Try Intensive with the rack on the lowest rung. Uneven results can come from shaping or uneven heat. Intensive provides more heat from the bottom so it might help.

Thanks for the idea. I use a bread/pizza stone do you think that causes any interference? Also do you think the Intensive mode plus baking stone will generate too much heat on the bottom?

I use the stone only for pizza and calzones, naan etc. and with intensive.

Intensive won't generate too much heat with the stone for those.

I don't personally use the stone when I'm baking something in/on a metal pan. Depends on how you're baking the challah and if it's freeform on parchment you're slipping onto the stone or risen in a pan/mold.

IME most doughs need heat from the bottom to max out the rise during the first 15 minutes of baking, before they start to set. That's why I prefer intensive.

I use convection bake for cookies and cakes or multiple rack baking as I find it to be gentler heat (though others use it for bread.)

Also, depending who did the install, I'd suggest calling Miele tech support and have them walk through the steps to be sure the oven is not set on 208 power. I was surprised that mine was as it worked just fine but it's better on the proper setting (either 220 or 240). It will take 15 minutes to double-check that.

Some things require bottom heat, not convection. Souffles and popovers definitely do. Try rococogurl's suggestion and just use bottom heat.

I know the oven was correctly set on 240v. Did that check once a long while ago. Wonder if something like a black out, or whatever could make it revert back to 208. As Miele does best...most of my temps read a good 15 - 25 degrees lower on a good Taylor oven thermometer with the exception of convection. HHmmmm.

Does the Miele have a lower fan setting? Our new Viking ovens a convection bake as well as a convection cycle; it's great because convection bake runs the fan at half speed. That means no flying parchment or curved cookies; a nice feature. A lot of people aren't prepared for the fact that foods baked in the convection oven are often done on the edge near the door first; the fan blows the air straight across from the back, and the bounce off the door can create a hot spot there.

My oven has survived power outages and the break in the main electrical line with no reversion. Can't say it wouldn't but it should be ok.

There's a learning curve on those settings and some of it depends on recipes, baking pans and even the particular oven. They say to lower the temp 25 degrees but I did at first and now I don't. I set the temps called for and use their digital readout for the temp guide. I can increase the temp 10 degrees if it seems slow or just cook something 5 mins longer. I haven't found the differentials to be that great. Taylor is an excellent thermometer, however. Use it in my gas oven.

When I do box cake-mixes they always come out right on time & temp. Have you tried one of those to do the box-test?

I do the Sullivan St bakery bread (in the oval Le Creuset) sometimes twice a week. It started to bug me because the dough wasn't consistent -- okay, it's basically thrown in there but when I changed to King Arthur bread flour I found the rise to be more consistent and had improved texture.

For heavier doughs with sugar, high fat content and relatively soft crusts, the hot air circulation with convection isn't optimal. So straight Bake -- a non-convection setting -- might be another setting to explore.

Again, uneven rises can have several causes. Baking on the various modes should help clarify. Trailrunner bakes a lot of challah so perhaps she'll chime in and discuss the setting she uses. I don't recall. Everyone has their own techniques.

momotom -- I've never had the results you describe with my current oven. Nothing at all like that. I don't get hotspots even with black bakeware.

Rococogurl, what is the box test?? Not familiar with it. and what bake setting do you use? My regular bake setting runs at least 25degrees lower via thermometer read so I tend to avoid it. (yes I know there have been many rants on this issue on this board about this topic). Thanks again for all of your help. Much appreciated.

It's quite common for oven thermometers to show a variance in the temp from the digi readout.

So here's the standard a few of us have found to be reasonable. Bake a box of Duncan Hines or Pillsbury cake mix using one of the pan sizes they specify, the exact oven setting and set the timer for the earliest 'done' time. See what happens.

Those companies engineer those mixes for consistency with almost any oven. So it's a good test. The box mix cooks exactly on time in my oven. The browning is extremely even as is the rising. Since it's processed food there will be less variation in results -- it's been engineered to perform. I used convection bake, lowest rack and put pan in the center with no drip pan below -- just one rack in the oven.

