Not specifically caravan related but can anyone explain why with my fan oven set to 160 degrees my gammon joint can have an internal temperature reading of 180 degrees?
simple answer is that of your oven, they aren't that accurate, unless you are using another type of temp gauge i.e. an independent oven thermometer, that's why on pre packed food they always given a rough guide of temp depending on the oven
If you wrapped or covered the joint in tinfoil whilst cooking then you will get a higher internal temperature reading as the tinfoil reflects the heat and becomes an insulator. I often cook joints by this method because you can turn the heat down slightly and the meat becomes less tough and easier to slice not having a burnt crust on the outside. However, I also use a meat thermometer too for perfect results but if you didn't use any tin foil prior to cooking then either the oven thermostat is defective or the meat thermometer is not that accurate. There are cheap meat thermometers on the market but like most things you get what you pay for so you also need to take this into consideration.
My theory, for what it's worth, is the thermal performance of two greatly varying densities. Your oven is heating and measuring the ambient air temperature, so heat is applied from cold until the target temperature is reached. In this process it is likely to actually to go over, to say 164 degrees. Over a period of time the air wil cool, heat is reapplied, and this process is repeated constantly.
Now consider the far more dense joint of meat, this will be heated to say 164 degrees in the first cycle, but won't lose heat as quickly as the air being measured in the oven. So when the air in the oven drops, to say 155 and the heat is reapplied to raise it back up, the joint may have only dropped to 161. The additional heat in each cycle to get the air back to the target has the effect of cumulatively increasing the joint internal temperature by a few degrees. Over the average time it takes to cook a joint, it's not difficult to see this effect adding 20 degrees to the core of the joint based on the target oven temp which is being measured in the air surrounding it.
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Topic: Fan oven quesfion
