Ina Garten Always Uses an Oven Thermometer When Baking

Ina Garten says you need to stop trusting your oven so much.

The celebrity chef, who I’m guessing uses a far nicer oven than I do, says she doesn’t rely on the number displayed on the appliance and instead uses a precision oven thermometer to know how hot it is inside. “Always use one,” Garten told Food Network. “No matter what it says on the dial, the temperature in the oven could be totally different.”

The good news is that oven thermometers are ultra cheap, even top-rated ones like this Taylor analog model are easy to read and built to withstand punishing temperatures.

Taylor Analog Oven Thermometer

This elegant tool was designed for a single job: telling you exactly how hot it is inside your oven. You can either hang it from the grating of your oven rack or stand it up on the rack. The idea is to position it close enough to your oven’s window so you don’t need to open the door to read it, preventing any loss of precious heat in the process.

The dial is 2.5 inches wide with clear tick marks every 5 degrees from 100 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. There’s also a bigger model with a 3.25-inch dial that’s a couple dollars extra but is even clearer and easier to read. Regardless of size, the bright red needle will let you see a precise reading of the temperature even at a glance.

“Dial is clearly readable through [the] oven door,” wrote one of more than 6,000 Amazon buyers who’ve given it a five-star rating. “Solid, classic piece of equipment. Every kitchen should have one.”

Taylor has been making thermometers and scales since the mid-19th century and provides a limited lifetime warranty for this little gadget. People who’ve bought one have written about it as a legitimate life-changer in the kitchen, revealing to them the unreliability of their oven’s built-in thermometer.

“My stove was off by 25 degrees,” wrote one shopper at Taylor’s website. “If not for the oven thermometer I would never have known.” The reviews at Amazon are also littered with remarks like that, including one person who said it showed their oven was off by 100 degrees. “After struggling trying to get my oven to bake properly, this finally explained why I struggled,” wrote yet another Amazon shopper.

Of course, the sword cuts both ways, and some bakers have been crushed by the results. “I kept burning dinner, so I bought this in hopes that I could figure out the temperature,” wrote another user. “However, the temperature was on point, and [it] just turns out I am a terrible baker.”

Take Garten’s advice and add a Taylor oven thermometer to your next Amazon order. Keep scrolling for a few more of the affordable kitchen items the Be My Guest host told Food Network she considers must-haves.

Metuuter Pop-Up Sponges, 12-Pack

Hiware Stainless Steel Spider Strainer

Lux Classic Timer

PepperMate Turnkey Pepper Mill