OVEN ISSUE ?! burnt on top and not cooked inside

[Nanou1]

Hi all. could someone out there confirmed my thoughts that it's not me who is bad at baking but more a problem with my oven.... i think it "heats" too much - if that makes sense? cakes, meringues, cupcakes are always browning at the top in the allocated cooking time but it's hardly ever cooked in the middle. and i put them on the middle shelf. Say i need the oven on 150c for 40 mns. what i would like to try is reduce the heat and cook for longer to see if that works. what do you suggest - based on the above 150c for 40mns? have only had that oven for 2.5 years and have only got into baking since dd is born. bottom line is that maybe i just don;t know how to use an oven but would love to be able to bake a proper birthday cake... a friend asks me if i waited for the red light to come off before putting my mixture in the oven but am not sure it ever stops or maybe 20-30mns after I switch it on... i am to know so little... Many grateful thanks.

I know it sounds stupid but are actually putting the oven on as it sounds like you are just turning the grill on.

Do you allow the oven to 'regulate' i.e. heat up evenly inside before you put the food in? Your friend is right - you should turn it on and then leave it for 20 minutes or so before you put the food in. Otherwise it will just burn the outside and not cook the middle.

Or Furball could be right - are you putting it on the grill setting (my MIL did this at our house the ohter week and set all the smoke alarms off! doh!)

hi guys! rofl re grill. its definitely not on grill - i know that much but thanks for asking . tbh did not realise it takes so long for the oven to get hot - ie 20 mns. for example, when i cook fairycakes they do raise a little bit. Also when i put something in for 40 mns; it will not have burnt - as it would under the grill - it looks beautifully right. it's when you take the cake out of the mould you realise something ain't right

try it lower in the oven
how old is your oven is it gas or electric?

Sounds like it's not very well-insulated, so the element has to be on all the time?

I'd try cooking things covered for a little while, then leaving them uncovered to brown at the end? Bit tricky to do with baking, though.

Oven is gas. i think i shall take your suggestions on board and 1. put on lower shelf and cover with foil and see what happens! thanks a lot - this is great

My electric oven went a bit like this, have just had the thermostat replaced and all is back to normal.

We moved into our house with a built in electric oven - had a gas one before and had never had electrict before. For the first couple of weeks I burnt everything and, like you, nothing cooked in the middle.
I found out in the end we had a fan assisted electric oven and apparently you are supposed to reduce temperature and cooking times with these.
Seems to work okay now.

Maybe the thermostat is kaputt.

god i am useless... our oven is fan assisted so i will reduce by 20 degrees i read somewhere. am still convinced the thermometer is kapput though... [hmmm] thanks a million to all of you