When it comes to baking a cake, you want to make sure that is fully baked before you take it out of the oven. It is important to not underbake it where it will be gooey or overbake it where it will be dry. Knowing the internal temperature of the cake can help you know when it is done.
Using a thermometer to check the doneness of food is common when cooking meats. It allows you to ensure that your food has been cooked to the proper temperature to avoid the risk of foodborne illness. Some bakers will use a thermometer as a way to check if their cake or other baked goods are done.
In general, a cake’s internal temp will be around 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit. Most cakes such as butter cakes, pound cakes, chocolate cakes, and vanilla cakes will have an internal temperature of 210 degrees Fahrenheit.
You don’t have to worry about getting a food-borne illness at this temperature. Raw flour and raw eggs can potentially carry salmonella or E. coli. In addition, it also can be a determining factor if your cake is fully baked or not.
If your cake reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer, you risk it becoming over-baked and dry. At 212 degrees Fahrenheit is when water will begin to turn to steam. If your cake gets hotter than this then it will lose moisture at a quick rate.
How To Check The Temperature Of Cake?
Though it can be tempting to check the temperature of your cake periodically as it bakes to keep track of the temperature, you want to avoid this. Checking the temperature too soon on your cake can interfere with the leavening process. In addition, it can potentially let too much heat out of the oven.
Once you have baked the cake for the time suggested in the recipe then you can check the temperature. In many cases, the recipe will have a time range for how long it will bake.
To take the temperature, place the thermometer in the middle of the cake. However, be sure to not touch the bottom of the pan. For the most accurate reading, it is best to use a digital thermometer.
For denser cakes such as flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake, and red velvet cake, the internal temperature will be around 200-205 degrees Fahrenheit. Lighter cakes, such as a sponge, angel, and butter, will be around 205-210 degrees Fahrenheit.
Are Thermometers The Most Accurate Way To Test If A Cake Is Done?
Depending on who you ask, some people will say that thermometers are the most accurate way to test if a cake is made whereas others will disagree. Some people that temperature is the best way to check if your cake is baked. For a cake’s internal temp, under 200 degrees Fahrenheit, it is underbaked, over 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it is overbaked and between 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit, it is just right.
However, other baking experts don’t think that it is the most reliable method. Temperatures can vary by the type of cake and it can be hard to keep track of which type of cake is done at which temperature.
Other Ways To Check If A Cake Is Done
If you don’t have an accurate digital thermometer, there are other ways you can check if your cake is done. They will help you determine if your cake is ready to come out of the oven or if it still needs to be baked for a few minutes.
Toothpick
Using a toothpick is one of the most common ways to check the doneness of a cake. It is simple to do, as all you need is one toothpick and it is normally accurate.
If the toothpick comes out clean, or in some cases with a few baked crumbs on it, then your cake is done. If the toothpick comes out gummy or has wet crumbs on it, then it needs more time in the oven. Instead of using a toothpick, you can also use a paring knife instead.
Springs back
Another method to check if it is fully baked is to check the consistency. If you press your finger into the cake and it springs back, then it is ready to come out of the oven. If you press your finger into it and it leaves indents, then you want to bake it for another five minutes at least.
Color
Color can be a good indicator of whether it is time to take your cake out of the oven. If it is golden brown, then it is likely done.
Though this test is good for white or yellow cakes, it doesn’t work for chocolate or dark-colored cakes. For chocolate cakes, you should smell a fragrant chocolate smell when it is ready to come out of the oven.
Edges pulling away
When you notice the edges pulling away from the cake, that can be a good indicator that it is ready. The edges will pull away just slightly from the pan. If they pull away too much, then that can potentially be a sign that it has been overbaked.
ThermoPro TP03 Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer Kitchen Cooking Food Candy
Can You Use a Fork to See if Cake is Done?
You can use a fork to check to see if your cake is done. However, it’s not typically recommended as you don’t want lots of holes in your cake from the fork; particularly if you have to check more than once. Usually, a toothpick or a skewer are the best choices to check if your cake is done because they are small, and thin and only make one hole. You need to lightly poke the implement into the middle of your cake and if it comes out clean (or with very few crumbs), your cake is done.
If you need to use a fork, a carving fork may be the best option. They have a wide space between the two tines, so you can easily tell whether your cake needs longer to bake in the oven or not.
Why Can’t You Eat Raw Angel Food Cake Batter?
