If foods cooked in your oven are consistently taking more or less time than the recipes call for, consider installing an oven thermometer.

RS pick: Oxo’s Oven Thermometer ($12, www.oxo.com), which has a nondigital face and a transparent body that lets the oven light shine through to illuminate the large numbers.

Unlike a wandlike instant-read thermometer — which determines doneness by gauging the internal temperature of meat — an oven thermometer stays in the oven, taking the guesswork out of preheating by guaranteeing accurate temperatures. Hang or stand it on the oven’s middle rack.