Why Do We Cook So Many Foods at 350 Degrees?

Because tree fiddy is the best number.

I mean it's not really that crazy if you think about it, and I guess not unlike waving your hand over a hot grill to generally gauge if it's hot "enough."

That's what most ovens with digital controls are preprogrammed to start at now. I think the packaged food industry just follows suit. Except for Pillsbury and Bagel Bites. For some reason Pillsbury rolls want 400, or 375 for dark pan. Bagel bites are 425. I wish my oven had presets.

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I'm struggling to think of anything I bake at 350. I mostly use 350 as a temp for reheating frozen baked goods

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Same here. Although I reheat pizzas at 375 or 400. I cook cornbread at 450. Other stuff at 425.

One thing I learned when I bought this house 11 years ago was to check your oven. There was an original oven from the late 60s in the wall. I saw a thermometer clipped to the rack, and thought that was odd. If I set it to 350, on a dial, it never got above 300 on the thermometer. If I set it to 375 on the rack, it went above 450 on the thermometer. I played around with the dial trying to zero in on 375-400 range, but never could. So I had to buy a new oven.

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If you use the circulate fan, do you lower the temp, or the time, or both.

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Do you mean Convection? My previous place had one of those and I only used it cooking large pieces of meat like hams or roasts. Never when baking breads. Seems like it messed up the timing and rising.

Mrs Pauls calls for a temp of 425 F. Trust me on this one.

working in professional kitchens has taught me to cook pretty much everything in extremely hot ovens. I go 425-450 convection for nearly everything I cook.

Because 325 isn't hot enough?

If you’re trying to bake with steam (ie, what you’re trying to accomplish by spritzing the oven, to mimic a commercial deck oven’s true steam injection), then don’t use the convection fan (at least initially). What you’re trying to accomplish with the water misting is to keep the crust from setting too early: this allows for maximum oven spring (a higher-rising, loftier loaf). Using the convection fan will 1)blow out all the steam you just worked hard to create and 2)speed up the crust setting, creating a hard shell on the outside of the loaf too early in the baking. You want that crust staying soft and flexible as long as possible. The browning/firming of the crust should occur near the end of the bake.

So, if the loaf looks pale and it is near the end of the bake time, you can turn on the convection fan for a short while.

The best option in a home oven is to bake inside a closed vessel. Use a lidded cast iron Dutch oven...or for baguettes, try baking on a big rectangular pizza stone (preheated) and invert a stainless steel hotel pan (a steam table pan insert, the deep kind) over the loaves. This will trap the steam released by the dough, keeping the crust flexible as the loaf expands. Carefully take off the hot stainless steel pan about 10 minutes from the end of the baking time to allow loaves to brown.

Convection is great for drying things out such as homemade French fries or vegetables. You don't want to use it for most meats, breads, or things your trying to keep the juice in.