Oven Temperature Variation

[EricE]

We have a 2015 Keystone Bullet. We have been carefully going over all the details in the trailer making sure that anything that needs to be addressed by the 1 year warrantee has been. One thing that has caused us problems is the large temperature variation in the oven. I have had it to two different warrantee shops and received the same answer from both. They both tell me that these ovens are expected to vary plus or minus 50 degrees from the set temperature and as such there is nothing to fix.

The problem:
If I set the dial at 300 the oven will comes to about 250. If I set it at 350 it will reach about 300 and so on. If it were always 50 degrees low then it would not be much of an issue but if I set it 50 degrees high then it will sometimes reach the set temperature. So it isn’t swinging on the high side but it can be anywhere from 50 degrees low to on temp.
All tests were done with two oven thermometers (the $6 kind) set side by side in the middle of the oven.

I guess I have high expectations because the oven in my 20 year old sunchaser TT works MUCH better than that.

So what are your experiences? Is this what your oven does and do you just live with it?

[bpounds]

The pilot thermocouple has nothing to do with baking temperature. It is only a safety device to cut the gas if the pilot fails.

[stugpanzer]

When we had a gas stove in previous rigs, we used an AirBake cookie sheet and that always helped to maintain a nice temp.

[EricE]

I may have fixed it. I was reading about oven issues and a common theme was the pilot/thermocouple interface was not set correctly. So I looked at mine and the pilot flame and thermocouple were about one half inch apart. With that distance, I had to hold down the pilot button too long in order for the pilot to stay lit so I bent the two till they were about one quarter inch apart.
After that, I only had to hold down the pilot button for about 10 seconds for the pilot to stay lit. As it stands, the thermocouple is directly in the flame (not at the tip of the flame) and the flame flows around both sides of the thermocouple.
So then I tested the oven by setting it at 300 and waiting the requisite 10 minutes. Boom, it was at 300. I then set the oven at 350 and decided I would let it cycle on and off for a bit so I came back in 15 minutes. Low and behold, it was at 350.
Of course, this is only one sample but I like the trend. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[Nutinelse2do]

I have been using an unglazed, 14" ceramic tile for about a year and a half. It really helps. It distributes the heat much more evenly. My oven is about 15 degrees below the setting, so I have learned exactly how to adjust it. It's a $1 investment at Home Depot. I recommend trying it, and see if it evens out the temp a little. Good luck

[bpounds]

A stone or tile in the oven really helped ours. I've never had a reason to own a pizza stone, so I didn't try that. I just picked up a heavy clay tile from the home center. About 1/2" thick. An unglazed tile is required, according to internet lore. Well, it broke into about 10 pieces the first time we used it. But heck, the broken pieces were all large enough that I just slide them all back together and it still does the job. They move around when we travel, so when I light the oven pilot I just slide them all back into place again. Like some kind of jigsaw puzzle, and bake on.

I might be cheap, but at least I am frugal.

[AmericalVette]

dadmomh wrote:
Ours - both of them - always went the other direction...I had to lower temp about 25 degrees or so and start watching like a hawk several minutes before it should be ready. Many have used the pizza stone. I got cheap and just worked out my own system. Also, try to find pans that don't take up so much of the racks....need air to circulate. I've never heard of anyone who got theirs adjusted....just tweaked it according to their oven and went on.

X's 2

[arush19]

Mine is almost exactly as you described yours. It's horrendous! I can't tell you how many burnt frozen pizzas come out of that oven. The thermostat must be in the back of the oven or something. There's definitely a hot spot back there. Meanwhile the front of the oven is 50 degrees (guessing) cooler.

I learned to rotate whatever is cooking to accommodate the uneven cooking.

[dadmomh]

Ours - both of them - always went the other direction...I had to lower temp about 25 degrees or so and start watching like a hawk several minutes before it should be ready. Many have used the pizza stone. I got cheap and just worked out my own system. Also, try to find pans that don't take up so much of the racks....need air to circulate. I've never heard of anyone who got theirs adjusted....just tweaked it according to their oven and went on.

[dadmomh]

Ours - both of them - always went the other direction...I had to lower temp about 25 degrees or so and start watching like a hawk several minutes before it should be ready. Many have used the pizza stone. I got cheap and just worked out my own system. Also, try to find pans that don't take up so much of the racks....need air to circulate. I've never heard of anyone who got theirs adjusted....just tweaked it according to their oven and went on.

[janstey58]

We put a large pizza stone in the bottom shelf of our oven, and that seemed to help it maintain a better temperature and also seemed to cook more evenly.

[darsben1]

Move the temperature probe in the oven it may be it the "wrong" spot