Growing up, more often than not, I’d lick the bowl clean once we’d finished baking. It’s only in more recent years that I’ve realized how dangerous that can be. Whether it’s raw angel food cake batter or any other kind of cake batter, it should not be consumed.
The raw batter can be full of many bacteria that can cause problems for you. These types of bacteria are only removed once the cake has been fully baked. From eating raw flour, you can get infections such as E. Coli and by eating eggs that have not been pasteurized, you could be at risk of contracting salmonella. Because of the harm that can come from eating raw angel food cake batter, I find that it’s simply not worth the risk.
What Does Raw Cake Taste Like?
I’ll be honest, raw cake tastes very similar to baked cake. While the texture will be different and it’ll likely be sunken in the middle, the taste itself will be very much the same. When I was younger, I used to love the taste of raw cake! Nowadays, I think it’s simply not worth the risk to eat raw cake. The raw cake also tastes much sweeter and is much more flavorful, as the flavors haven’t been fully baked yet. While it is delicious, the FDA strongly advises not eating it to ensure you’re being as safe as possible.
How Do You Store an Uncooked Cake?
While cake batter is usually best made fresh, if you absolutely need to, you can make it in advance. If you do choose to do this, it must be stored correctly. For example, it must be kept in a container like a mixing bowl, and then be covered in plastic wrap. Even then, it won’t last more than two days. Alternatively, you can place it in a freezer bag and freeze it until needed. However, with how quickly cake batter is to whip up and how much better it tastes fresh, we always advise baking straight after you’ve made the batter.
How Do You Cook Raw Cake?
If you’ve taken your cake out of the oven and realized it’s still raw, it’s not too late to salvage it. If the whole cake seems underdone, just put it back into the oven for around 5-15 minutes, depending on how underdone the cake is. If it’s the center of the cake that’s underdone, lower the temperature of the oven and cover the top with foil. And finally, if the bottom is underdone, cover the top with foil and turn off your top oven, if possible. All of these tips and tricks should help bring your cake back from the edge of being inedible.
Knowing The Internal Temperature Of A Cake
When baking, a cake temperature is done at between 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit. For denser cakes, the temperature should be between 200-205 degrees Fahrenheit. For lighter cakes, the temperature will be between 205-210 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, you do not want your cake to be over 212 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, it will begin to lose moisture which will cause it to dry out.
Though checking the internal temperature can be an accurate way to check if a cake is ready to come out of the oven, there are also other ways. You can also use a toothpick, to check the color and smell, check to see if it springs back, or check to see if the edges are slightly pulled away.
Do you have any questions about the internal temperature of the cake? If so, please ask any questions down below regarding how to tell if a cake is done or not.
What Is The Temperature For Baking Cake? The temperature for baking cake is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Is it better to bake a cake at 325 or 350? Baking a cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit is the best way to ensure that your cake is cooked evenly all the way through.
What oven setting is best for cakes? The oven setting that is best for cakes is generally at a lower temperature than what is recommended for baking other types of food.
Can I bake a cake at a lower temperature for longer? Yes, you can bake a cake at a lower temperature for longer. Lowering the oven temperature will cause the cake to cook more slowly, so you may need to bake it for a longer time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Set A Microwave To 180 Degrees?
The first thing you need to do is find the power button. It is usually near the door of the microwave. Then, press the power button and use the number pad to enter in 180. After that, press the start button and wait for your food to cook.
What Setting Is Best For Baking Cakes?
A baking cake is best when set in a moderate oven. An oven that is too hot will cause the cake to burn on the outside while being undercooked in the center. An oven that is too cool will not bake the cake evenly and may result in a cake that is dry or sunken in the center.
What Is The Minimum Temperature For Baking Cake?
The minimum temperature for baking cake is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can I Bake Cake At 180 Degrees?
You can bake a cake at 180 degrees, but it will not be as fluffy as if you had baked it at 350 degrees.
What Is The Lowest Temperature You Can Bake A Cake At?
The lowest temperature for baking a cake is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Happens If You Bake At A Lower Temperature?
Lowering the baking temperature will cause the food to bake more slowly, which will result in a more moist and tender texture.
What Is The Temperature For Baking A Cake?
A cake generally needs to bake at a temperature of around 375 degrees Fahrenheit in order to be cooked all the way through.
How Do I Bake A Cake In A Panasonic Convection Microwave?
The Panasonic convection microwave is a great way to bake a cake. The heated air circulates around the cake, baking it evenly. The cake will be ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
What Happens If You Bake A Cake At Too Low Of A Temperature?
