Cooking an enjoyable meal in the oven is all about balance. Reaching the perfect texture and readiness in the oven requires the inside of the food to be cooked thoroughly without burning the outside. It’s also important that the outside is evenly cooked, and that the oven distributes heat from all angles, or else you may end up with a cookie that’s perfectly soft at the top and scorched beyond recognition at the bottom.
Reaching this sweet point shouldn’t be too hard with a functioning oven and a thermometer. But cooking the interior without burning any part of the exterior is difficult regardless of what you’re cooking in an oven that’s set up the wrong way or malfunctioning.
Since you’re here, reading this, my guess is that you’re experiencing this right now. Before you start doubting your ability to perform a relatively simple task, such as cooking a frozen pizza in the oven without burning it, you need to take a good look at the machinery you’re using. In this case the oven.
There’s no one-solution-to-rule-them-all to this problem as this could be caused by a bunch of different things – but there’s a reason why your oven keeps burning your food at the bottom and we’re going to find a solution to the imbalance.
An oven usually burns the bottom (or one particular side) of the foods you are cooking because the thermostat or temperature sensor is broken, the oven needs to be calibrated, or one of the heating elements is damaged.
Reasons Why Your Oven Burn Foods On the Bottom
Above I’ve mentioned two of the most common reasons for this problem, and we’re going to go into greater detail on both of them in just a second. First, I want you to know that there are other things that can cause food to scorch at the bottom. We’re going to cover all of them in this article.
Let’s go through the reasons first, and the solutions next.
The oven’s thermostat is broken
If your oven is burning food on one particular side, then there’s a big possibility that the thermostat has been damaged. The thermostat tells the oven when to turn on/off the heating elements and by doing so the oven can regulate the temperature. With a broken or damaged thermostat, the elements may be turned on for too long and have a hard time maintaining the target temperature.
If the communication between the thermostat and the heating element is flawed, then the outcome will be flawed as well. To check if the thermostat is sending the correct information to the heating elements, purchase an external thermostat and take readings of the oven’s temperature. The temperature shown on the external thermostat should be similar to the set temperature of the oven.
One of the oven’s heating elements has been damaged
If your food is being burned on one side and partially cooked or not cooked on the other side, then there’s a risk that one of the oven’s heating elements has started malfunctioning. With only one working heating element, most dishes will be cooked from one side and receive very little heat distribution from the other side, causing the dish to scorch on one side long before the other side has finished cooking.
Elements can burn out and wiring can take damage over time. This can render the heating element useless or cause it to act out of the ordinary, which is something you don’t want when it comes to the art of cooking. Inspect the heating elements to see if you can notice any clear signs of damage or tear. If you don’t feel safe or have trust in your expertise, don’t hesitate to contact a technician.
Hiring a professional can turn out to be the way to go when it comes to appliances like these. Without expertise it’s easy to do more harm than good.
The oven isn’t calibrated
One common reason why food gets burnt in the oven is that the oven is badly calibrated. When an oven isn’t calibrated correctly, it will distribute heat unevenly, cooking the dish more from some angles than others. You will most likely end up with a dish that’s halfway cooked in the center and burned to a crisp on the outside.
There’s no universal way to calibrate an oven, each model has its own way. Therefore, I refer you to your user manual or customer support to find out how you can recalibrate your oven. Oh, and if you’ve thrown the user manual out the door long ago – search for it online. There are plenty of user manuals available as PDFs on the manufacturer’s website.
The oven trays are placed badly
If your oven trays are placed on the lower end of the oven’s cavity, then you’re guaranteed to receive more heat from the bottom heating element, as it’s closer to the tray than the upper element. Naturally, this will cook the bottom of the dish faster than the top, increasing the risk of scorching the bottom.
Most recipes call for the oven trays to be placed on the center rack. This is where heat is distributed most evenly, and therefore, where your dishes will be cooked from all angles at the same time, resulting in an even cook. So, cooking in proximity to the heating elements will, as expected, brown the side that’s turned towards the elements faster than the other side.
