An oven appliance and a method of operating the same are provided. The oven appliance includes a heating element such as a gas burner that is provided with a flow of fuel and an ignition element for igniting the flow of fuel. The method includes activating the ignition element by closing an ignitor relay and determining an adjusted flame time based on a target flame time and an ignition delay. The ignition element is deactivated when the adjusted flame time has passed since the activation of the ignition element. The method may further include compensating for the extinction delay of the gas burner to achieve the desired heating time.