If you bake a cake at too low of a temperature, the cake may not cook all the way through and will be dense or gooey.
How Do I Preheat My Lg Microwave Oven At 180?
To preheat your LG microwave oven at 180 degrees, you will need to set the oven to “Bake.” Once the oven is set to “Bake,” press the up arrow key until “180” is highlighted. Then press OK.
Can Cake Be Baking At 200 Degrees?
Yes, cake can be baking at 200 degrees.
What Temperature Should A Cake Be?
A cake should typically be baked at a temperature of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Temperature Should Cakes Be Baked?
The temperature for cake baking can vary depending on the recipe, but is typically around 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Is It Better To Bake Cake At 325 Or 350?
Bake cake at 350 degrees.
What Temperature Is Best For Baking Cakes?
There is no one perfect baking temperature for cakes – it can vary depending on the recipe, the ingredients, and your oven. However, most cake recipes call for a baking temperature of around 350-375 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Temperature Should A Cake Be Baked At?
A cake should be baked at a temperature of around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Is The Temperature For Baking Cake In Microwave?
The temperature for baking cake in microwave is about 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can I Bake Cake At 160 Degrees?
Yes, you can bake a cake at 160 degrees. In fact, many cakes are baked at this temperature.
The most accurate temperature for baking a cake is 350°F.
At What Temperature Should A Cake Be Baked? Baking cakes at the right temperature is key to ensuring they come out of the oven properly. Most cakes should be baked at around 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Can I bake cake at 180 degrees? Yes, you can bake cake at 180 degrees.
Is it better to bake a cake at 325 or 350? Baking a cake at 350 degrees will usually produce a nicer crust and a more evenly baked cake than baking at 325 degrees.
Can you bake a cake longer after it has cooled? Yes, you can bake a cake longer after it has cooled. The cake will not be as fresh as if it were baked immediately, but it will still be edible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Bake A Cake At 140 Degrees?
140 degrees is not hot enough to bake a cake.
Can We Bake Cake 140 Degrees?
140 degrees is the temperature at which cake will start to cook and form a crust.
What Is The Ideal Temperature For Baking A Cake?
The ideal temperature for baking a cake is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Happens If I Bake A Cake At A Lower Temperature?
Cakes baked at a lower temperature will likely take longer to cook through, and may be more prone to becoming dry or overcooked.
What Temperature Should You Bake A Cake?
The best temperature to bake a cake is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Degree Should The Oven Be For Cake?
A cake should be baked at an oven temperature of about 350 degrees F.
What Happens To A Cake If Oven Temperature Is Too Low?
If the oven temperature is too low, the cake will not cook evenly and may be dry or gooey in the center.
Can I Bake A Cake At 275?
There is no definitive answer to this question as baking times may vary depending on the recipe and ingredients used. However, 275 degrees Fahrenheit is generally considered to be a medium-high heat, so it is likely that a cake baked at this temperature would cook more quickly than one baked at a lower temperature.
What Is The Lowest Temperature You Can Bake A Cake At?
The lowest temperature for baking a cake is about 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
Is It Better To Bake Cake At 325 Or 350?
There is no definitive answer to this question as it depends on the recipe and ingredients used. However, in general, cakes baked at 350 degrees tend to be more evenly cooked than those baked at 325 degrees.
What Happens If You Bake A Cake At A Low Temperature?
Cake baking is an inexact science. What works for one recipe may not work for another. Some factors that can affect the outcome of a cake are the ingredients, oven temperature, and baking time. A low oven temperature will result in a cake that is cooked more slowly and may not rise as much as a cake cooked at a higher temperature.
Can I Bake A Cake At A Lower Temperature For Longer?
You can bake a cake at a lower temperature for longer, but you may need to adjust the baking time accordingly.
Can Cake Be Baking At 200 Degrees?
Yes, cake can be baked at 200 degrees. However, the baking time may need to be increased in order to ensure that the cake is fully cooked.
What Temp Does A Cake Bake At?
In general, cakes bake at around 350 degrees F. However, you should always consult the recipe to be sure.
Can You Bake At A Higher Temperature For Less Time?
Yes, you can bake at a higher temperature for less time. However, you may need to adjust the recipe slightly to ensure that the food is cooked evenly.
Can You Bake Again Undercooked Cake?
Yes, you can bake again undercooked cake. Just put it back in the oven for a little longer until it is fully cooked.
