Most (if not all) ovens are hotter at the top than at the bottom. Thus, if you have two baking sheets in your oven, one on a higher rack and one on a lower rack, the one on the higher rack will cook faster. Therefore, it is important not only to rotate your pans from front to back, but also from top to bottom.
Most electric ovens use the bottom element for baking. This is because heat rises. As the heat fills the oven from the bottom up, the temperature is more easily regulated for cooking in the center of the oven.
Which rack position is hotter: top or bottom? Since heat rises, the top of the oven is often hotter than the bottom. The top rack is ideal for quick cooking methods like broiling or browning the outside of food.
Baking heat comes from the bottom heating elements while broiling heat comes from the top heating element. In older models, there is little option to adjust the broiling temperature. This feature cooks food from top to bottom.
Putting your food at the bottom is safer. If the crust (the top) is baked first, it will prevent any moisture from going out and a lot of heat from going in, from being too close to the heat source.
Most standard, or conventional, ovens have heating elements located at the top and bottom of the oven. Typically, the middle rack is the best location for most foods to cook evenly.
The bottom oven rack is great for crust breads and pizzas…
baked goods that you want to intensely brown on the bottom. The top oven rack is great for things you'd like a crusty brown top on… things like pies and casseroles.
The source of heat in a conventional oven is usually located at the bottom of the oven. Most ovens also have a secondary heat source at the top of the oven, which is turned on when the oven is set to broil. The standard heat source that is activated for most oven settings is the source at the bottom.
Middle. The default position. It's ideal for most foods since it situates the item in the middle of the oven, allowing the hot air to circulate evenly around the food, resulting in even cooking. Use this for a single tray of cookies, sheet-pan dinners, fish, brownies, banana bread, and so on.
In an oven, the hot air flows by natural or forced convection while heat is distributed from the heating element by radiation. During baking process, heat is also transfer by conduction from the baking metal container to the baked product.
The middle rack offers the most even heat and air circulation which helps cookies bake consistently. The bottom rack of the oven is closest to the heat source (ovens heat from the bottom unless you have the broiler on), so it can result in burnt bottoms.
The heating element radiates heat upward, contributing to the overall temperature inside the oven.
Conventional cooking, or top and bottom heat, activates both the top and bottom heating elements without the fan. It's suitable for traditional baking and roasting and is often used for recipes that require browning on the top or bottom.
The hottest part of an electric oven is typically the heating element, which can be found at the bottom or top of the oven.
Air or water is heated at the bottom, travels to the top, cools, gets denser, falls, is heated again and the whole cycle starts again. Convection does not occur in space because there is no gravity. Ovens work by convection.
The best oven setting for baking a cake in an OTG is to preheat the oven to the temperature specified in the recipe, typically between 160°C to 180°C. Use the bake mode, which heats the oven from the bottom, ensuring even cooking. Always place the cake on the middle rack for optimal heat distribution.
Brownies: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan with foil.
For cakes and cupcakes, achieving a uniform rise and golden-brown crust is essential. Place the oven rack in the center position to ensure even heat distribution. This position allows the heat to surround the baking pan, promoting consistent baking from top to bottom.
Bake to perfection
First things first, bake your brownies on a rack positioned in the middle of your oven. If the pan is too close to the bottom, then the bottom could burn before the top gets a chance to bake. If it is too close to the top, then the top will bake too fast and leave raw brownie batter on the bottom.
A conventional oven generally has two heating elements, one on top and one on the bottom. For most cooking (other than broiling), only the bottom element is used with the heat rising to the top.
Where does the heat come from in an oven? A gas-fueled heat element, located at the bottom of the oven, produces the heat in a gas oven. In an electric oven, the bake and broil elements are heated by an electric current. Find out more about other oven elements, or consult your oven's use and care guide.
Conventional ovens use two separate heating elements to generate heat. The first is located on the bottom or floor of the oven, these can be visible, or hidden under the floor of your oven. Another heating element is on the top part of the oven cavity. These two elements transfer heat to cook the food.
Bake (conventional)
The conventional Bake oven setting is one of the most common oven cooking methods. This setting uses heat that comes from both the oven's top and bottom elements to cook food. It's great for a variety of cooking applications like baking cakes, cookies, casseroles and more.
Most gas ovens are heated from the bottom with a broiling element at the top. Electric ovens also heat from the bottom, but with an electric calrod that cycles on and off throughout the baking cycle.