Troubleshooting My Baking

Even tho it's usually on point, I still use a thermometer in my electric wall oven - it's better than nothing.

And FWIW, long ago I stopped making banana bread as a loaf and make it in muffin tins instead - takes only about 20 minutes, so they don't get so dark and crack the way a loaf will.

And I just use the old toothpick method to determine doneness.

I make banana bread fairly often. Can you post the recipe just for comparison sake? You mentioned ”shiny” for your pans. Are they also light in color? It does make me wonder about your oven temp and baking time. I’m not sure about the repairman’s comment regarding oven thermometers not being accurate. I’ve not found that to be correct.

Sometimes it is just the recipe. I could never get my mom’s recipe to turn out right. It just wouldn’t get done in the middle without being overly cooked on the outside. I started using my current recipe and all was fine.

Where do you position your oven rack?

One other thought…does your recipe call for baking soda or baking powder? Mine calls for baking soda due to the addition of sour cream. I also sometimes use half granulated/half brown sugar. Not sure but a quick online check mentioned a darker color with baking soda.

For more even baking, try baking it at 325 degrees and use dampened baking strips to keep the sides from overbrowning. I made strips with a cut-up tea towel and aluminum foil. You can also try heating rods that go into the batter like the ones sold by Fat Daddios.

Good news! Even a junky oven can usually be coaxed into most baking tasks. Egg rising things like souffle, pâté á choux, and angel food, maybe not, but basic cakes, sure.

Are you using convection? If so, turn it off! If not, there's still hope.

Yes, baking soda will brown, but IME it's more about the tops of cookies than the pan side edges of cakes. Too dark also, IME, really is a temperature thing. My much more horrific oven of old required three different thermometers, in different spots, but even the cheap grocery store ones were accurate (tested in a highly accurate oven by me) within a couple of degrees, which is good enough for basic baking.

Bundt pans are heavy and dark, which positively screams bake crust too fast. This is kind of necessary to get the even golden bundt crust one wants, serving the traditional way with no icing, but the original 16 cup pan is huge! I don't know if yours is smaller, but even 12 cup might need help. I don't know if it helps insulate the crust, but I grease and flour my bundt, which is my mother's old one and beat up. It doesn't non-stick anymore. I also have smaller glass. Not as good a crust, but they work by being clear.

Cakes will bake well as low as (accurately) 320°F up to 375°F. The art is finding the sweet spot with your oven, recipes and pans. Even with bundt and loaf pans (my banana bread comes out fine in shiny ones and gray coated ones), insulating strips or dough wraps could help. And/or go even lower temperature than you've tried, for longer.

Especially if these are the same pans from before this house, and the same recipes, the issue has to be figuring out the current oven. Every oven is weird at first. Good luck!

“For example, basic cakes, pumpkin bread, cookies and biscotti always turn out great.”

That makes it more curious to me. It seems an oven issue would factor in with those items, too.

Not necessarily—volume and density are factors. I had similar issues with the horrid oven, especially with bundt.. That said, you make a very good point, Chloebud.

Just thinking of an oven we used to have. I can’t say for sure regarding bundt cakes, but issues with quick breads (pumpkin, banana, cranberry, etc.) were pretty consistent. It certainly didn’t just happen with banana bread. That oven truly was odd. Can’t believe I put up with it as long as I did.

Thanks, everyone, for all the great suggestions and thoughts. I think after reading what you've all said, it has to be my oven running hot. I will go back to experimenting with the thermometer.

To address some questions/comments:

I could post a recipe, but it happens with ANY banana bread recipe. I do have better luck with muffins, but I watch them like a hawk and they're always done before the indicated time.

The bundt cake I've been making is the Dorie Greenspan one. It's delicious and I highly recommend! The Best Banana Bundt Cake (Dorie Greenspan) Recipe - Food.com

My pans are light in color. I have even worse results with dark pans so replaced them with light pans several years ago.

My bundt pan is 12 cups. I haven't made a ton of bundts in my life, so I can't recall what color they were - and would have used a different pan, so unfortunately, I can't compare to previous experience with my current pan in a different oven.

The recipes I've been using call for baking soda, along with sour cream or yogurt.

I position the rack where the recipe indicates, but lately, I've been putting it in the bottom third of the oven - heating element is above.

I haven't tried cake strips - I will do that. I will also trying lowering the oven temperature.

I think the biscotti is super forgiving - it can go a bit dark and then I'll just bake less time during the second bake. I think cookies have less surface area in contact with the pan, but even the bottoms don't tend to get dark. I do intentionally under bake a bit then leave them on the pan for a couple of minutes after removing from the oven, so maybe that prevents them from getting too dark. The pumpkin bread has a whole can of pumpkin in it, so it's super moist - maybe that's a factor in it working out better?

There is a chocolate cake I like to make because it always turns out, even in this problematic oven: The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe {Ever} - Add a Pinch

Thanks again! Heading back to the kitchen this weekend to experiment!

”Heating element is above“? Baking, your heat should come from below. Newer ovens have hidden bottom elements to keep the spills off, but you should be able to change settings to turn on bottom only. That's the most basic oven setting. Perhaps you're using that, on the selector, and just didn't see the element, and it's just the too hot that's the issue. If your oven truly has no bake setting, or you haven't been able to find it, no wonder you're having trouble. Sometimes engineers try to improve on reality, so I can imagine they did this on purpose, but if you don't have the manual, you should be able to find it as a PDF on the GE website. Or call cutomer service, and ask them to at least look it up for you. Because it's most likely there, hiding from you. The oven may also be too hot in general, but I think you'll get better results with bottom heat and adjusting the temperature, if so.

Your other results are consistent with this, and I think your interpretation sounds right. And the Add a Pinch chocolate cake is awesome! My go-to, as well. :)

Look on the edge of the oven side or side of door for the model and serial number. It has always been on the left side of my GEs. Then search for your instruction book online. It does sound like it has gor reprogramed to broil only? Yes, a lot of the new GE have the bottom coil under the bottom of the oven.

I have GE double ovens and they do have heating elements on the bottom, but they may be newer than the OPs.

I agree with lowering the heat, I do that with some cakes so that I can avoid overbrowning, it took some adjustment to move from my gas oven to my electric ones.

Annie