Set the timer to 26 minutes

How to use the online timer

Ovens rarely agree with the number on the recipe, so setting 26 minutes and checking the food yourself is a safer bet than trusting the dial alone. Start the timer the moment the tray goes in, use the last few minutes to keep an eye through the oven door, and pull everything out as soon as it beeps rather than leaving it to dry out. A watched oven needs a timer.

Press Start and away it goes, counting down on its own without needing you to babysit it every few seconds. The only real rule is keeping this browser tab open, since the countdown pauses along with the page if you close it or shut the browser down entirely. Right at zero, a sound plays to let you know time's up, clear enough to hear from the next room over.

A kitchen timer only works in the kitchen, and a phone timer competes with texts, calls, and every other app fighting for your attention. Keeping the countdown in a browser tab sidesteps both problems: it goes wherever your laptop or phone goes, and it isn't trying to notify you about anything else. Minimise it, work on something else, and it'll be counting when you check back. If you would rather say put a timer on for 26 minutes, that works too — press Start and the page does the rest.