Temperature of a Home Oven

Long ago, the oven was used in many parts of the world. It had an important role in cooking. The Ancient Egyptians baked bread in clay ovens heated with burning wood or charcoal. In Ancient Rome, the Romans baked bread in tile ovens. The Romans also cooked on raised brick hearths, where they set big kettles on iron tripods over the fire. During the Middle Ages, which was a period that lasted from the AD 400s to the 1500s, only the wealthy had ovens in their homes. In the 1600s and 1700s, many people in North America cooked their food in kettles or on spits in their fireplace, as Europeans did. Most of the fireplaces had built-in ovens.

In the world today in the year 2005, the home oven is an enclosed compartment for baking, broiling, roasting and heating food. It is a commonly used kitchen appliance that is used to cook foods, such as casseroles, meats, and baked goods, such as bread, pastries, cakes, and cookies. The temperature is determined depending on the type of food that is being cooked and the way the food should be cooked. Most recipes specify a cooking temperature to ensure the best results. For example, if a turkey were to be roasted, the temperature of the oven would range from 422 K to 450 K, whereas, for cookies, the oven temperature would need to be preheated to 464 K. Baking or broiling in an oven is considered to be dry-heat cooking. Cooking heats are generally known as dry or moist. Most foods properly cooked with dry heat finish with a rich aroma, color, and flavor.

There are two different kinds of ovens that are used in a household today. One type would be the gas oven. The gas oven has a gas line coming in from the back of the oven. The oven uses the gas as a method of fueling the flame. Another kind of oven would be the electric oven. The electric oven uses electricity from the house. The electrical energy is converted into heat energy. The electric oven is safer to use than the gas oven.

Oven temperatures usually range from 400 K (127°C/260°F) to 500 K (227 °C/440°F) for baking, broiling, and etc. The ovens differ according to the type of oven it is, the fuel used, and variability in power, so a person may need to make alterations if a dish is cooking more quickly or slowly than the cooking time in the recipe. The oven has made cooking today much easier and faster.

Jennifer Zhong -- 2005

For cooking and preparing food, no home should be without an oven. However, different types of home ovens produce different ranges of temperature. The four main kinds of are: natural gas ovens, propane gas ovens, electrical ovens, and solar-powered ovens.

Natural gas ovens and propane gas ovens work in a similar matter, i.e. by converting gas energy into heat energy that can be channeled via the burner or the inside of an oven. For this reason, they reach around the same maximum temperatures. The maximum temperature of a home gas oven is 537.7 degrees Celsius (which the heat reached by self-cleaning ovens during the self-cleaning process). For ordinary cooking, the maximum temperature used is 287.7 degrees Celsius.

Propane (C3H6) is made from both natural gas processing and crude oil refining in approximately equivalent quantities. Like natural gas, propane is odorless, and so an identifying odor is added to alert its user of leaks. Propane is stored outside in tanks in a liquefied form. Propane ovens reach about the same heat as natural gas ovens because they both work in a similar manner; they both turn gas into heat. However, propane is highly flammable and for this reason many people prefer to use natural gas ovens or electric ovens.

Electric ovens utilize electricity to heat food. The maximum heat of an electric oven depends on the brand and the model. The meat top of the oven (the top of the stove) can reach temperatures of around 185.5 degrees Celsius.

Solar powered ovens can be used when no other fuel is available. They are environmentally safer than both gas and electric ovens, with a maximum temperature falling between between and including 182.2 degrees Celsius and 204.4 degrees Celsius. There are many advantages to solar powered ovens; besides being environmentally safe, they also do not contribute to the gas and the electric bill. The downside, of course, is that if you should start to feel hungry after dark, you will have to either eat frozen and/or raw food or wait until the sun has risen and is in the right position in the sky to use the oven. Although the reliance on sunlight may be an inconvenience to some, solar powered ovens have proven themselves to be extremely useful when no other energy source is available; they are especially useful when on camping trips and other excursions devoid of access to gas or electricity.

Maya Nathan -- 2005