# Problem cooking in Wolf wall ovens



## jacquib (Nov 22, 2009)

Does anyone know whether it takes longer to cook or bake in the Wolf wall ovens? I've had the oven temperature checked twice; both times I was told that the ovens are correctly calibrated. I use an oven thermometer as well. It takes so long to cook things and baking is the same way. One time my husband baked an apple pie, he par cooked the crust first so it wouldn't be soggy and then put the pie together and after the alloted time, the pie was still white (although cooked). We didn't want to continue to bake it because the apples would be applesauce!. This is not a one time event. Same with cookies. Cooking chicken and potatoes in the oven takes considerably longer. I now set the temperature to 20 or 15 degrees higher and bake/cook longer. Anyone have any suggestions? My old GE range and oven had none of these problems and this expensive wolf double ovens are driving me nuts


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## ryan.brosseau1 (Jul 24, 2009)

Just a suggestion, and this will depend on which wolf oven you are using, but are you sure you are using the correct cooking mode, ie: bake, convection bake etc? I have not cooked in a wolf, but i used to repair them. And it has come up before that the wrong cooking mode was being selected for a given task. Its an obvious thing, but worth double checking
The cooking modes all do the same thing, heat the oven, but more importantly they determine where the heat comes from ie: above,below etc and for how long. 

More simply, your oven may be at the correct temp but you wont get good top browning for instance if you choose a cooking mode that doesn't turn the broil element on at all. (possibly why your pie wasn't browned?)

hope this makes sense.

I may be able to help more if you could decribe your problem a little more clearly. Are we talking 5 min longer than your old oven, 30 min longer... 
Also based on your description of "I now set the temperature to 20 or 15 degrees higher and bake/cook longer." this gives me the impression that your old oven ran hot.

what temperatures does your oven thermometer register at 350 degrees in regular bake mode?
covection bake mode?


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## jacquib (Nov 22, 2009)

My oven thermometer reads 350 when I set the oven at 350 and the wolf repair man said my ovens were calibrated correctly. He told me to preheat the oven for at least 30 min. on convection and then change it to bake or roast etc because it would heat up faster. I tried the convection for cooking but haven't really mastered how to use it so I heat up on convection and then turn it to roast or bake. It takes me 30 to 45 min. longer to cook a chicken and potato casserole. It took 20 min. more to cook each of three pies in two different ovens (I have a double oven).
While I understand convection, the wolf ovens are confusing in that there is convection roast, convection bake and convection broil as well as roast, bake and broil! So I'd love to know your take on selecting the correct cooking method. Whatever advice you can offer would be great.


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## pazzo (Sep 10, 2009)

By no means am I an appliance expert as you are, but I wholeheartedly agree from a logical standpoint. That's exactly what I was thinking as I read the original post.


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## ryan.brosseau1 (Jul 24, 2009)

ah the plot thickens!!!

Well first at the risk of sounding disrespectful, it sounds as though your previous technician doesn't understand how an oven works in general. So lets for the time being forget that he was even there.

Second- Your owners manual is aways right!!.. any information that I, or anyone else gives you is wrong if the owners manual says its wrong!!.. So in order for you to fully understand your oven read the manual ... and call wolf customer service if you aren't sure about something. Wolf/Sub Zero is awesome for this. Plus if there is a known issue with your product they will tell you and get it fixed.

Third- Preheat your oven as per your owners manual.. on your unit it porbably beeps or somthing similar when it is done pre-heating. 30 minutes is probably a waste of energy, especially on your very well insulated unit. And use the appropriate mode for what you are doing. *Start in the mode you want to finish in*. This greatly affects which direction the heat will be coming from ie: top, bottom, rear of the oven (in convection). If you are baking in convection bake, pre-heat in convection bake. Other wise you will not get the results you want!

Bake- heat from bottom, intermittent heat from top
Convection- fan on, heat from rear of oven only 
Convection bake- fan on, heat from rear of oven, intermittent heat from bottom
Roast mode- intermittent heat from top and bottom
Broil- heat from top only
Convection broil- fan on, heat from top only
Convection roast- fan on, heat from rear, intermittent heat from top

And for your reference your oven thermometer (not the display on the oven) should read between 290 degrees (or so) and 410 degrees (or so) when you set the oven to 350. Your oven is constantly heating and cooling, so when you average 290 and 410 you get 350 degrees (290+410=700/2= 350!). Better ovens may have a tighter range (eg 325/375) but will still average 350. Normally you take 6 readings of hi and low and average to be acurate. Some cheap thermometers are not accurate enough for this test!!

