven needs more frequent cleaning, naturally. Things that spatter a bit--trays of skin-on chicken thighs, bacon or meatloaf--dirty the tight quarters of the interior unmercifully. The upper oven will see its third self-cleaning cycle since August in a couple of days.

Back to baking pies in your Electrolux, Matt: Have you experimented with raising the temperature a bit or baking on a lower rack position?

Photo 1: GE JB860
Photo 2: Frigidaire FGEF302

 

[norgeway]

Absolutely

The 59 Westinghouse I'm using now is as good as the big old Norge I had,nothing else has overall been as good, The worst was the Kenmores I have had, they never browned anything worth a darn on top.

 

[norgeway]

BUT

And I know most wont agree with me, the gas ovens I have used were equal to the very best electrics, and better in some instances,Gas bakes a more moist delicate cake.