You may be familiar with the time it takes an oven to preheat. In fact, many ovens have an audible signal or light to tell you it’s preheated up to temperature. But how long will it take the oven to cool down after you’ve shut it off?
An oven will take anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour to cool down completely, depending on a number of variables. The hotter the oven temperature, the longer it will take to cool. Other factors include the capacity of the oven, the type of oven, and whether the door is open or closed.
Most dishes cook at a temperature of 350° to 400° F (177° to 200° C), so while a hotter oven may take a bit longer to cool, the time difference will be only a matter of a few minutes.
When the oven is heated to cooking temperature, the air inside is hot, but so are the oven’s walls and the racks. All of these hold heat and need time to cool after the source of heat is shut off.
A larger-capacity oven will hold more heated air than a smaller one and will naturally take longer to cool off.
Insulation can also make a difference because a well-insulated oven will hold in the heated air much longer.
Older ovens may cool off faster because they were manufactured with less insulation and are not as energy-efficient as today’s ovens.
Newer energy-efficient ovens typically use insulation made of fiberglass on the top, bottom, and sides of the interior. They also have tighter door seals that prevent the heated air from escaping.
While these features lead to better heat retention and efficient cooking, they also cause the oven to take longer to cool down.
What Happens To The Temperature When The Oven Is Turned Off?
Turning off the oven stops the oven from continuing to heat up, but it doesn’t lead to an instant cool down. The oven will gradually cool, and the speed at which that happens depends on the type of oven.
After you switch the “off” button on a stove, the cool-down process begins on all ovens, but what that process involves isn’t the same for all kinds of ovens.
An electric oven takes the longest to cool. After you shut off an electric oven, the heating element inside is still very hot and cools only gradually. It’s similar to the way the burners on top of your electric stove remain hot for many minutes after you turn them off.
A gas oven takes a shorter time to cool. Once it’s shut off, the source of heat is terminated immediately, and all you have to do is wait for the heated interior and air to drop in temperature.
A convection oven will cool down the fastest because it’s equipped with fans and an exhaust system. When cooking, the fan circulates the heated air so that the food inside cooks evenly.
Once the convection oven is shut off, it uses the cooling fan, which will stay on for about15-20 minutes, thus speeding up the time the oven needs to cool down.
Most convection ovens will have a button or setting that starts the cool-down process. Just push it and let the fans go to work. Leave the oven door open during the cool-down.
How Can I Make My Oven Cool Down Faster?
You may have been warned not to open the oven door while food is cooking. Opening an oven door even briefly can cause you to lose up to 50% of the heat inside. That’s not good when trying to cook, but it’s a great advantage if you want to cool down your oven.
Opening the oven door is the fastest way to cool down a hot oven. You can open the door just a little or all the way, if you wish. Either way, the hot air will escape from the oven, causing the temperature to drop much more quickly than it would with the door closed.
Opening the oven door accelerates the cooling process considerably. The hot air escapes from the oven, and at the same time, cooler room-temperature air circulates into the oven, helping to cool off the inside walls and racks (and the heating element, if it’s an electric oven.
But, before you open the oven door, you might want to consider whether you want all that heated air in your kitchen. As hot air leaves the oven, it will tend to raise the temperature of your kitchen.
On a cold day, the warm blast of air may be welcome. Everyone has experienced how making a roast on winter’s day can warm up the house. You might have even left the oven door ajar afterward to put a little extra heat in the air.
However, if it’s summertime, the heated air leaving your oven could make your kitchen uncomfortably hot, especially if you have a small, enclosed kitchen or your home is not air conditioned. If this is the case, opening a window or turning on a room fan may help.
Will Food Still Cook If Oven Is Off?
Maybe you’ve turned off the oven and left the food inside, thinking it will stay warm while you’re waiting to serve it. You’re right, it will—but you also might run the risk of overcooking your food.
Even after your oven is turned off, it can remain at a temperature hot enough to continue cooking food for some time, especially if you leave the oven door closed. This can cause your food to overcook, dry out, and even burn. On the other hand, skilled chefs can use this phenomenon to their advantage.
After the oven is turned off, it still retains residual heat that is hot enough to continue the cooking process, at least for 10 or 15 minutes. Savvy cooks can use the residual heat to prepare foods or put the finishing touches on certain dishes.
For example, when baking something like cookies, you can turn the oven off just as the cookies are done (or maybe a few moments before) and let the residual heat gently finish them. You have to watch them carefully, however, so they don’t burn.
Some cooks also use the residual heat in the oven to cook side dishes, keep food warm, or help bread rise.
Cooking with residual heat takes knowledge, finesse, and attention, so if you’re a beginning cook, it’s not recommended. Let the food cook for the required time or to the proper temperature and then remove it from the oven.
Foods that cook quickly, such as vegetables and some baked goods, can easily overcook and dry out if you don’t remove them immediately after you shut off the oven.
It’s second nature to remove food from the oven and place it on top of the stove, letting it rest on the unused burners. However, keep in mind that heating the oven causes the entire stove to warm up. The top of a stove of a 400° oven can be quite warm.
In some cases, the heat can transfer to the food, causing it to continue cooking. You may take perfectly cooked brownies out of the oven and set them on top of the stove to cool, only to find later that they’ve continued to bake and the edges have become hard and crusty.
For dishes that can easily overcook, it’s better to move the food to a cool location rather than setting it on the top of the stove or burners. Place the hot pans on heat-resistant trivets or hot pads on the counter instead.
If you want to keep your food warm in the oven, instead of shutting it off, turn the temperature down to about 175° to 200° F.