Having an accurately calibrated oven is critical for consistent and reliable cooking and baking. If your oven runs hot or cold, you’ll end up with undercooked or overcooked foods. An easy way to improve your baking is to make sure your gas oven temperature matches the number you see on the display or dial.
Calibrating your gas oven is a straightforward process that involves checking the actual temperature with an oven thermometer and then adjusting the calibration setting so the temperature dial/display aligns with the true temperature inside the oven. With a few tools and these step-by-step instructions, you can accurately calibrate your oven’s temperature for perfect baking results every time.
The temperature you set your gas oven to is often different from the actual temperature inside the oven. This variance between the target temperature and actual temperature is normal in most ovens, especially after years of use. However, an inaccurately calibrated oven temperature can lead to:
- Under or overcooked baked goods
- Uneven cooking/baking
- Dry, burnt edges or uncooked centers in cakes, cookies, etc.
- Improperly risen breads and pizza dough
- Ruined recipes that require precise temperatures
Calibrating your oven ensures that the temperature you select on the external controls matches the true heat of the oven’s interior. This allows for consistent, even cooking and baking with predictable, high-quality results.
Why Calibrate a Gas Oven?
Gas oven temperatures can drift out of calibration over years of use. Components like thermostats, thermcouples, and heating elements degrade slowly over time. An oven thermometer can reveal if your set temperature and actual internal oven temperature no longer match up.
Calibrating the oven realigns the oven’s internal thermometer with its heating mechanism. This adjusts the oven’s internal thermostat to compensate for sensor drift. After calibration, your oven will heat to the correct temperature when set to 350°F, 425°F or any other target temp.
How Often Should You Calibrate Your Oven?
Most ovens should be calibrated every few years to account for sensor drift over many heating and cooling cycles. If you notice symptoms of inaccurate temperatures like uneven cooking, it’s best to test your oven’s actual temperature with a thermometer and recalibrate it if necessary.
For casual bakers who only use the oven every so often, calibrating every 5 years is sufficient in most cases. If you bake frequently (weekly or more) then calibrating every 2-3 years is a good rule of thumb. Always refer to your owner’s manual for specific calibration recommendations.
Step 1: Gather Tools and Materials
Calibrating a gas oven is a simple procedure that only requires a couple tools and materials:
- Oven thermometer
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Pencil and paper (optional)
Oven Thermometer
An oven-safe thermometer is the most important tool for checking your oven’s actual internal temperature. Look for a thermometer that can handle temperatures between 200°F and 500°F accurately. Most come with a metal probe on a 2-4 foot cable that you keep outside the oven while the probe end rests inside.
Screwdriver
A basic Phillips head screwdriver allows you to remove the oven’s temperature sensor housing to locate the calibration adjustment.
Pencil and Paper
Writing down the target temperature, actual initial temperature, and calibration adjustments can be helpful if your oven requires significant adjustment.
Now that you’ve gathered the necessary tools, you can move onto preheating your oven to test and adjust the temperature.
Step 2: Prepare the Oven
Before preheating, you’ll want to insert the oven thermometer probe and allow it to reach equilibrium with the gas oven temperature.
Follow these instructions to set up the thermometer probe inside your gas oven:
- Place an oven rack in the center position of the oven cavity.
- Lay the thermometer probe on the rack, with the metal probe pointing up but not touching any oven surfaces.
- For best results, position the probe near the oven’s existing temperature sensor. This location is usually found on the top, front wall of the oven.
- Run the thermometer’s external cable or stem underneath the oven door to keep it slightly ajar. Don’t let the oven door fully close and pinch the cable!
- Proceed to preheating the oven with the probe in place.
Positioning the thermometer probe takes just a minute or two. With your tools in place inside the oven, you can now move onto Step 3.
Step 3: Preheat the Oven
To properly test your oven’s temperature accuracy, you’ll want to preheat it fully with the oven thermometer probe inside.
Follow these instructions to preheat your gas oven:
- Close the oven door gently on the thermometer probe cable. Do not pinch it fully shut.
- Set your oven temperature to 350° F using the external controls. This is a standard target temperature for many baking recipes.
- Allow the oven to fully preheat, which typically takes 15-20 minutes.
- Do not open the door during preheating. The probe cable prevents full closure anyway.
- Wait for the oven to reach target temp and for the gas burner to cycle off for the first time before checking the probe.
The preheating process brings the oven up to the target temperature, which gives you an accurate baseline reading from the thermometer probe once achieved.
As the oven preheats, the stovetop burners will ignite at full capacity. This allows the oven to heat up quickly and efficiently.
Once it reaches the target temp of 350° F, the burners will turn down lower to maintain this internal temperature.
Give your oven about 20 total minutes of preheating to reach stabilization at the target temp before checking the accuracy in the next step. This ensures the probe reading is fully accurate and not still climbing.
Step 4: Check Thermometer Reading
After allowing 20-30 minutes for your oven to fully preheat to the target temperature, check the reading on your oven thermometer.