Can You Bake At A Lower Temperature?
Yes, you can bake at a lower temperature. Lowering the oven temperature will usually result in a slower cook time, so you’ll need to adjust your baking time accordingly.
What Is The Best Oven Setting For Baking Cakes?
The best oven setting for baking cakes is usually between 350 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Do You Do If Your Cake Is Not Fully Baked?
If your cake is not fully baked, you may need to finish baking it in the oven.
What Happens When You Bake A Cake At A Lower Temperature?
Baking a cake at a lower temperature will result in a denser cake.
What Is The Minimum Temperature For Baking Cake?
The minimum temperature for baking cake is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Baking a cake at the proper temperature is key in ensuring that it comes out of the oven successfully. Most cakes should be baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
What Is The Standard Baking Temperature? The standard baking temperature for cakes, cookies, and other pastries is 350 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature produces consistent results in most cases, and it is a good starting point for beginners.
Why baking at right temperature is important? The baking process is a chemical reaction that produces heat. The temperature of the oven must be carefully controlled to produce an evenly baked product. If the oven is too hot, the outside of the product will brown before the inside is cooked. If the oven is too cool, the product will take a long time to bake and may not be evenly cooked.
What temperature in Fahrenheit is Celsius? The conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius is simple: subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit temperature, and then multiply by 5/9. For example, if it is 40 degrees Fahrenheit outside, the temperature is equal to 4 degrees Celsius.
Why do we bake things at different temperatures? Different temperatures produce different results in baked goods. For example, a cake cooked at a low temperature will be dense, while a cake cooked at a high temperature will be fluffy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is The Standard Baking Temperature In Celsius?
The standard baking temperature in Celsius is 220 degrees.
Is 350 F The Same As 180 C?
The two temperatures are not the same. IS 350 F is about 177.8 C, while 180 C is about 356.4 F.
Why Do We Bake At 180 Degrees?
Baking at 180 degrees ensures that your food will be cooked evenly throughout. If you were to bake at a lower temperature, the outside of your food would be overcooked by the time the inside was cooked. If you were to bake at a higher temperature, the outside of your food would be undercooked.
What Is 180 Celsius For An Oven?
180 degrees Celsius is the equivalent of 356 degrees Fahrenheit in an oven.
What Is 170 C In Fahrenheit For Baking?
170 degrees Celsius is the equivalent of 338 degrees Fahrenheit in baking. This is the temperature at which water boils and produces steam. In baking, the use of steam makes the dough rise and creates a fluffy texture.
What Is 180C Fan Oven In Gas?
A 180c fan oven in gas is a type of oven that cooks food with a combination of hot air and dry heat. It circulates the air around the food, cooking it evenly on all sides.
What Is Baking Temperature In Celsius?
Baking temperature is the temperature at which food or drink is cooked in an oven by means of dry heat. The term is used especially for the baking of bread, cakes, pastries, and pies.
What Is A Temp In Celsius?
A temperature in Celsius is a measure of how hot or cold an object is. The higher the number, the hotter the object; the lower the number, the colder the object. Zero degrees Celsius is the freezing point of water, and 100 degrees Celsius is the boiling point.
Is 180 C The Same As 350 F?
IS 180 c the same as 350 F?
No, these temperatures are not the same.
Does Temperature Matter Baking?
The temperature of your oven does matter when it comes to baking. If the temperature is too low, your food will not cook all the way through, and if the temperature is too high, your food will burn.
Can You Slow Cook At 180 Degrees?
You can slow cook at 180 degrees, but I recommend checking on the food often to make sure it doesn’t overcook.
What Is The Effect Of Temperature In Baking?
The temperature of your oven has a significant impact on how your baked goods turn out. Generally, the higher the temperature, the shorter the baking time will be and vice versa. This is because different temperatures create different levels of heat intensity. If you’re looking for a crispy outside and a fluffy inside, aim for a higher temperature. If you’re wanting something more moist, try baking at a lower temperature.
How Do You Convert Celsius To Fahrenheit In Baking?
To convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in baking, subtract 32 degrees from the Celsius temperature, and then multiply that number by 5/9.
Why Is 180 Degrees Celsius Used For Baking?
The temperature of 180 degrees Celsius is typically used when baking because it is high enough to produce consistent results, but not so high that it will cause the food to burn.
How Do You Bake With Different Temperatures?
