First, I would put a manual thermometer in there and see if the figures you are suspecting are correct. Turn the oven on and bake something you know turns out bad and check the manual temp at regular intervals along the way. This info will help in diagnosing your problem.

I agree. Get an oven thermometer and check it. Someone wrote that in (I think it was) Elux ovens, the temp cycles up and down for a while right after it preheats, and you need to wait a little longer if you want a more constant temp.

The manual says that you can adjust the thermostat yourself which I haven't tried to do because I'm not sure that's the problem. It specifically says not to use oven thermometers like you can buy in the grocery store since they are inaccurate. So...?? I'm not ready to spend a lot of money on one that would be accurate. Ginny...the temp might cycle up and down but 30-45 minutes in it shouldn't be 50 degrees different.

You're absolutely right - a new oven shouldn't be that far off after even 15 minutes.

Concern about thermometer accuracy is also a fair point. I got an oven thermometer at a cooking equipment specialty store. It still wasn't very expensive, I think less than $20. I got it because my book from Cook's Illustrated on The Science of Cooking said that you should use one. (I never knew that.)

Appliance repair guys should have reliable oven thermometers, right? How else could they test the temp? This is a new oven, so can you get a service call under the warranty? I suspect you need one, anyway. That doesn't sound right.

Hi Mark, I have a 6 yr old KA convection oven and I have always had exactly the same issue. My temperature drop is usually more like 30 degrees F. and a slow climb back up. I am sorry that the other posters failed to notice your actual request. Perhaps this was because in spite of your post title, you were slightly unclear of the actual issue which is that the oven temp. indicator appears to register two different values.

Let me be specific about the issue in my oven which (unfortunately for this test) has a convection fan. My oven can be on for any period of time and presumably operating at the displayed temperature, in regular (non-convection) mode. While the door remains closed; if I as rapidly as possible (probably under three seconds) turn the oven off and then back on, it will display a temperature value roughly 30 degrees lower than shown three seconds before and will slowly display a temp rise until 'preheated'. With my convection oven, the fan comes on for the one or two seconds before I can complete restart.

I have spoken with KA to ask about the actual programming of their temp display methods without learning anything useful other than an opinion that the fan was probably creating the drop which I suspect is bogus. I have also observed a curious effect that Usually, as my oven preheats, the display increases in three degree increments at regular intervals until the preset is reached. This suggests that the display may actually be on an artificial timed increase. Interestingly, the reheat often does not follow that pattern. I am not a great cook, but I have not had any obvious failures and I am hoping that my oven is actually maintaining temp.

Might I join Mark, in asking others with modern electronic control ovens (almost everyone here I suspect) to Actually test their own ovens and see if they might be equally surprised to find similar oddities.

Its ridiculous to say a manual thermometer isn't as accurate. Professionals use them as a rule. Get one, use it, and see what the exact pattern is. Then perhaps someone can suggest where to start troubleshooting.

MFatt; No one said . 'a manual thermometer isn't as accurate'. He said '...oven thermometers like you can buy in the grocery store since they are inaccurate'. Those Are often not accurate. The professionals use expensive manual units. Even expensive old mechanical laboratory thermometers can be knocked out of adjustment.

In any case, the original point or question was why did Mark's oven temp reading drop for no apparent reason; and did others have the same effect. I assume that Mark, and certainly I would still be interested in how your oven responds. My guess is that you have no idea since you have not checked.

Ovens do fluctuate after achieving the set temperature. Gas ovens probably fluctuate more than electric ovens - they'll heat a bit higher than the set temperature and then drop below it before the burner reignites - this is so the burner isn't constantly cycling on and off - they probably fluctuate +/- 25 degrees or more.

Electric ovens often beep that they've achieved pre-heat but that's based on the area around the thermostat achieving the temperature, not that the oven has stabilized at that temperature.

I'm a little confused why you would turn your oven off and then immediately turn it back on. When you do that, how long does it take to achieve the set temperature. Also, when you turn it off, is the burner cycling on or off - that may also affect things. It's quite possible that when you turn it back on,you've reset something and it assumes you're below the set temperature and takes it just a bit to figure things out.

If you're really concerned about the temperature of the oven, you need to get an oven thermometer as others have said.

