Old timer at a bakery show taught me to test oven temp with raw flour

I was at a small bakery trade thing in Portland back in March, just wandering around tasting samples. This older baker, probably 70, saw me complaining about my croissant bottoms burning. He looked at me and said "sprinkle a pinch of raw flour on your stone and watch how fast it browns." At first I thought he was messing with me. But he explained every oven has hot spots and the flour trick shows you exactly where they are in 30 seconds. I tried it when I got home and found my oven runs 25 degrees hotter on the left side. Now I rotate everything halfway through and my bottoms actually bake even. Has anyone else heard of this trick or do I just run into weird old dudes?

2 comments

2 Comments

kai8071mo ago

Trust me, @lunashah is onto something with that back left corner issue. I've burned enough baguettes to know ovens lie about their temps, and that flour trick is the cheapest truth serum you'll ever get. Old bakers are basically wizards who just happen to smell like butter, so I'd listen to every single one of them.

lunashah1mo ago

Gotta try this next time I'm at my friend's place, her oven burns everything on the back left corner. Makes me wonder what other random kitchen hacks old timers have that nobody wrote down.