The temperature you bake at greatly affects the final product. For example, if you bake something at too low of a temperature, it will not cook all the way through and will be doughy; if you bake something at too high of a temperature, it will burn on the outside but be undercooked on the inside. In order to achieve desired results, it is important to know what temperatures produce what results.
Why Baking Is Done At 180 Degrees?
Baking is done at 180 degrees because that is the temperature at which water reaches its boiling point. When something is baked, the goal is to heat it up to a high temperature and then cook it. By doing so, the food will be cooked evenly all the way through.
Can You Cook At 180 Degrees?
I can cook at 180 degrees, but I like to cook at a lower temperature so that the food doesn’t burn.
The standard baking temperature is 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unfortunately, this is the hardest question to answer and one of the most common questions we get asked. Cake baking temperature and time depend on many variables, such as ingredients, pan size, oven, height, etc. You get the idea. There simply isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ answer.
Instead, we should go through a list of questions to help us determine the answer. Remember, baking is science, and like any science project, we should experiment to get good results.
.jpg "Cake Baking Temperature and Time")
So, what is the temperature for baking cake in a microwave oven?
Preheat the oven and prepare baking pans for at least 20 to 30 minutes before baking. The cake pans are prepared before the batter is mixed. For small (butter or oil) cakes, the pan is usually greased.
Cakes typically bake between 325 and 450 degrees F. Most convection ovens require the fan to be turned off as well as reducing the temperature by 25 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Use the correct oven temperature by checking with two oven thermometers (placed on either side) and bake as close to the center of the oven as possible for proper air circulation.
When the cake is first placed in the oven, the formation of the crumb depends on the degree of rising, and rapid heat absorption plays a role.
Baking at 350ᵒ Fahrenheit is a happy medium between 300ᵒ Fahrenheit and 400ᵒ Fahrenheit and creates a cake that has the best of both worlds. It has lightness, texture and caramelization inspired taste. Changing the temperature at which you bake has a significant impact on the outcome of your cake.
By knowing the accuracy of your oven, you can better predict the end result of your cake. If you’ve ever baked a recipe and wondered what went wrong, check your oven temperature again.
Most ovens are calibrated incorrectly, leaving you unaware that you are baking at a temperature above or below the temperature specified by your recipe. It is important to buy an oven thermometer to test the temperature and then adjust as needed.
Plus, you can have some control over the height and texture of your cakes by adjusting the heat dial on your oven slightly up or down.
Oven type –
Are you using a standard electric oven, gas or convection oven? The type of oven and the age of your oven play a big part in determining your temperature.
Size of the pan –
The general rule of thumb when baking is “the bigger the pan, the lower the temperature”. You bake a cake in a 9″ round pan at 350 F for about 30-35 minutes. But, if you were putting the same recipe in a 14″ pan, you’d need 50-55 minutes to raise the temperature to 325 F.
It will have to be reduced. Also, if you put the same recipe into a standard cupcake pan, your temperature will rise to 375 F and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Just browse online the best cake bakery and order your favorite pinata cakes online, pull me up cakes, or the trending half birthday cakes. The choice is yours!
There are few smells as good as the smells made by homemade baked goods. And there are few disappointments so full of treachery like cutting into a beautiful lavender-glazed blueberry-lemon poundcake to find the center is still doughy—it’s the things we do to ourselves that hurt the most, right?
Did you know that baked goods have doneness temperatures? They do! Just because our Grandmothers didn’t use fast and accurate digital thermometers to gauge the doneness of their banana bread, sandwich bread, cupcakes, or chocolate chip cookies doesn’t mean that you in a technological age can’t use one to get consistent, repeatable results with every bake.
Here we’ll break down the doneness temperatures for a whole slew of baked goods and the thermometers you can use to check them. Baking is about to get a whole lot more accurate.
Baking and food safety: do I even need to test the temperature?
Some people may ask if doneness temps are necessary when baking. After all, we’ve all eaten raw cookie dough, right? Well, there are two separate things going on here, one is safety and the other is quality.
Let’s just go ahead and address the raw-dough elephant in the room here. Yes, I have eaten cookie dough and brownie batter without getting sick. But I have also probably gotten sick from it. When people think of the risks involved in eating raw dough, they usually think of the potential for salmonella contamination in eggs, and they should think of that, but in fact, there is just as much danger, if not more, in eating the raw flour. Flour is a raw food that poses a risk of pathogenic contamination, specifically from E. Coli. For that reason, flour should not be consumed unless it has been cooked.