Today, a lot of ovens have their heat source at the bottom. The heat source distributes the heated air by allowing it to rise and start circulating the oven’s cavity. With the heat source located on the bottom of the oven, placing the tray in the center rack becomes imperative – you want enough heat from the source and enough heat from the heated air that’s rising to the top of the oven.
You’re using the wrong sheet or pan
To prevent the bottom of your food from burning, you want to place it on a sheet with low thermal conductivity. The higher the conductivity of the material, the higher the probability of burning the bottom. You’re less likely to end up with a burnt bottom if you use Pyrex, parchment paper, or a baking stone. Metallic materials have higher conductivity and are, therefore, a greater risk.
You’re not preheating the oven
If you haven’t preheated the oven, chances are your food is exposed to the direct heat from the oven’s heating elements for a bit too long. Even with the heating elements at half temperature, extra exposure can make a difference. Preheat your oven and place the dish in the oven rapidly when the oven has finished preheating.
You’re keeping the oven door open for too long
Keeping the oven door open may force the heating elements to be turned on for too long in order to regulate the oven’s inner temperature. The mere fact that the elements are turned on for a bit longer than needed can be the reason why you’re scorching the bottom of your food. Opening the door should be a quick and strategic process.
Think of it as a calm and collected version of Formula 1’s pit stops.
You’re using glass, darkened, warped, or dull finish pans.
These are considered “bad pans” in this case. Using a bad pan (either damaged or not suitable for this) can definitely cause your food to burn on the bottom. Lining your pans with parchment paper can prevent and/or reduce the burning if it’s caused by the pan. Also, make sure the bottom of your pans are clean and don’t have dark spots covering them – dark spots can burn your food.
So How Do You Stop Food From Burning On the Bottom In the Oven?
We’re well aware of the problem, but what’s the solution? No food should be thrown in the garbage and we may be able to minimize the amount of food that ends up there by spreading knowledge.
- Check your oven temperature. See if an external thermometer registers the temperature you set the oven to.
- Preheat your oven and place the food in the oven when it’s finished preheating.
- Don’t open the oven door for long periods of time.
- Use proper pans and sheets.
- Place the tray or rack in the center of the the oven – not too close to the top nor bottom.
- Make sure the oven is set to bake – not broil.
- Visually inspect the heating elements to make sure they aren’t damaged.
- Do hot spot tests: Place trays near both the bake and broil elements (lower and upper) in your oven and see if there’s any difference in temperature between them. Place a piece of bread in the center of each tray to see if it has been cooked evenly on both trays. If not? Have someone check the element that’s scorching the toast.
What’s Causing My Oven To Overheat?
An overheating oven is likely caused by the thermostat or heating elements malfunctioning but could be because of a bunch of other things. Here’s a couple of things that can cause your oven to overheat.
- The thermostat knob is showing incorrect temperature: This means that the knob isn’t mounted to the oven properly. Thus, it’s difficult to determine what temperature the oven has been set to, making it easier to overheat the oven.
- Grime & Junk: It’s possible that the thermostat is unable to register the oven’s temperature because it’s covered in grime. Remove the thermostat and clean it to see if the oven stops overheating.
- Oven fan: If the oven fan isn’t functioning properly or operating at a slowed down pace, then that could cause the oven to overheat.
- The control panel is glitching: Modern ovens come with a control panel (a display). The control panel can be affected by power outtages, causing it to glitch. The circuit breaker might have to be turned off for a mere minute or two in order to reset the oven.
- The selector switch doesn’t work: The selector switch works as a communicator between the heating elements and the thermostat. If the selector switch doesn’t work, the communication between these two units is going to be flawed. This can lead to the selector switch signaling lower temperatures, forcing the heating elements to continue heating the oven even though it’s already heated.
- Other common problems have already been covered in the article and include malfunctioning thermostats, sensors and heating elements.