I’m a novice in the kitchen. I’m also a book nut. So naturally, I have checked out numerous cookery books over the last couple months. (And yes, “cookery” is the correct term; it’s the actual subject all my library’s cookbooks are listed under. Weird, I know.)

I got some real gems today…well, I think they’re gems anyway. I checked out two “teaching” cookbooks by Alton Brown, a la Food Network and his awesome show “Good Eats.”

In one of the books, I’m Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking, Alton wrote about the importance—and the skill—of preheating an oven. Now, I’m new to all this cooking stuff, but I was under the impression that preheating the oven simply meant turning on the oven dial and then waiting for that “beep” when the oven’s internal temperature reached the appointed “hotness.”

But no. Apparently there’s a trick to it. And although I was skeptical at first, after reading his explanation, I can now see Alton’s point.

So here’s the deal.

When you hear that “beep,” the air temperature in the oven is at the point you want it to be for your dish. But, as soon as the oven door is opened, and you slide your (often too-cold) uncooked dish inside, much of that heat has escaped, so it can take a very long time for the air temperature in the oven to recover and reach the correct temperature again. The result of this drop in temperature is often a not-so-done or poorly-cooked dish. That is obviously not a good thing, Martha.

The solution, according to Alton (at least for ovens that have some bulk or mass to them), is to wait an extra 20 minutes after that preheating “beep” sounds to let the walls of the oven absorb some of the heat, allowing that retained heat to compensate more quickly for the drop in air temperature caused by the door opening and the introduction of cold food into the preheated oven.

Alton also suggests that another option to help prevent heat loss is to leave a pizza stone in the oven all the time. The stone will then act as a “thermal regulator” helping to keep the air temperature at a more constant level.

I haven’t tried this preheating technique yet, but I think I’ll be giving it a try. It may just explain why my cookies—at least the first batch anyway—never seem to turn out quite right.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy’s Recipes.

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