Incidentally, chocolate chip cookies are done at 180°F (82°C).
180–210°F, depending on the dough
It is a sad relic of bread-baking history that even in our technologically advanced times, many recipes for bread call for checking its doneness by turning the loaf over and thumping the bottom. “If the bread sounds hollow” they say, it is done. There can be a number of thermal problems with this, depending on what kind of bread you’re baking, but also there is the problem that most of us don’t bake bread enough in our homes to know what “done” bread is supposed to sound like. Yes, it was good enough for your great-great-Grandmother in the village in the old country at the communal ovens, but she was probably baking at least 12 loaves a week, if not more, since she was 10 years old. She knew what bread sounded like!
Bread can be temped either with an instant-read thermometer like Thermapen®® or, by probing it after the first 15–20 minutes of baking (after the oven spring has occurred), with a leave-in probe thermometer like ChefAlarm®.
Rich-dough breads—those with significant fat or sugar content, such as brioche, dinner rolls, challah, or even tender sandwich bread—are done when they reach 180–190°F (82–88°C). Lean dough breads—those with minimal or no fat or sugar, such as baguette, sourdough, most kinds of rye bread, or Cuban bread—cook up at a slightly higher temperature of 190–210°F (88–99°C).
(Within those temps, there is room for variation, of course, so when you find a doneness temp for a certain bread that you think is just right, be sure to note that in your recipe.)
Quick bread doneness temps
Pumpkin bread, zucchini bread, muffins, even cornbread and Irish soda bread—these are what the baking world calls quick breads. They are thus named mostly for their leavening: rather than waiting for these to ferment and become light due to yeast action, they are leavened with baking powder or baking soda and acid (this group of leaveners is professionally referred to as chemical leaveners). Double-acting baking powder contains baking soda (a base), cream of tartar (a dried acid), and another dry acid, such as sodium pyrophosphate, which does not react with the baking soda until it is heated. This causes the batter to spring up and lighten in the oven.
Quick breads are, generally speaking, much closer to a thick batter than a cohesive dough, and that higher hydration changes the doneness temp. Quick breads have a doneness temperature of 200°F and up to 205°F (93°C up to 96°C). Your recipe almost certainly gives the time to cook rather than the temperature, so start checking the internal temps with a Thermapen at the low-end of the provided time scale, i.e. at 20 minutes on a recipe that says 20–30 minutes. Pull the cake/bread when it gets to 200°F (93°C) and you’ll never face another soggy-centered banana bread again.
Cake and cupcake doneness temperatures
For a “regular” cake that is still moist and tender but isn’t undercooked, use your Thermapen to check the temperature of your cakes. Pull them from the oven once they reach 200–209°F (93–98°C) and ditch the toothpick test.
Some cakes, however, are different. Molten chocolate cakes, for instance, are done at a mere 160°F (71°C). At that temperature, the cake has achieved food safety, but the gooey center hasn’t finished firming up. This is certainly one place where the toothpick test won’t tell you everything you need to know! And because of its super-high fat and sugar percentages, pound cake isn’t done until 210°F (99°C).
Custard temperatures
Custards are liquids (usually milk-based) that are thickened by cooking with eggs. Knowing when to pull them from heat can be tricky, as they are often still quite jiggly in their centers when they are done (they congeal more as they cool), and overcooking them leads to grainy textures and unsightly cracking on the surface. But the temperatures these things finish at are not mysteries!
Custards with a high percentage of milk or cream—crème brûlée, flan, and pumpkin pie (as well as other custardy pies) —should be taken from the oven once their internal temps reach 170–175°F (77–79°C). They will still seem rather liquidy, but if you cook them in the oven until they seem solid, you’ll be too late.
Eggy dishes with a higher percentage of eggs, have less milk in the way of their proteins binding together. So things like quiche, bread pudding, and meringue pies are done at 160°F (71°C). A quick check with a Thermapen® will let you know when you get there.
Cheesecake doneness temperature
Because of its unique composition and size, cheesecake has its own doneness temperature, 150°F (66°C). Pulling your cheesecake form the oven at a mere 150°F (66°C) will prevent cracking and will help keep your cheesecake moist and tender, not gritty and dry. For a bang-up recipe, look to our post on New York-style cheesecake.
Baked goods temperature chart
There’s no reason to leave the outcome of your favorite baked goods to chance or poorly written recipes. Use an instant read thermometer that is fast and accurate, like the Thermapen, to make sure none of your baked goods come out as baked bads. Forget the disappointment of bad bakes and enjoy the results of real temperature monitoring and control.
