can i put a jam thermometer in an oven?

[Clara]

well that's my question....I have this crazy secondhand catering oven that gets hotter and hotter, never stops, no thermostat. I'm living without cake people, cos it always burns

Now the oven keeps heat VERY well, so if I pop a jam thermometer in there and turn it off when it gets to temperature, perhaps I can have my rosebud madeleines this afternoon?

Enough babbling - what I mean is....it won't explode..will it?

[Annpan]

It might... If it is anything like mine it will have a probe on it that is supposed to do the testing but the dial on mine would certainly not survive an oven

An oven thermometer can't be more than a few pounds from ebay... well worth it for cake I'd say.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

Should be alright if it is a traditional metal & glass thermometer....

[Clara]

Should be alright if it is a traditional metal & glass thermometer....

I should have been clearer, it's not the kind AnnPan has, its a glass and mercury thermometer set into a metal scale.....now i think i better check whether the handle is plastic,can't remember,it's new

[becks77]

Hi Clara,
I wouldn't put mercury thermometer in the oven ...just in case.
Mercury+food =????
Also does the oven get hotter than the thermometer scale if it does then it may well not end happily.
HTH
Becks