I know it sounds silly that I write an entire post on this but check these stats out:
- Since I started blogging, I have received 134 emails in total, with questions, comments, suggestions, etc
- 88 of them are baking-related questions
- 32 of them asked oven-related questions
- 18 of them are about pre-heating an oven
So, how do we pre-heat an oven. Its really very simple, in fact too simple, which is probably why many people have questions about it.
2 Steps to Pre-Heat your Oven
Step 1: Remove everything from the oven except the oven racks. Position them in the middle (where I leave them by default unless the recipe specifies otherwise). Turn on the oven and set the temperature to what the recipe specifies. Don't worry, nothing will explode! (Been there, feared that)
For eg: if it says "bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C / 350F" then that means you should turn your oven on to 180C / 350F. If your oven uses Gas, then there will be gas marks on the oven, just go online to get a conversion from centigrade or fahrenheit to gas mark.
Step 2: In most ovens, there will be a light or a "ping" indicator that changes colour or makes a ping noise when the oven has reached the desired temperature. This should take roughly 10-15 mins depending on temperature so turn on the oven mid-way through the preparation steps.
Most recipes call that as the first step but I usually find that too early so I do it mid-way through the preparation of the dough or batter or whatever.
That's it! Once your oven is pre-heated, place your item in and bake till done!
But wait, I hear some of you saying that your oven doesn't have a temperature knob. My mom has been using one of those for over 30 years. There's only an on-off button and absolutely nothing else, not even a light that goes green or orange. Its still okay, you can bake beautifully in this oven too. Just make sure you turn on the oven for a good 10 mins before placing the batter/dough in it to bake. Keep an eye on the time (as mentioned in recipe) and also the appearance of the baked item. For a cake, make sure you check if its rising, you can also try inserting a skewer to see if its coming out clean. If you need to, stop the oven for a bit, check and then re-start if its not done. Just make sure you are quick about it.
If you have any further questions, leave a comment and I will do an FAQ post 🙂
lee
hello, lee here. I'm gonna bake a chocolate cake for the first time and too excited to do it 🙂 , but a major confusion is most of the recipes says pre-heat at 350/180 thats all and no specific time, but from your replies i got to know to pre-heat it for 10-15 minutes but my doubt is after pre-heating we keep the cake pan with batter in oven and then bake for how long and on what temperature?
(question repeating - After preheating how long to keep the cake batter and on what temperature? )
that would be great if you reply for this, please and sincere thanks. 🙂
nags
here's a link on how to preheat your oven. so after you pre-heat, follow recipe instructions on how much time to bake the item. for preheating, leave the oven empty.
Kanika
Hello,
I wanted to know a simple thing. Do I heat the oven from below or give it heat from above ar both.
I wanted to bake brownies.
Thank you
nags
heat from both sides
sireesha
hi this is sireesha we had bajaj 1701 MT solo oven can we make a cake in that if yes could you please tell the process because the oven has not having any temperature system only time knob and cooking levels knob is there so can you please leave a comment on this
nags
sorry! i am not familiar with that oven
sweta sarda
Hi..I have an OTG which is 17 years old ....It has low medium and high temperature settings..Is there any device through which I can know it's temperature....Some times it is ready difficult to bake in it..
nags
yes, just buy an oven thermometre
Dree
Thank you for the tips. I'm really afraid to use my mom's oven as it doesn't have preheat option. Is it ideal to preheat the oven for 10mins? I have this fear of letting things (i.e. Stove, oven) on without anything in it. ????
nags
haha don't fear. You can totally leave it on for 10-12 minutes to let it preheat
Mandakini
hi...
I love ur blog..Thank u So much for providing the useful contents....Recipes and U both are beautiful......thank u....
nags
🙂
Simi
Thanx for the tios though.. but there is one more question which I wonder sometimes if it is only me who has it.
They say pre-heat the oven to 180 at 35 mins.. So does that mean whilst we are in the process of preparing the cake batter we set it and the next 5mins we place the cake battee in the oven.doesn't it vary the baking temp of the cake?
Thanks for all your tips ????
supriya
hi i read your comments i wanted to know I have a oven bajaj and it has microoven and convenction i have no idea how to turn the knob on as the temperature doesnt read out as per the receipe shown for eg 200 degree it shows 2:00 if you want i can post a pic of the oven please help me
Priti
Tried it.. turned nice n it's jus my first attempt.. thanks
paramita Ghosh
When I set to preheat my lg oven I saw hot wind r passing.is it passing hot wind?
nags
yes that's normal when the oven is heating up