JW, the bread pictured was not cooked in the smaller top oven. It was cooked in the larger lower oven on the middle setting for racks. It was not cooked on convection bake. It was cooked on regular bake.

I have not run a similar bread test on the smaller upper oven because I've run out of bread, except for my homemade bread, and I'm not ruining it for this test. I checked the temp in the upper oven. With the dial set on 350, after 30 minutes the thermometer ran about 390. Tomorrow I'll pick up a cheap loaf of bread and run the bread test on the upper oven.

btw, JW, the bread went into the freezer as crumbs, except for a couple of pieces that were too burnt. Croutons was a good idea, but the bread could not be cut without shattering.

I've seen dedicated toasters that do even worse than this....

I was just going to try toasting bread in my Advantium 240 wall oven, which has a "toast" mode reputed to not work very well.

hvt, I used a thermometer similar to the one at the link below. It is neither dial nor infrared. I don't know what a thermocouple is, but I know I don't have one. And it doesn't look like something I could pick up at Ace...or want to buy.

I read the document you attached. I do no believe I have ever had a service technician stay long enough for the oven to cycle 5 times, while he took a reading at the high and low point of each cycle. Most of them have done what I did - stick the thermometer in the oven and read it after 30 minutes or so. But when I get one out here, I'll give him your document and make sure he makes every step along the way! Of course, he may balk since those instructions are not for a GE range.

The problem is twofold, however. The oven doesn't appear to be properly calibrated but worse than that, there are hot spots.

Here is a link that might be useful: oven thermometer

Well, story of my life: I've ordered two of the "dial" oven thermometers recommended by Cooks Illustrated and an infared temp tester to try and get a read on whats going on with our not-quite-as-restored-as-we-thought O'Keefe & Merritt ovens. Now I need a thermocouple tester too! Never a dull moment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon thermocouple sensor

The tech may roll his eyes if you try and force him to follow the instructions letter by letter, but what's important is the spirit of the instructions:

-Use a good thermometer.

-Keep in mind that oven temperature swings 30 degrees or more during a cycle. It will not simply heat to your set point and stay there.

-You need to take multiple temperatures and average them... you can't expect all parts of the oven to be exactly the same - an thermometer placed near the door glass will not read the same as the sensor at the back of the oven.

You need a good tech, who will take the time to troubleshoot and not just brush you off and say "it's operating normally". Sadly there are far too many techs who will do just that when faced with a more challenging problem like uneven baking.

FWIW, I put the thermometer in the center of the oven on a rack that is also centered.

The techs I've encountered would probably like to do a thorough job, but have been scheduled too tightly to actually take the time to do all of the steps outlined.

I haven't had a service call on the temperature issue with this GE range, but I had one on the Viking. IIRC, that tech used an infrared thermometer to test the temp!

Off to buy cheap bread and get photos of the small oven...

Going through all those steps would be a pain and not pay well, BUT the tech still needs to take some time to troubleshoot and not just turn it on, stick a cheapo thermometer inside, and say it's working fine.

Upper Oven Test
I heated the upper oven at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes before putting bread in. The rack was in the middle position.

I had to remove the bread after ONE MINUTE

Underside after 1 minute

Topside after 1 minute

Can this be remedied?

This post was edited by bbstx on Sun, Sep 21, 14 at 16:33

Service tech came today. He was thorough -spent at least an hour here. Used a thermocouple type sensor. He discovered that my lower oven was within acceptable tolerances, but my upper oven was 45 to 50 degrees over where it was set for. He was very methodical about checking the temps and waited for each oven to cycle on and off at least 3 times.

He adjusted the upper oven to the correct temperature. However, the bread slices still burned on the outer edges very quickly - under a minute.

He said he had no way to adjust for hot spots. He called the GE tech line. He said the guy on the other end was kind of a smart aleck when he tried to explain to him about the uneven heating. The GE tech told the service tech that ovens only "burn and dry."

The service tech gave me a GE number to call. I called the number and no one ever answered. I called the regular service number and got a "service advocate." The service advocate has set up another service call for Thursday.

What a stinking soap opera!

@bbstx

Did you end up getting your oven fixed?
Is it baking fine now?
Cause I am thinking about the profile or cafe double oven and i am quite worried about your experience.

Thanks

Strikeraj, below has been posted on a different thread. I copied it over here to make it easier for you to read.

My oven is awful. There are hot spots all over the oven. The only way I can somewhat mitigate the hot spots is to use the convection setting. The repairman said it shouldn't have the hot spots but he couldn't figure out what was causing them.

I told GE about the experiment with the bread. GE's assessment was "burns toast" I tried to explain that I didn't burn the toast, it was a test to determine where the hot spots were. The next time I called for service, I got, "oh, it burns your toast." AARRRGGGHHH!!!

I finally ended up with a Consumer Advocate. He was about the most ineffectual "consumer advocate" I can imagine. His title should be "Consumer Placator." He didn't advocate crap! Plus, on more than one occasion he said he would look into something and call me back on a day certain. Then he would fail to call back.

GE called with a "satisfaction survey." They asked on a scale of 1-10 how did I rate my GE appliance. I asked if they had negative numbers I could use!

I am at the point of just eating the $3k and putting this POS on the curb. It is the one element of my new house that I absolutely HATE with a passion (can you tell?).

Even DH, who is pretty laid back, is irritated at the lack of customer service. Last time I called, they told me that although the oven is still in warranty, I would have to pay for any more service calls dealing with this issue.

I baked a cheesecake at Thanksgiving. ONE SIDE began to burn and crack before I noticed and turned the pan 180 degrees.

If anyone on this forum knows of any way for me to get some action out of GE besides calling the service line, I would appreciate it. I did promise the "Consumer Advocate" that I would use every opportunity in every online outlet I could find to let the world know how awful their products are. I am keeping my promise.