Fourth- Most recipes tell you to use 25 degrees lower temp when on convection (as does the wolf manual). Make sure you are doing this accurately.

Fifth - Since you claim that both ovens are acting up in the exact same way, I am now 99% convinced your old oven was hotter than you thought and probably by a lot (30 -50 degrees is not uncommon). Your double oven is exactly that, two separate ovens bolted together. The only actual parts they share is the power cord and the control display. The computers, heating elements etc are all separate parts. So for both to be broken in the exact same way, barring something like a lightning storm, it is nearly impossible. As, lame as it sounds, you may simply need to get used to your new oven because it acts differently than your old one.

Lastly- according to a wolf manual (not sure if it is for your oven without a model number) only your upper oven has the convection feature, and the convection bake mode is "ideal" for pies. There are tons of great tips in there and complete descriptions of all the modes your oven can do. Basically from a cooks point of view, select the cooking mode by where you want the heat to come from just as you would in any other oven. example: heat from top= broil, etc

If you have more questions, or i didn't answer something clearly feel free to ask again.


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## jacquib (Nov 22, 2009)

Well first of all let me THANK you profusely. You are wonderful!
You should know I did read my manual, more than once. They are very general and have none of the information you provided. They basically say how to use the convection bake or the bake feature i.e. press button, select temperature. The most information it provides is the position of the rack, that is suppose to be all important (but they say nothing if you are using more than one rack. You can't bake 3 sheets of cookies for example all on one rack in the 3d position. So the manual is basically a how to turn on the features of your oven.
Both wall ovens have both features. I don't know if this means anythng but the model no. is D030 F/S. They have a beautiful blue interior. Anyway, they both have all 6 features and they are both the same size inside.

I have printed out your advice and that advice is stapled in my manual. I will follow it the next time I cook. Thank you so much for taking the time to help. It's been so frustrating and cooking is suppose to be fun for me!


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## jacquib (Nov 22, 2009)

My husband read your reply and had two things in response:
In following the recipes for his pies and for baking his bread, in our old oven, the time was correct i.e. the pies were done and golden; the bread was done and golden in the time and at the temperature indicated in the recipes. In the wolf ovens, the pies and bread are not cooking/baking according to the recipe's temperature and times. We are consistently adding 30% time using the bake setting and following the recipes.


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## ryan.brosseau1 (Jul 24, 2009)

If I was the tech in your home, all of your responses would lead me to the conclusion that your old oven was running hot. Add to this the confusion the previous tech added by having you switch modes after the preheat etc. and you are where you are now. 

Unfortunately not being in your home I cannot test your new oven, to see if there is a physical problem, there could be an intermittent problem, a bad convection fan or nothing at all wrong with it. I assume that your old oven is gone so you cannot test it's temperature either. 

I don't think there is really any other advice I can give you. Sorry i cant help you more. But, if you have any more questions feel free to ask and i will do my best

I would recommend calling sub zero though... they may have a better answer for you. Also if you determine this to be a temperature problem, you can ask them to help yo re-calibrate it. Basically you'll hit a few buttons to get it to heat hotter or colder. You can usually go 35+ or 35- from the factory setting.


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## judyc (May 27, 2010)

I found your comment while doing research to see if others were experiencing the same problems I have with my Wolf built-in. I also have had the technician come out to check temperature accuracy multiple times. Baked goods are underdone and pies turn to mush without browning. I can't brown a loaf of bread without it completely drying out and my cakes are dry around the sides and wet in the middle. . I've had the computer board replaced as well as other parts to no avail. I've contacted the local Wolf rep who said she had never heard of this problem! I bought my oven in November, 2009.Are you still having problems?


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## rbezzell (Sep 27, 2011)

I found these comments while searching online for cooking classes with a Wolf built-in because like the others I am having trouble with many items cooking in my oven.  I have thrown away too many cakes now that are not cheap or easy to do.  I don't want to tell my husband that I would love my old double oven back and take this one out, but I would love to have my old GE back.  I have called Wolf also and have to feel that Wolf reps are hearing this a lot.  I do not recommend this oven!


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## nancybs (Jan 10, 2013)

Sounds oh-so familiar.  All sorts of odd features crop up that are not referred to in the Wolf pamphlet. I've had my E series double ovens for 2.5 years and have always had problems with plain bake. I use the convection bake in the top oven most of the time for just about everything and change the temp or cooking time up or down. Many of other controls simply don't seem to cook or bake the food the way I am used to.

