# Oven rack placement: Settle a marital dispute **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2015, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454 "2015-09-25T02:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TexCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/texcat/32/9041_2.png) [@TexCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TexCat)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/21 "2015-09-25T19:25:39Z")
I recommend an oven thermometer. I don’t think rack position makes a huge difference, but your oven temperature could be off by 50 or 75 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/22 "2015-09-25T19:31:19Z")
> [@Bonaventure](#): > > This tasted much better than the dinner I made tonight. Tastes like… victory… ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/23 "2015-09-25T20:22:21Z")
> [@Stormcrow](#): > > Tastes like… victory… In the OP’s case, … chicken? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/24 "2015-09-26T03:22:06Z")
Another middle racker here, although it’s actually slightly lower than the exact center of the oven. I have noticed that food cooks faster but burns easier on the bottom rack, and it throws the recipes off so we never use that. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/25 "2015-09-26T03:55:20Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > middle rack? my oven only has 2. top and bottom racks. I have the top rack in the 2nd set of notches and is the one I use the most. Congratulations – that IS the middle! The OP is asking about placement, not saying there are physically a top, middle, and bottom rack. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/26 "2015-09-26T05:28:20Z")
The bottom gets more radiant heat from the element. Good for pizza, bad for chicken. In addition to fitting the tiurkey, the bottom can also be useful when baking 2 things on different racks. Better to have 2 ovens, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/27 "2015-09-26T05:35:00Z")
I make angel food cake from a box mix (yes, I know making it from scratch tastes better), and the directions tell you to take out the top rack and put the remaining rack in the bottom position. Otherwise, I use the middle rack. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/28 "2015-09-26T07:50:22Z")
Normally you want the food to be centered in the oven, which usually means having the rack a notch or two below the centre position, depending on the size of the thing you’re cooking. The bottom position is for things you want to cook quickly at high temperature. I only use it for pizza. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/29 "2015-09-26T13:39:07Z")
rack positions are entirely dependant of what kind of oven you have. In my of, gas heated, oven, the hottest place was at the top and the coolest at the bottom. In my (fairly new) fan assisted oven I can choose whether to use just the fan, just a bottom or top heater or all of the above. With the fan, which is the default setting for 90% of my cooking, it makes little difference. I tend to use the bottom shelf because then I can see what’s going on through the glass door. Pizza gets moved up a shelf so the bottom gets cooked faster. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/30 "2015-09-26T15:30:51Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Yeah, middle rack as default. Sometimes a recipe will specify higher or lower, though. And uppermost is only for broiling. This. Middle is default. Anyone who says otherwise is a wrongheaded poopyface. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454/31 "2015-09-26T16:39:57Z")
> [@TexCat](#): > > I recommend an oven thermometer. I don’t think rack position makes a huge difference, but your oven temperature could be off by 50 or 75 degrees. This struck me too. My oven runs about 25 degrees hot. The OP needs to just turn on the oven for 20 minutes and look at the thermometer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oven-rack-placement-settle-a-marital-dispute/732454.md?page=1)