I use my oven quite a bit. It's an older model from the 80's, electric. From the beginning when we bought this house 3.5 years ago it always ran a little hot but, nothing a little adjusting couldn't fix. But, it seems to be getting worse.
EX: One year ago, if I was baking a cake that said to bake at 350 for 32-36 minutes I would have set the heat a tiny bit below 350 and baked for 28 minutes. Today I set it even more below 350 than I would have a year ago and only baked for 24 minutes. At first, making these adjustments wasn't a big deal. It was second nature to me and I always made sure to check up on my baked goods while they cooked. Now, it's just annoying. It seems to have gotten exponentially worse in the last few months. I try to tweak things and stay ahead of the ever increasing oven temps but the last few weeks it seems to be getting ahead of me.
Is this my oven's way of saying it's on it's way out? Is there something I'm missing or could be doing to prevent this from continuing to get worse? I hit freecycle and the free and appliance section on craigslist pretty often but, not finding much that looks like it will be any better. Having an old appliance is sort of like having an old car. You know they have problems but, having problems you know is often times better than buying something that appears better but may have problems you're not familiar with.
EX: One year ago, if I was baking a cake that said to bake at 350 for 32-36 minutes I would have set the heat a tiny bit below 350 and baked for 28 minutes. Today I set it even more below 350 than I would have a year ago and only baked for 24 minutes. At first, making these adjustments wasn't a big deal. It was second nature to me and I always made sure to check up on my baked goods while they cooked. Now, it's just annoying. It seems to have gotten exponentially worse in the last few months. I try to tweak things and stay ahead of the ever increasing oven temps but the last few weeks it seems to be getting ahead of me.
Is this my oven's way of saying it's on it's way out? Is there something I'm missing or could be doing to prevent this from continuing to get worse? I hit freecycle and the free and appliance section on craigslist pretty often but, not finding much that looks like it will be any better. Having an old appliance is sort of like having an old car. You know they have problems but, having problems you know is often times better than buying something that appears better but may have problems you're not familiar with.