So, the service tech was here again. He gave me a long story on how the ovens work. He told me to bake/cook the foods exactly as the guide in the Wolf booklet states. I copied the list and stuck the pages into plastic sleeves which I stapled together and put near the ovens. Every time I use the oven I am going to refer to this guide to see if the ovens actually work per the tech's directions. 

Today I made a roasted chicken using the info on my list. I sent the simple timer for 1.5 hours. Everything was going smashingly until some time later I decided to use the probe. During each attempt the set the probe, the numbers kept counting down. It wouldn't fetch a steady 180°. After the regular timer went off, I reset the temp probe. It came on and then rang a few minutes later when 180° was reached. It matched the instant probe I've always used. READ and FOLLOW THE WOLF DIRECTIONS and try to think logically about what is not working. This product is not for intuitive chefs.

Even though I've wanted to ring Wolf's neck with my frustration over pale cookies, when I've called them their employees are very helpful. Attitude is everything.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

I used my sisters wolf wall over for baked beans at a family gathering, normally 10 hours is all they take. These were still hard and crunchy like they had barely started to cook. She then told me that she adds time to all recipes or cooks hotter.


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## painlessone (Jan 14, 2013)

I wish I would have never installed my double Wolf ovens!  My chief complaint is they vent into the kitchen.  If a roast smokes it fills the kitchen, cheese drips from a pizza, it smokes up the kitchen.. When you use the self clean feature you have to leave the house as the fumes are noxious and throughout the house!
 

I had Thermador before we remodled, and I didn't even give it a thought that these new ovens didn't vent outside like my old Thermadors.
Don't spend the money!


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## mgrg1 (Mar 24, 2013)

I am in the process of selecting appliances as I work with a designer to remodel my kitchen. I was considering the wolf double oven (L series & E series). Could you please let me know which model wolf oven you are having trouble with?


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## blmas (Apr 8, 2013)

I have had my Wolf double ovens for 9 years now. For the most part I have always loved my ovens.  The big complaint is the probes.  When the meat hits the temperature you have set for the probe the oven does not turn off.  Your food continues to cook.    First time this happened we almost didn't have a turkey dinner.  My cookies have always turned out beautiful.  I do put three sheets in at a time and do rotate the sheets ie the top sheet is done I pull it out and the bottom sheet goes to the top etc. I just recently started having heating problems.  The ovens don't seem to be cooking evenly.  In looking at the responses in this forum, it does seem that I should call wolf.  I did call them a few years ago when the clock wouldn't let me change the time. The technical service rep was very friendly and tried helping.  It wasn't worth getting someone out to look at the oven for the clock.  After time went on the clock now can be set.  However, set clock beeps after using the ovens now.  I can live with that.  Just need to figure out why the ovens are not cooking evenly.


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## karonadams (Apr 5, 2013)

I was just discussing wall ovens vs freestanding last night. I'm sorry to keep harping on it but everyone talks about maintaining even heat for making soufflés so I have been thinking about this. I am also a BBQ fanatic and judge. LOVE BBQ. and the key to BBQ is long, low, slow heating and even temp through the entire time. so, one of the most important things IS fire control. there are many tricks and gadgets to accomplish this but, most important is an accurate oven thermometer. so, before I tried soufflés, I used this thermometer to check my indoor oven. as folks reminded over and over about escaping heat when I opened my oven door and how 'bad for souffle' this started me thinking. the first time, I set my oven above temp to compensate and the thermometer did not show a huge loss of temp.

Then, I started thinking about it. Floor ovens VS wall ovens, for losing temp. When you open a wall oven to put in a dish, the oven is at waist or eye level. so, you have to completely open the door, lift your dish OVER the door, set it inside, step back, and close the door. losing a LOT of heat. the higher in the wall, the more you have to open the door and the longer it will be open.  My ordinary freestanding oven, I crack open the door and zip my dish in with one hand, tipping the door closed with the other. takes a fraction of a second, thus holding the oven temp better. also, I always keep pizza stones or clay tiles in my oven to hold temp I do the same in my grill.  heat those up and they radiate heat back into the grill or oven and this always helps.

Now, I don't know what your specific problems might be with this oven but, Think about that. how fast you can get in and out of an oven based on the height of the oven and the time ti takes to move your door and yourself out of the way.  That CAN make a difference. Also, if you can find one (and they aren't too costly) get an oven thermometer that wirelessesly reads elsewhere. that way, you can monitor your oven temp over longer time periods and without opening the door.


