yes, unless it's frozen, upon which I'll put in the oven while it's preheating (except for pizza or baked goods)...it's a thawing thing

Baked goods (cakes, bread, etc) : Always preheat - being just a few degrees off early in the process can really screw up the chemical reaction with the flour and yeasts.

Frozen stuff (pizzas, etc) - preheat if the cooking time is less than thirty minutes , particularly if the direction call for a high temperature (above 375 degrees) or if you have use different temperatures during the process.

Meats, or big frozen stuff (like a lasagna) - anything that cooks for more than an hour at a single temperature doesn't need a preheated oven.

It's also a good idea to check the temperature in the oven a couple of times a year, or if you're burning stuff - a lot of them can be off by 50 degrees or more.

Cat Food Flambe';510081 wrote:It's also a good idea to check the temperature in the oven a couple of times a year, or if you're burning stuff - a lot of them can be off by 50 degrees or more.

So if you find it off, is there a way to get it correct, or do you just keep the difference "in mind" and off-set the temp setting each time you use the oven?

You can replace the temperature sensor, or just figure out the difference and set the oven accordingly.

The oven in our first house was something like 30% hotter than the setting - if we set the temp at 300 degrees, the oven would actually cook at 390 degrees. Since were young and broke, we just put a "real temp" list on the wall behind the range and set the stove accordingly .

If you're mechanically included, you could probable replace the sensor or the control box for the cost of parts. A service technician could probably narrow down the exact problem - but the service call and parts would probably be as much as a new stove.

To be technical, ovens don't exactly hold a certain temperature anyway. They are made to cycle on and off and they have a range of temperatures around the target that they will hit.