If you find that the things that you place in your electric oven aren't cooking evenly, you should take action today. Not only can one side of a dish being overcooked spoil a meal, but undercooked food could also result in a nasty case of food poisoning. Below is a guide to dealing with an oven which is cooking unevenly. 

Test the oven

Uneven cooking can also be caused by not following the instructions when preparing the food and placing it in your oven. To check that the uneven cooking isn't a one-off problem you will need to test the oven. The easiest way of doing this is to lay out some pieces of bread on an oven tray. Place the tray into the oven and turn the oven on. Keep an eye on the bread as it cooks and remove it when it has started to brown. If your oven isn't cooking evenly, you will see that some pieces of bread are burnt while others are still white.

Inspect the sensor

One possible cause of uneven cooking is a faulty thermostat sensor, so this should be inspected. Consult the instruction manual which was supplied with your oven to locate the sensor. You should check that the temperature sensor is located where it should be. The correct position is up against the oven wall so it can take an accurate measurement. If the sensor is in the correct location, it may be defective. This can be checked by attaching an ohmmeter to the sensor. If you do not feel confident carrying out this inspection, you should call in an electrician who will carry out the work for you.  

Inspect the oven element

If the thermostat sensor is working, it is likely to be the element which is at fault. The quickest way to check if the element in your electric oven is working is to attach an ohmmeter to it. If you fail to get a reading consistent reading, the element may be almost ready to burn out and will need to be replaced. You can also carry out a visual inspection by looking to see if the element is glowing hot when the oven is in operation.

Call an electrical service

If you have carried out the instructions listed above and you cannot solve the issue or if you do not feel confident performing these checks, you should contact an electrical service today for further help and advice.