We're Cooking Up Some Changes At Reviewed.com

Dear Reviewed.com Readers,

We're excited to announce some changes we've made to our oven site, including new products and new tests.

Over the past year, we've widened our focus to include built-in wall ovens and cooktops in addition to freestanding and slide-in ranges. Though ranges are still the most popular choices for consumers, there's a lot of interest in built-in products. That's why we're now testing and rating them separately.

We've also added some new tests to our range and wall-oven protocols. Our first-generation thermocouple-based tests gave a good idea of how quickly an oven could heat up and how even temperatures would be over time, but didn't reflect how airflow could affect real-world baking performance.

That's why we're now baking real food in the ovens we're testing in addition to gathering data from thermocouples. Our approach is still scientific: We're only cooking with standardized recipes and ingredients, and we're measuring the doneness and evenness of cookies and cakes using spectrophotometers and calipers. That allows us to maintain our rigorous dedication to the scientific method while measuring real-world performance.

We've adjusted the weights of our oven scores to ensure you can compare reviews written before and after the new tests were added. We're also in the process of rescoring a few ovens that require additional testing, and will be adding them back into the rubric as soon as we're finished.

At Reviewed.com, we're dedicated to the constant improvement of our lab tests. It's through science that we can bring you the most comprehensive reviews of consumer products, tested by experts. We're excited about more upcoming improvements to our testing methods, and to the look and feel of Reviewed.com. We can't wait to share them with you, so stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Keith Barry Editor in Chief, Home and Auto Reviewed.com, a Division of USA Today