I have recently been making homemade yeast rolls and baking them in my muffin pan. The issue I'm having is the bottom of the buns are practically burned by the time the tops arw a nice brown. Help!!
Thanks!
Hello Mari, welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear you are having problems with your rolls. Here’s a few things to try.
Use an oven thermometer to ensure your oven is heating to the correct temperature. Place the thermometer in the center of the rack and check it before you put the rolls in. If it’s at the wrong temperature, increase/reduce the temperature, then wait 5 minutes and check again before baking.
Taylor and CDN both make good oven thermometers that cost about $6 - $8.
Preheat the oven a full 30 minutes before baking. Conventional ovens heat from a single heat source so it takes about 30 mins for the oven chamber to fully heat.
What color is your muffin tin? If it is a dark colored metal, a non-stick coated tin, or an anodized aluminum you will need to reduce the oven temperature by 15°F - 25°F. These metals conduct heat more intensely that natural untreated metal, so they burn everything on the bottom and sides before the centers bake. Most recipes are formulated for natural untreated metal.
Use a ruler and measure the height of your oven chamber. Make sure the bottom of your pan is in fact in the middle of the oven.
If after making these adjustments you continue to have problems with over-baked bottoms, place the second unused rack at the lowest position and place a metal cookie sheet on it to defect the heat away from the rack you bake on. Be sure to remove the cookie sheet when you’re done baking so as not to concentrate the heat on the oven floor for subsequent use. If you do not have a second oven rack, try reducing the oven temperature.
But never place a cookie sheet or aluminum foil on the oven floor as heat deflected downward can cause combustible material in the flooring or cabinet framing under the oven to ignite.