Carefully observe the probe temperature reading without opening the oven door. Compare this probe temperature to the target value you set the oven to preheat to.
See the following scenarios:
- If the probe temp matches the target temp, then your oven is properly calibrated! For example, if you set your oven to 350°F and after preheating, the probe also reads 350°F.
- If the probe temp is above the target temp, your oven runs hot. For example, you set the oven to 350°F but the probe reads 375°F after preheating.
- If the probe temp is below the target temp, your oven runs cold. For example, you set the oven to 350°F but the probe reads only 325°F after preheating.
In either of the latter two scenarios where the probe temperature does not equal the target preheat temperature, your oven requires calibration adjustment.
The target temperature most ovens display represents the air temp at the oven’s internal thermostat, which likely differs from the air temp at other locations inside the oven. For accuracy through this process, calibrate based on the probe’s reading since it’s measuring the actual air temp experienced by food placed in cooking vessels in the oven.
If your probe temp does not match the set target temp, proceed immediately to the temperature calibration process in Step 5 while the oven is still fully preheated.
Step 5: Accessing Temperature Calibration
If your probe thermometer revealed your actual oven temperature does not match the target temp, then it requires adjustment through the calibration process. Your oven will have a calibration/offset adjustment that alters the internal thermostat to fix this temperature mismatch.
To access the actual calibration setting, you must remove the outer temperature sensor housing inside your oven. The calibration mechanism is contained directly on this sensor hardware itself in most gas ovens.
Use the following steps to carefully access the calibration controls:
- Locate Temperature Sensor: Open oven door slightly to locate existing temperature sensor/thermostat housing. It will look like a small metal box 1-2 inches wide on the top or side oven wall.
- Remove Sensor Housing Screw: Use Phillip’s head screwdriver to remove retaining screw holding the temp sensor outer cover in place. Caution – the screw and housing may still be very hot!
- Slide out Housing: Gently slide temperature sensor housing directly outwards away from oven wall to expose cable connections.
- Locate Calibration Control: Exposed sensor should have either a physical dial, small control knob, or button for oven temp calibration. This adjusts an internal electrical offset. Do not touch any wires or connections!
With the temperature sensor housing slid out and calibration controls physically accessed, you have direct access to adjust the oven’s internal thermostat as needed in Step 6.
Step 6: Make Calibration Adjustments
Your specific oven’s calibration mechanism may function slightly differently but generally functions the same to alter an electrical control signal offset. This offset adjusts the perceived “set temperature” up or down.
Refer to your actual oven thermometer probe reading from Step 4 that revealed if your oven runs hot or cold.
Use the following calibration adjustment guidelines during this process:
- If your oven runs hot (set temp less than probe temp), then turn calibration lower to reduce perceived temp. For example, set point 350°F but probe reads 375°F means reduce calibration setting.
- If your oven runs cold (set temp higher than probe temp), then turn calibration higher to increase perceived temp. For example, set point 350°F but probe reads 325°F means increase calibration setting.
- Adjust incrementally in small increments of 5 or 10 degrees F. Allow the oven to stabilize between adjustments.
- Write down each adjustment and probe reading if altering calibration significantly.
- Set to a new target temp and test after adjustment to check new probe reading.
Continue adjusting in small increments and retesting with the probe until the target preheat temperature equals the stabilized probe reading.
For example, your oven may have required lowering calibration setting by -25 degrees F to stabilize probe reading to 350°F after originally reading 375° higher.
Be patient, adjust slowly, and measure accurately as you calibrate so you achieve an exact temperature match between target and probe reading.
Step 7: Retest and Save Calibration
Once your temperature probe reading exactly matches the target preheat temperature you set on the oven, you have successfully calibrated your gas oven!
Before putting the calibration access cover back on, be sure to do the following:
- Retest oven by setting another target temp, allowing to preheat, and verifying probe temp matches
- Refer to manufacturer instructions to officially save any digital calibration offsets, if applicable. This saves adjustments to memory.
- Record your calibration adjust language somewhere handy in case it ever reverts.
- Allow oven and probe to fully cool.
- Carefully slide temperature sensor housing back into wall opening until flush and replace small retaining screw.
With your calibration now complete, your gas oven’s actual temperature should match the desired set points much more accurately during cooking and baking. Always leave your thermometer probe inside the oven while baking as an independent temperature reference.
Over time the calibration may slowly drift off again so repeat this process every few years. Catching and adjusting a severely miscalibrated oven can rescue lost cooking performance and dramatically improve baking!
Conclusion
Maintaining an accurately calibrated gas oven temperature is vital for achieving cooking and baking consistency. An out-of-calibration oven leads to under and overcooked foods.
Thankfully, calibrating gas ovens is straightforward with an oven thermometer and just a few adjustments. Following this guide’s step-by-step process allows you to professionally calibrate your home gas oven in about an hour.
Remember, calibrating about every 2-5 years keeps your oven maintaining accurate set point temperatures as mechanical and electrical components age. Adjust sooner if you notice symptoms like uneven cooking.