This post was edited by weissman on Thu, Jun 6, 13 at 23:45

I'm a little confused why you would turn your oven off and then immediately turn it back on.

Well, other than for testing, which is the issue now, it would be to change temperature. or just curiosity as to what the temperature might be. Speaking for at least my oven, and I expect yours weissman, once the oven temperature is achieved, the reading remains completely steady at 350 for example, rather than subsequently changing to 354 or down to 340 etc like you just explained and everyone else would expect.

In my case of a 30 degree drop, the display temp begins to rise after a minute or so and increases over several minutes back to the set temp. Since you are usually interested in appliance details weissman, would you be so kind as to actually see how your own oven responds. Either a response of no decrease like you all apparently expect or a dramatic decrease (or perhaps an increase) would be revealing to all of us, don't you think!?

I had a different model - not the induction but gas range - so big grain of salt here.

I did that too - turning the electronic oven control off and then on to see what the oven temperature was at that point. For @chase45, the GE usually displays the set temp, not the actual temperature. It only displays the actual temperature during the first preheat. So, if you want to see what the temp actually is, you cancel and then setup a new "bake" with the same temp again. Then it will tell you the current oven temp.

My oven did that all the time with wild temperature swings but usually quite a bit under the set temp.

chas045 - I have a gas oven without a digital display so I can't really do what you ask. My knowledge of the temperature fluctuation dates back to when I had a repairman in for a different issue years ago - he used an oven thermometer and explained to me about temperature fluctuations. In my case everything cooks as expected - with convection, cooking time is somewhat shortened - so I don't worry about this issue and don't have an over thermometer.

Oven temperature fluctuations have been discussed here before and at some length, and my recollection is there was a thread last fall that was specifically about the ovens in GE induction ranges. (Unfortunately, I cannot find that thread at the moment.)

My late range, a GE Dual Fuel which died last fall, also exhibited the same kind of behavior that Marc has mentioned. However, it did not overbrown/burn things on the upper racks as he mentioned his doing in the other thread on induction power settings. That is what makes me concerned about a possibility that there may be a problem with oven controller board.

On my GE DF, the temperature drop was more like 35F than 50F. Basically, the oven heated up over the set-point, shut off the burners, and, when the temp fell a certain amount (which might be 30 or 50F), turned the elements back on again, and continued to cycle and eventually produced an average heat. So. some difference from the expected heat is to be expected. I've seen reports here of some ovens having swings as much as the 50F that Marc is reporting, but I don't know if that is what the GE induction range's controller is programmed for.

The cycling can be confusing because of the way the display is programed to work. As bmorepanic says, the GE displays shows you their version of actual current oven temperature during the preheat cycle. (Or, at least, it counts up to show you that it is preheating.) Once the oven reaches the pre-heat, the display only shows the set-point temp. It does not show the cycling up and down. Now, you and I might look at the display assume we are seeing the average temperature, but we are not. We are looking at the set-point.

Turn the oven off and then back on, and the oven is in pre-heat mode where it shows its current reading.

The other odd behavior exhibited by my GE DF was something that sometimes occurred when I bumped up the heat. Say, I had been convection roasting at 350F and wanted to boost the heat to 425F. Sometimes the display would immediately drop (to 335F or 340F but sometimes much lower) and then slowly climb to the set the temperature. Sometimes it would just slowly climb from 350F. Other times, it would just seem stuck at 350F. I would have to shut it off and then back on. At that point, the display would show something like 335F and then climb to the new set point.

This behavior got worse over the year before my stove's oven controller board died. Which probably is not a comforting thought. Marc's posting in the other thread mentions problems with things burning on the upper racks of the oven. This suggests to me that the upper heating element is being run for more than just pre-heating when doing non-convection roasting and baking. Thus, I suspect there may be a problem with the oven controller board.

My recollection from the other thread is that Marc has had the GE for 3.5 years which leads me to ask if there is an extended warranty? (I always avoid buying them but they can be handy for this kind of situation.)

This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Jun 7, 13 at 16:03

Thanks everyone ...especially Chas, who "gets it". Today I was making supper and had a casserole in the oven. A half an hour in, out of curiosity I turned the oven off and back on. It started at 308 and I heard the fan come on, and it took a few minutes until it registered 350 again. Again, I appreciate all of your comments and I will figure it out. ..or not. Lol