How to Pre-Heat an Oven

This is Basic of Baking - Part II - Pre-heating an Oven. Here's Part I - Getting started with baking.

I know it sounds silly that I write an entire post on this but check these stats out:

- Since I started blogging, I have received 134 emails in total, with questions, comments, suggestions, etc
- 88 of them are baking-related questions
- 32 of them asked oven-related questions
- 18 of them are about pre-heating an oven

Yes, I didn't make these stats up. I always label blog related emails in Gmail and sub-label them according to type of question. I am very organized when it comes to email, otherwise I can never function properly.

So, how do we pre-heat an oven. Its really very simple, in fact too simple, which is probably why many people have questions about it.

2 Steps to Pre-Heat your Oven

Step 1: Remove everything from the oven except the oven racks. Position them in the middle (where I leave them by default unless the recipe specifies otherwise). Turn on the oven and set the temperature to what the recipe specifies. Don't worry, nothing will explode! (Been there, feared that)

For eg: if it says "bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C/350F" then that means you should turn your oven on to 180C/350F or whatever. If your oven uses Gas, then there will be gas marks on the oven, just go online to get a conversion from centigrade or fahrenheit to gas mark.

Step 2: In most ovens, there will be a light or a "ping" indicator that changes colour or makes a ping noise when the oven has reached the desired temperature. This should take roughly 10-15 mins depending on temperature so turn on the oven mid-way through the preparation steps.

Most recipes call that as the first step but I usually find that too early so I do it mid-way through the preparation of the dough or batter or whatever.

That's it! Once your oven is pre-heated, place your item in and bake till done!

But wait, I hear some of you saying that your oven doesn't have a temperature knob. My mom has been using one of those for over 30 years. There's only an on-off button and absolutely nothing else, not even a light that goes green or orange. Its still okay, you can bake beautifully in this oven too. Just make sure you turn on the oven for a good 10 mins before placing the batter/dough in it to bake. Keep an eye on the time (as mentioned in recipe) and also the appearance of the baked item. For a cake, make sure you check if its rising, you can also try inserting a skewer to see if its coming out clean. If you need to, stop the oven for a bit, check and then re-start if its not done. Just make sure you are quick about it.

If you have any further questions, leave a comment and I will do an FAQ post :)

Basics of Baking - Getting Started

Of late, I am getting a LOT of questions from beginner bakers on how to get started on baking, what are the first few essentials, ingredients and their substitutes, ovens and types of ovens, pre-heating, etc. This is a 2-part series on the basics of baking.

Needless to say, I am definitely no expert and these notes and observations are based on my personal experiences or what I have seen work for others. Feel free to contest, share, or add in your thoughts in the comments section.

Basics of Baking - Part I - Getting Started

Of course, the first thing you need to get is an oven. I have already done a lot of research and posted about it types of oven and how to choose an oven.

The next thing is definitely baking trays and pans. There are lots of variety here in terms of what you can get and it can get confusing. However, the basic must-haves according to me, are below:

- Square and round cake pans, preferably springform. 





Round springform pans are easier to get and may be slightly more expensive than normal pans but its definitely worth it and you will find yourself reaching out for one of these most often. An 8" or  9" diameter is the most versatile.

The material for regular cake pans doesn't really matter but stay away from glass (pyrex type ones) as your first pan. The baking time will increase and the texture may differ too. Aluminium, non stick or silicon pans are your best bet.

- Baking tray 
Most ovens come with one of these. Very handy when it comes to baking cookies or potato fries.

- A good mixing bowl, whisk and rubber/silicon spatula



You can definitely use the bowls you have in hand currently but there's something special about having one just for your baking. I have a regular steel mixing bowl from Ikea that I use only for mixing during baking and its just fantastic.



A whisk is very handy when you don't want to invest in an electric beater just yet. There are a lot of recipes that come out very well without beating your hands out of their sockets so don't worry about starting with just a plain old whisk.



A silicon spatula makes life so so easy. Because of the silicon end, it scrapes the sides of the bowl very efficiently and spotlessly. I got my first as a gift and have since bought 2 more - very very handy during baking.

- Measuring cups and spoons



Baking is more a science than art. When you are a beginner, its better not to experiment too much with quantities because the first few failures may deter you from continuing. Trust me, I have seen that happen. Stick with simple, easy, no-fail recipes and soon you can start concocting your own. Buy a good set of measuring cups and spoons, you get lots of different kinds, find the cheapest ones if you are not sure if this hobby will stick. You can graduate to kitchen scales later. Even if a recipe you really like has measurements by weight, you can easily convert them online - Google has all the answers.

- Ingredients



Again, as a beginner, its best to start your journey with easy recipes that don't have hard-to-find ingredients or even expensive ones. Stick to the same ingredients as mentioned in the original recipe, once you get a hang of this baking thing, you can let your creativity run wild.

I started baking at the age of 10 and one of my first successes wast the Apple Crumble Recipe. Since its not an ordinary cake or cookie, there's a wow factor in spite of the ease of baking it.


 Here are some very basic and easy recipes you can start out with:

Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments
Easy Basic Chocolate Brownies
Toblerone Candy Bar Shortbread
Banana Bread

Part II - Preheating and Temperature Setting in an Oven - Coming Next!