Smart Tip: Use Shredded Coconut to Find Your Oven’s Hot Spot

Anjali Prasertong
Anjali Prasertong
Anjali Prasertong is a writer and public health dietitian focused on food systems, racial equity, and nutrition. Originally from Los Angeles, she has taught English in rural Japan, worked as a private chef in Malibu, and led an innovative city-funded corner store program in New…read more
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published Nov 7, 2013
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No matter how expensive or professional, no oven is perfect, so using your oven well is all about figuring out its little quirks and working around them. Dorie Greenspan has a smart tip for finding your oven’s hot spot — with shredded coconut!

While toasting a sheet pan of shredded coconut, Dorie realized that checking out the color of coconut as it toasts will tell you where your oven’s hot spot is. Coconut browns quickly and it is easy to see at a glance which area is darkest; this is the hot spot in your oven.

Once you know where your oven’s temperature is hottest, you can work around it by avoiding that area of the oven or by rotating pans during baking.

→ Read more: Coconut: Litmus Paper for your Oven – Dorie Greenspan

How do you work around the quirks in your oven?

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