Problems with my Capital oven

18 years ago

hey folks,

I'm looking for some cooking help and advice. I bought a 36" Capital Precision largely on the basis of recommendations from this board. I love the look and the burners.

However, I'm having some trouble with the oven. It seems to take a long time to get hot and doesn't seem to get as hot as I'd like. I had the service guy in to test the temperature -- and he found it was slightly over 500 degrees. in other words, fine.

And yet, it still doesn't seem right to me. I tried to make a thin-crust pizza on a pizza stone in the oven and the pizzas took ages to cook and never charred up. A smallish roast chicken came out spectacularly (maybe the best i've ever cooked) but took much longer than normal. normally a chicken of this size would take around 50 min to an hour, but this took a solid 1:20 to 1:30 or so.

I haven't tried the convection yet.

Any advice? Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for your help!

-Jesse

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Comments (6)

alywa
18 years ago
Do you have a thermometer that you could use to check it yourself? Just because it can get hot doesn't mean it is at the temp the knob / display says. Plus, it could be fluctuating a lot more than you think.

Get an analog oven thermometer, and check it out yourself at a variety of temperatures. We did this with our new range (Electrolux ICON)... found one of the ovens was 10-15 degrees off... we simply adjust for that now.
jeisinger
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks, Alywa. I don't have a thermometer, but the serviceman tested the oven at a variety of temps with a digital thermometer and found it was fine. I should buy one and test it myself though. Good suggestion.
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User
18 years ago
I assume you pre-heated that pizza stone? At 500+ degrees,it should be hot enough to sizzle.
weissman
18 years ago
Try using convection and see how things come out. Convection is particularly good for roasting poultry. A 36" oven is large and takes a while to preheat. It may take a little while to stabilize after the thermostat says that it has reached temperature. Also, as alexr said, make sure you preheat your pizza stone.
annab6
18 years ago
Don't have any information but we are considering a 36" range so I really want to know as well.

I have seen a couple of posts here abound 36" range ovens taking longer to cook compare to 30". I understand the preheat time but once it is at the right temperature, it seems that Jesse's chicken should still be done within an hour without any convection.

Can anyone explain?
jab913
18 years ago
Sounds like an odd situation. I would get a plain old fashion analog, not digital, oven thermometer and check the temp. I know I have checked the ovens on my 48" Capital and they are surprisingly accurate.

The time to heat up may be exactly what some have said, a bigger oven will take a little longer to heat. That does not account for longer cooking time though. The only explanation I can possibly think of is that the thermostat is not working properly and it is allowing temp to drop too low before kicking the heat back on. Should be able to check this also with a thermometer.

Might try calling the folks at Capital they can probably offer some suggestions.