Shop now for products used in this post:
Bread—the staff of life, the very metaphor for food and companionship—is a subject shrouded in tradition, lore, and even legend. Baking bread is one of the most ancient practices of civilized society, and has, therefore, had plenty of time to allow some muddled facts to be folded into its production.
Instructions like “place on warm countertop” or, even worse, “thump bottom of bread to see if it is done” are commonplace in recipes for bread. But how can we cook bread differently now that we live in a technologically advanced civilization, rather than an Iron-age village? Thermometry, of course. And the thermometer you need for bread is a ChefAlarm® leave-in probe thermometer.
The thermal principles involved in bread making are essentially the same for rich- and lean-dough breads, with but one notable exception, and as the lean dough is ‘simpler,’ we will use one as the template for our discussion.
Bread Baking Basics
No matter the bread you’re making, there are three major stages: preparation and mixing, bulk fermentation and proofing, and baking. In each phase, there is a critical temperature element that can be accomplished more exactly with modern thermometry than with pre-industrial techniques. Our ancestors did a great job with what they had, but, as Nathan Myhrvold and the Modernist Bread team have shown, we can be more precise, and get more repeatable, exact results by discarding some of the lore and leaning on data. So with that in mind, let’s look at how temperature affects bread baking
Temperature and bread, and overview
Temperature in preparation/mixing
Though it may not seem like it, the temperature at which you mix your dough can have a significant effect on the outcome of your bread. The temperature at which your yeast blooms can affect the flavor of your bread. Yeast reactivates best between 110°F and 130°F (43°C and 54°C). But push the activation temp above 140°F (60°C) and you’ll kill the yeast before it can even wake up.
At the same time, if you use water below 105°F (41°C) to wake it up, the yeast will wake up grumpy and you’ll get off-flavors in your bread. You know how bad it is to take a cold shower in the morning when you wanted a hot one, and yeast feels the same!
Then there is flour temperature. Whole grain flours are best stored under refrigeration—or even in the freezer—to prevent rancidification. If you add freezing flour to your dough, it will take a long time to rise. Using room temperature flour eliminates this problem, but if you have cold four, you’re going to want to check its temp before adding it to anything. A great way to bring it to temp is to sift it from a foot or two above the countertop. As the individual grains fall through the sieve, they warm more quickly. Use a Thermapen® to make sure you’re not cold-shocking the yeast out of their comfort zone.
If you want perfect results, you will want to get your dough to an exact starting temp before fermenting/proofing it. Professional bakers, whose livelihoods depend on consistency, actually take into account their mixers’ friction factor when they work out their desired dough temperature (DDT). When kneading dough, the internal friction of the dough creates heat. Each mixer has a heat signature known as the ‘friction factor.’ Professional dough recipes take that number into account and have a final desired dough temp. In fact, there is a formula for the temperature of water to add given certain variables so that your dough comes out at the desired temperature.
To find the water temperature to add to your dough (not just ‘lukewarm water’!), Take the desired dough temp and multiply by 3. Then subtract the room temperature, the flour temperature, and your mixer’s friction factor. Whatever remains is the temperature of water you want to add to your dough.
3 X (DDT) – (room temp + flour temp + friction factor) = water temp*
(That formula works for Fahrenheit scale. See the bottom of the post for a note on Celsius.)
Again, a Thermapen mk4 will give you accurate readings for all of those temperatures, and truly repeatable results. Mind you, this is pretty advanced. Most consumer mixers don’t publish their friction factors, so you have to work the process backwards to find it empirically, and even if you do, most consumer recipes don’t have DDTs anyhow. But if you get serious, you will start using this.
(If you want an easy way to calculate your temperatures, check out the Desired Dough Temp calculator over at The Perfect Loaf. Play around with it, but you can get the equation above by entering ‘3’ for your mulitplication factor and ‘0’ for your preferment.)
Temperature in rising
“Place the dough in a warm spot in your kitchen” is one of my all-time least favorite cooking instructions. Warm in winter or warm in summer? How warm is too warm? Warm enough? Well, it turns out that science has answered that question. According to Harold McGee, the optimal temperature for fermenting and proofing bread dough is 85°F (29°C). Temperatures below that point take longer to ferment, and temperatures higher than that can produce unpleasant flavors in the dough.
