You've probably noticed that a lot of recipes for things like cookies and cakes all seem
to call for the same temperature: 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
You'd think there would be some variation there, so why 350?
It's not actually arbitrary, and the reasons why are an interesting mixture of science
and history.
Mankind has been baking for a long, long time, but it was only at the end of World War II
that ovens started to come with exact temperature controls.
In the few decades before that, ovens tended to come with only three options for temperature:
slow, moderate, and hot.
If you happened to dig out any of your great-grandmother's recipes, you might be baffled by the bit that
calls for baking in a "moderate" oven.
It seems archaic today, but it was a huge step forward over how Victorian-era bakers
judged whether or not their ovens were hot enough.
They estimated oven temperature by sprinkling the bottom of the oven with flour.
If it didn't catch fire and only started to blacken, then it was perfect.
Don't try this at home!
Over the years, recipes have changed along with the technology we use to cook them.
Old terminology was updated to new technology, and when recipes that called for a "moderate"
oven were updated, the temperature was just estimated to be 350.
A temperature which, incidentally, is usually in the middle of most oven dials.
In the early 20th century, oven technology was given a massive update with the invention
of the regulator.
It was a huge deal, and one piece in the New York Tribune from 1919 described it like this:
"The regulator makes scientific cooking possible to the most unscientific woman, and few realize
how many perfect recipes are spoiled by the wrong handling of oven heat."
But setting your oven to 350 doesn't mean you're actually cooking at 350.
The temperature of any oven will fluctuate, with some of the most well-calibrated, high-end
ovens set to stay between 330 and 370 when you set it to 350.
If you're trying to be exact, it's not a bad idea to invest in an oven thermometer.
Watch any cooking show for long enough, and you're going to hear about the Maillard reaction.
It's the chemical reaction that makes cooked food delicious.
According to the brainiacs over at Serious Eats, it's so complicated that scientists
only began unlocking the mysteries of the reaction in the 21st century.
No worries though, you don't have to understand all the sciencey facts.
The basic idea is that it all has to do with temperature.
The Maillard reaction only occurs at temperatures well above boiling, which is why a boiled
steak tastes and smells so completely different than a grilled one.
The reaction kicks in at temperatures closer to 240 degrees and gets into full gear around
300 At these temps, proteins and sugars break down and come back together in a way that
makes flavors and aromas more complex.
But we're still not at 350 degrees, so where does that number come from?
Well, foods that are high in sugars and low in proteins, like Mom's tried-and-true cookies,
work a little differently.
The Maillard reaction still happens as they bake, but thanks to the high sugar content
there's another reaction that occurs at even higher temperatures.
Imagine the taste of caramel: a mix of sweet and bitter, with just a dash of nuttiness
thrown in.
It's the difference between an acceptable cookie and a delicious one, and you can thank
the reaction called caramelization for that.
Caramelization only happens when the temperature hits 356 degrees.
That's a little higher than your 350 degree oven, but thanks to the inexact settings and
fluctuations in temperature, there's a good chance your 350 degree oven is going to hit
356 and probably a little above.
Once your cookies start rising to 350 and above, that's where the sugars react and start
forming all that sweet cookie taste.
If caramelization is the reaction that happens at the highest temperatures, would raising
the temp of the oven to 400 when preparing a recipe that calls for 350 make for better
caramelization?
The answer, simply put, is no.
If you set the temperature at 400 and higher, all those chemical reactions that happen will
happen faster and less evenly throughout your baked goods.
That will lead to treats with odd textures, a potentially gummy inside, hard crusts, and
a burnt flavor.
Go with an oven that's lower than 350, and you'll have a light and fluffy cake with none
of the caramelization.
The sweet spot for light-and-fluffy as well as flavor-filled is, you guessed it, 350.
You can, in theory, bake everything at 350 and call it a day.
Less to remember, after all, but, 350 isn't as optimal a temperature for everything as
you might think.
Take puff pastries, for one.
If you bake these at 400 degrees, they'll rise even higher because of the steam that
builds up between the layers.
Breads, too, can benefit from higher temperatures.
That's because it'll make the loaf rise faster, while the crust is still malleable.
Muffins baked at slightly higher temperatures will rise more and have a higher muffin top,
and cookies?
Well, that's all down to how you like them.
"Okay, so what do these bake at?
What temperature?"
"They bake at 375."
If you like your cookies with a little more crunch on the outside and soft on the inside,
raise the temperature to 375.
Changing up the baking temperature will change how pretty much any of your baked goods turn
out, so if your cookies, bread, or muffins seem like they're just a little less than
perfect, use those same general principles to figure out how you can adjust the temperature
to get what you want.
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