If you get uneven browning with the box test, then you likely have an oven issue. If not, then it's probably a matter of finding the right oven mode.

My bake cycle is 15 degrees slow. So I just add the 15 degrees to the setting. When I got this oven I knew I would have to accept a long learning curve. I've got 2 books full of my own recipes that I've made forever and I've had to match them up to the right cooking mode with this oven. It's how I've seen the differences and learned to use the various modes. F.ex. I use intensive most, I use bake and convection bake. I rarely use surround. The diagrams of heat sources in the user manual is the most helpful thing I've found to determine which mode to use. I find their explanations to be bizarre.

Overall, I really love my oven. It's been a very high performer and very dependable. But I'm not convinced that everything needs convection -- for me it's whatever works best.

Here is a link that might be useful: Challah thread

RocGurl, you are wonderful...thanks so much for the extra tutoring and that wonderful thread. I'm going to do the cake mix test and print it out and save the challah thread to my favorites.
Thanks so much again.

I was just browsing and came upon this thread. Rococo beat me to linking the other thread. I don't know what Challah recipe you are using so you might want to try the one I printed. I have to say that I have baked this bread in apt. ovens for the first 4 yrs I made it and then a regular old electric oven in our other house till we moved then it was in the really old electric oven in this house till we got the Miele ovens in 2005. I have always baked it at 350 for 30 minutes and it has baked the same in every oven no matter what I did. I have been lucky I guess.

I almost always use convection bake even though there is no difference in the timing unless you are going to bake something over one hour. Then you will likely see a lessening of the time needed to bake. I never lower the temp as they suggest. I found that led to underbaking every single time.

I have started using surround and really like it. I also love convection roast and have 2 chickens in the oven now in the top. In the bottom I have an apple crostada and it is on convection bake. I wish I had done surround and used my stone....will know next time as I wanted a higher heat on the bottom for this crostada. I will post pics on the other thread later.

I also only use my stone for artisanal breads. Never have used it for anything else also pizza.

The box test is a great idea. So go from there. Try a new recipe and make sure the braid is done with even tension. Also if you would take a pic of the " drift" it would really help as I don't know exactly what you mean. c

Trailrunner, thanks for joining the conversation. I plan to try your recipes. My issue has been when baking breads, and even some simple layer cakes on the Convection Mode, it has produced baked products that rise identically lopsided (in the same direction like boat sails in the wind. i.e., one side is rising higher to the right, and lower on the left.) Baking two loaves side by side, they'd both rise in the identical lopsided manner. Thought it was the blowing of the convection fan causing this.

Many suggested on the King Arthur Baking Circle website, that baking should be done on NON CONVECTION baking modes. Wanted to know if there was an appropriate NON CONVECTION setting to use as I can't figure out the difference between Regular Bake and Surround Bake as these two settings relate to baking. You know how unhelpful the user manual is. And then there is the issue of the off temp readings of regular bake which everyone seems to have complained about. It's only baking that I'm having issues with. Any further comments would be appreciated. Your breads are FABULOUS!!!!!!

Hi guys - can any of you explain what is the difference between SURROUND and INTENSIVE? I often use surround to increase the bottom heat, and have used intensive for pizza per your instructions, but I really don''t fully appreciate the difference. thank you, oh guru miele bakers.

sounds like a fan issue but the proof would be in using straight bake. If it does the same with bake (no convection) then it's some type of uneven heating.

Caroline, I don't believe convection bake heats from top. Just bottom and sides on that one.

Must comment that trailrunner and I have older ovens without self-clean. They seem to have fewer issues.

That said, I'd take pix of what's going on and call miele support. you can email pix to them which is a great way to get results. I had problems with racks that were photographed and sent to them. They were extremely responsive and sent one of their techs out to resolve the issue. Which is how I found out that the ovens are so electronically tricked out that they record the number of hours used. There's really no privacy any more. LOL

My fan runs in the surround mode too.

BAKE is utterly useless - I use convection, surround, and intensive bake or roast only.

Has anyone actually used "bake "only and had success??

thank you Caroline...

oh, and self clean here