Bakers overcome this problem with high-tech proof boxes that use complex algorithms to keep the temperature exactly right. Some home ovens have a ‘proof’ function on them that runs the oven in the neighborhood of 85°–90°F (29°–32°C). If you have one, more power to you.
To proof—the name for the final rise after shaping—your bread, try to set up a rack of some kind in the cooler that you can set a pan with the bread on.
Why use water that is warmer than we want our proofer to be? Below is a graph of the temperature in such a cooler proofbox. Into a large cooler chest I put two gallons of 95°F (35°C) water. I put a probe in the water and used an air probe in the air and let the whole thing go overnight with the lid closed. I have included data up until the air temperature dropped below 85°F (29°C), which took about 3 hours. There was immediate heat loss to the walls of the cooler, and the air was never as warm as the water.
Temperature in baking
Though you needn’t measure the temperature of your bread at every point in the baking, it is an interesting thermal journey to see the ways that temperature affects the bread during baking. And to that end, I present the stages of bread baking:
The thermal stages of baking:
(On Baking, Pearson, pg . 57)
To what temperature do I cook bread?
Those stages of baking are thermo-centric, but I’ve included them merely for your information—and because I think they’re pretty cool—because you can’t do anything about them. Proteins are going to coagulate at that temperature no matter if you use a thermometer or not. But where a thermometer does matter is for the doneness of your bread.
It has been handed down to us that a bread loaf is done when it produces a “hollow thump” when tapped on the bottom. Humbug. Most people don’t think about it, but there are varying temperatures for bread doneness, just like there are for beef (though an undercooked bun is less likely to cause illness than an undercooked burger). For lean-dough breads the recommended doneness is 190–210°F (88–99°C), while enriched-dough breads are done at 180–190°F (82–88°C) (S. Labensky, et. all, On Baking, 2nd edition, pg. 190). These critical temps are important if you want bread that is cooked through and not gummy in the center but is still moist and tasty.
To achieve these temps, you can spot-check—based on time—with a Thermapen, but a better idea is to monitor the internal temperature much like a roast. We recommend letting the bread cook for about 10 minutes—time enough for the bread to perform its oven-spring and to start setting up a bit—and then inserting a ChefAlarm, with the high-alarm set for your target temperature. The lean dough we’ll be making below was cooked to 200°F (93°C). As noted above, there will be some carryover cooking, so you should set your alarm a few degrees lower than your target temp, depending on the size of loaf.
And speaking of loaf size, it is a great reason to use a ChefAlarm in your baking. Resizing loaves from a recipe will mean a change in cooking time, but it will not mean a change in internal temperature requirements. If you make smaller loaves, use the ChefAlarm to make sure you don’t burn them. If you make a bigger loaf, rest assured it is not doughy in the middle by monitoring that internal temperature!
Lean-dough Cuban Bread Recipe
Florida’s famous Cuban bread is a close cousin of plain French and Italian breads. It is made traditionally with nothing but flour, water, salt, yeast, and a little sugar. Some recipes call for a small amount of fat (often lard) while some leave the fat out altogether, creating a lean dough that is intended for use the day it is baked.
We have based this lean-dough recipe on the Cuban bread recipe from King Arthur Flour, but have omitted the small amount of fat that their recipe calls for, and increased the quantities.
Ingredients
- 25 ½ oz All-purpose flour
- ¾ oz sugar
- 3 tsp salt
- 1+ Tbsp instant or dry active yeast
- 15 ounces water, 110°F (43°C)
Instructions
You will find that this bread has a close, tight crumb structure reminiscent of the appearance of store-bought white bread, but with a much more significant mouthfeel, presence, and flavor. Make a Cubano sandwich with it, toast it, or just eat the whole thing right now with butter. That’s what I did. And because you used your ChefAlarm, the texture is going to be perfect. So go make some bread and then break it with someone you care about.
*Desired Dough Temperature formula in Celsius
NOTE! for Celcius measurements, you have to take off a constant to make up for the two scales’ different freezing values. No matter the other factors, Celsius must also subtract 17.8 from the formula for correct outcomes:
3 X (DDT) – (room temp + flour temp + friction factor) – 17.8 = water temp
If you’re interesting baking bread, but want an amazing sandwich loaf instead of a rustic boule, check out our post about classic sandwich bread.
King Arthur Flour, Cuban Sandwich Recipe
Harold McGee, On Food and Cooking
Labensky, Martel, Van Damme, On Baking