Baking and Oven Temperature

I'm finding out the oven in my new home is not accurate. When the beeper goes off to let me know the oven temperature reached what I set the oven for, I check my thermometer inside the oven and often discover a big gap. For example, today I'm baking bread and set the oven for 475; when the beeper sounded, my thermometer ready 400 degrees. I cranked up the oven setting to 500 but after another hour, the oven thermometer only read 450.

This oven may not be capable of reaching high temperatures and this probably affected some of my early baking in this oven. I installed the thermometer after noticing my breads weren't turning out as I expected. So lesson learned - always use a good oven thermometer and do not rely on the oven's temperature gauge or preheat beeper. Of course, all this assumes my oven thermometer is correct:)

My no-knead walnut bread after 2nd rise.

Right out of the oven which never got above 450.

The resulting loaf doesn't appear to large as it should be. I'll cut into it tomorrow but am guessing the oven temperature affected the bread.