It's Not You...It's Your Oven.

Ovens can be challenging.

I've had a fully functioning kitchen in my new condo for about a month now, complete with a beautiful JennAir downdraft convention/convection oven.  It's pretty and shiny, and man - it heats up my tiny kitchen in no time!

Tonight, however - for the first time I used it to create my first batch of the infamous Chocolate Chip Perfection cookies.  The first batch didn't turn out so great...the oven was way to hot - not calibrated at all!  Which is unfortunate, because of the fact that it is a brand new oven.  The bottom rack tends to cook everything faster than the top and the middle racks, so I've just learned to not even use that one.

Normally, at work, I cook everything on 300F.  It's a standard Blodgett convection oven, and for the most part - everything turns out perfect.  I figure here at home, I've got a convectional oven as well - why wouldn't 300F also work?  Well, it looks like I'm going to be baking these cookies at 200F until I figure out just how in the hell to re-calibrate the oven.

So, for those of you home-bakers out there who always wonder why your cookies burn way before the timer goes off...it's not you, it's your oven.  My suggestion?  Go to your local grocery supply, or Targ-Mart type of store and pick yourself up an oven thermometer.  It will save you time, and - probably save your cookies!

Sweets!
Melissa