I still think the $20 oven thermometer was the best bread money I ever spent, fight me | Bread Baking Basics

Eva Gibson · 2026-10-17T18:50:03.150258+00:00

Everyone on here keeps saying a dough scraper or a $90 banneton is the first thing to buy, and I just don't buy it. I baked for 5 months at home near Albany with a nice stone and a decent loaf pan and my bread kept coming out pale on the bottom and gummy in the middle. I figured it was my starter or my folding. Then I grabbed a cheap $20 hanging oven thermometer from a hardware store, stuck it in, and my oven runs 35 degrees colder than the dial claims. So every recipe I followed was actually baking at like 415 instead of 450. Once I started trusting the real number and bumping it up, my crust finally browned and I stopped getting that dense crumb. The fancy tools are nice, but knowing your actual temp is free info that changes everything. Has anyone else checked their oven and found it way off, or am I just cursed with a junk apartment stove?

The Community Guide

Loading…

I still think the $20 oven thermometer was the best bread money I ever spent, fight me | Bread Baking Basics - The Community Guide