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## calruby (Sep 11, 2013)

Thank you, JacquiB, for your help. I lived in my first house for 16 years and it had the best oven (GE floor stove/oven combo) ever.  I could do no wrong when baking or cooking.  Now, I'm in another house that has a small 24" wall oven and to be honest, nothing has come out the same.  I have two oven thermometers and both of them read the same temp that I have the oven set on.  But it seems I've had to adjust everything...baking temps or times, etc when baking what I baked for years in my old house.  I'm so glad to read that I'm not the only one having problems or concerns with this issue.  I've been thinking about buying a new unit.  (The cook top works just fine, thank goodness.)   Thanks again!


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## curley888 (Sep 29, 2013)

I don't have a Wolf Wall oven, but have a dual range with two ovens, a griddle and grill.  I have had my oven for 3 years now and I am ready to sell it.  I am now looking for another 48" oven.  I follow the cooking guide, talked to Wolf customer service multiple times and had a service man out to calibrate the oven temperature.  Basically, I bought a pressure cooker and slow cooker and go to the bakery for baked goods, anything to avoid using the oven.  It takes at least 20 minutes to heat up, you have to either add time or temperature, it is a guessing game.  So forget about using the oven quickly.  When I complained about uneven baking (cookies in the back of oven are burnt and ones in the front are half done) customer service told me that some of their users will rotate the cookies half way through cooking.  I told them I never had to do that in my builders grade oven in my other house.  It is the same for roasting, potatoes, cauliflower, etc.  Forget about using if for frozen foods such as pizza or fries.  Burnt in the back, pizza on a cookie sheet is just a mess, even the half baked pizza it totally ruined.  Customer service agreed saying that oven isn't really good for frozen food.  I just threw a half burnt/half pale batch of cookies across my kitchen, I am so sick of this oven.  I would rather cut  my losses and be able to cook.  Going to try to sell it to see what we can get for it.  I don't even want to host any holiday gatherings, I can't imagine what it would do to a turkey.  It would take forever.  I am the type of cook that likes to use recipes and follow directions and not have to guess about something being done.  Griddle is most useful.  Grill I thought would be nice until I realized how much you have to clean it, so we still grill outside or don't grill at all if there is a bunch of snow.  Such a rip off!!!!  Wolf can shove those red knobs you know where!!!!


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## calruby (Sep 11, 2013)

Curley888...I'm so sorry you're also having trouble, but I'm sure glad I'm NOT the only one! I actually started to doubt my baking ability because my wall oven just doesn't bake some things (not everything, thank goodness) very well. My banana bread comes out like a brick...and brownies just don't seem to bake at all. I've had an oven thermometer in there for years and it's showing the correct temp. So...I finally dug out my old toaster oven and cleaned it out. I tested the temp first and in the last week, I've baked corn bread that came out great and my yummy banana bread came out perfect, too. So...it's not me or my recipe. That goofy wall oven doesn't like me! And I'm sorry to say that I don't know how to fix this. If the temp looks right, why isn't it baking properly? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/frown.gif It does do other things just fine...roasts or turkey, for example, come out just fine. Maybe baking things like quick bread just isn't going to work. I have no idea how old it is but it's different from the cook top (which looks original to this house) and it is a different brand, too. Duh! One day, when I can afford it, I'll look for a new wall oven. I wish I had the money to give my kitchen a make-over. I'd love to get rid of both the cook top and wall oven and get a nice all-in-one unit. What gets me is that my parents had their kitchen re-done about the same year that this house was built and my mom gave up her old stove/oven combo and got a cook top and wall oven. She had 2 wall ovens and I do not remember her ever complaining. So, it might be the brand...you never know. And I can't remember what hers was. Darn it! Mine's a Whirlpool.


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## dedek (Nov 4, 2013)

Yes, same problem here.  It has been "fixed" 4 times. Everything takes longer.  I can't seem to make anything correctly in the wolf oven.  I am a great cook, just not with this oven. They are replacing it next week.  It's not baking correctly.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  Oh and I had a thermodor wall oven for 20 years, not a problem!


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## dedek (Nov 4, 2013)

Yes, I am having the same problem, and so frustrated.  They replace the oven once already.  I can't bake anything in at all with out ruining it.  I am or used to be an amazing cook, and can't do anything right in this oven.


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## scott 407 (Sep 3, 2014)

Pure junk as far as I am concerned . Complaints led to a 4 year warranty instead of a 3 year warranty. 

Still takes 30 minutes to preheat oven to 350 degrees.


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