---
title: "Oven thermostat calibration"
description: "La Cornue oven thermostat calibration — an oven that has drifted hot over years, and a cook who has quietly rewritten every recipe around it."
url: "https://la-cornuemiami.support/services/oven-thermostat-calibration/"
date_modified: "2026-09-03"
Appliance type: "Ovens, Ranges"
---


# La Cornue oven thermostat calibration

### About calibrating a vaulted oven

Two numbers matter and they fail differently: how far the oven overshoots on the way up and what it settles at. An oven that spikes to 425 and settles at 350 is behaving normally; one that settles at 390 has drifted, and the manual itself says an oven that gets hotter with age and does not come back when the dial is turned down wants a thermostat. Before any of that, the free causes are eliminated — level, door seal, tray size — because a vaulted oven is uneven by design and design is not drift.

What this involves

Measured with a calibrated probe through a full cycle

Drift distinguished from a vaulted oven's designed unevenness

The owner warned that a corrected oven changes their cooking

Probe on the shelf, full cycle

One reading proves nothing. The number that matters is what it holds, and how far it overshoots getting there.

Rule out the design

A vaulted oven is uneven on purpose. Level, door seal and tray size come before any talk of calibration.

Measure overshoot and hold

How far past the setpoint it goes, and what it settles at. Two different numbers, two different problems.

Calibrate or replace

Some thermostats adjust; a thermostat that has drifted this far usually does not come back.

Re-measure and write it down

The report carries the before and after figures, so the owner can trust their oven again.

### Can I just set it lower?

You can, and many do for years. Two arguments against: a drifting thermostat rarely stops, so this year's offset is wrong next year; and an oven reading 350 while delivering 390 has no headroom left at 500, so anything needing real heat becomes unpredictable.

### Will my cooking change afterwards?

Yes, and we say so before the work rather than after. Three years of learned adjustments become errors in the other direction the moment the oven is correct. The report carries the before and after figures so you know how much to unlearn.

---

**[Read full article: Oven thermostat calibration](https://la-cornuemiami.support/services/oven-thermostat-calibration/)**