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Things You Might Be Doing Wrong to Your Oven

For your oven to continue functioning properly and avoid hiring oven repair professionals every now and then, you need to treat it right. Unfortunately, many homeowners make plenty of mistakes without even knowing. To help you out, here are some of the things you might be doing wrong to your appliance that might be ruining it:

Overloading the unit

Attempting to cook too many things at once reduces your oven’s overall performance and raises the chance of a fire resulting in your home.

If the racks are crammed all the time, the heated air can’t circulate freely. As a result, the unit doesn’t function as properly as it should. What’s the solution? Stagger cooking periods. This means that you should cook your food at different times. Don’t cook all the food at the same time.

To get rid of the need to warm the food, make it a habit to cover the food items with a lid or foil. This will keep them warm on the cooktop and you won’t need to warm them.

Placing a foil at the bottom of the oven

You might have come across information that placing a foil at the bottom of your oven will make future cleaning easier, but this isn’t the case. In fact, it can actually block airflow and interfere with the heating element, causing oven failure or necessitating recalibration, which, as you can tell, means that you have to spend more money on the unit.

Instead of placing a foil at the bottom, simply clean your oven on a regular basis (such as weekly wipe-downs with a damp washcloth) to keep the inside sparkling clean.

Ignoring the rust on the racks

It’s normal for the racks on your oven to develop rust over time. This rust not only poses danger to your baking dishes, but the rust can chip off, increasing the risk of your racks catching fire.

Unfortunately, many homeowners ignore this as they think that the rust is harmless. This is wrong. When you spot rust on your unit, clean it using a nonabrasive scouring pad and a solution of soapy water and vinegar.

This will soften the rusty flakes and prolong the life of your oven racks.

Failing to treat the door with the care it deserves

Occasionally, when cleaning the door, homeowners get overly enthusiastic and vigorously scrub the glass, damaging it. This is worsened when they use hard materials instead of soft items such as a sponge, for removing the grime.

Scrubbing, slamming the oven door accidentally when your hands are full, and using the door to temporarily store hot pots before placing them on the kitchen table can all contribute to the formation of micro-fissures in the glass, which may eventually cause it to break or even explode.

To avoid all this, handle your oven door gently. If you notice a problem with it, regardless of how minor it is, fix it immediately. You can work with professionals, or if the problem is minor, you can do it yourself.

Spraying the knobs with a cleaner

The act of immediately misting home cleaner on the controls is one of the most crucial habits to eradicate. The liquid could easily get behind the knobs and switches and short out the control panel. To avoid shorting, use a rag sprayed with liquid cleaning and rub the controls.

Failing to clean the oven when you are supposed to

The heat sources in the oven may not be able to fully preheat the oven due to dirt accumulation. In addition to making your oven work more than necessary, this could result in undercooked food.

To avoid this, you should regularly clean off the burned-on foods from the racks, floor and walls. This will save you the hassle of having to unblock the heating elements and allow them to run efficiently.

To be on the safe side, make it a habit to clean your oven at least twice a month. If there are spills in the oven, move with haste and get rid of them as soon as possible. Don’t let them sit there for too long than they should.

Overrelying on the self-cleaning feature

Though useful, you shouldn’t use the self-cleaning feature in place of routine cleaning. You also shouldn’t use it on highly filthy ovens.

Out of laziness or busy schedules, homeowners procrastinate the cleaning of their ovens. Many opt for the self-cleaning option, only to realize it’s too late.

You can see smoke during the self-cleaning procedure if the dirt and residue have been accumulating for some time. A fire may even break out in such a situation.

Furthermore, the self-cleaning function is taxing on your appliance because it heats the oven to 500–600 degrees for two hours. This not only reduces the life of the appliance but also leaves you with a huge energy bill.

As a general rule of thumb, you should minimize the frequency of use of the self-cleaning feature. And when doing it, ensure that you are doing it right by following the manufacturer’s instructions.

To be on the safe side, use this feature once or twice a year. Don’t use it whenever you want to clean the oven, as it will most likely lead to more harm than good.

Leaving the racks on during self-cleaning

One common mistake many users of the self-cleaning feature make is failing to take out the oven racks before starting the cycle.

Because residue tends to build up on the racks during regular oven use, removing them beforehand helps extend the life of your racks and possibly assist to lessen the strong chemical scent when utilizing the self-cleaning feature. Unfortunately, many homeowners forget to remove them.

Removing the metal racks from the oven completely and soaking them in hot water with a small amount of dishwasher detergent is the most effective way to clean them.

After letting them soak for two hours, use a stiff brush to clean the racks; make sure to rinse and dry them before putting them back in the oven.

Failing to install surge protectors

If you haven’t installed a surge protector, a thunderstorm or lightning strike poses a serious risk to the operation of your electric oven.

To protect it—or any other appliance from extreme weather and excess voltage, have a surge protector in place during the installation of the device.

This will keep your unit in top shape and you won’t need to hire an appliance repair Alexandria professional to fix it for you.

Why Is My Oven Not Getting Up To Temperature?

Imagine this. Your friends you have been avowing to that you are the best baker in town have come over to taste your delicacies. So you rush to the oven to showcase your prowess. You crank it on, and after waiting for a few minutes, you realize the oven isn’t getting hot. Why is my oven not getting up to temperature? You wonder.

According to oven repair professionals, this can be brought about by plenty of factors such as:

The heating element is defective.

When the oven isn’t heating, the most common reason is due to a defective heating element. If you have an electric oven, the oven has two elements: the one at the top for baking and another at the bottom for broiling. From time to time, due to old age and wear and tear, the elements will become defective, and you have to replace them to restore your oven to proper working condition.

If you have been trying to heat food, but it’s no reaching your desired temperature, check the heating element, and if it’s not glowing bright red, it’s not working, so you should replace it.

If you replace the element and still the oven won’t heat your food, you most likely have an electrical problem that you need to look into. Unless you have electrical knowledge, don’t try to fix the unit by yourself. Instead, get in touch with a professional electrician to help you out.

The oven isn’t calibrated.

An improperly calibrated oven will rarely reach the desired temperature, so you need to calibrate it to heat the food properly. To calibrate the oven, you need to use the dial located at the back of the temperature knob or down at the bottom of the small shaft.

Use the adjustment screw on the dial to adjust the temperature. To increase the oven temperature, turn the screw clockwise and decrease the temperature by turning the screw counterclockwise.

As you are turning the screw, note that half turns should increase or decrease the oven temperature by 25 degrees, so you should know your desired temperature so don’t turn the temperature too high or too low.

The temperature sensor or bulb is out.

Many electrical ovens have a temperature sensor that monitors the oven temperature. Unfortunately, like any oven part, the sensor can become defective, preventing the oven from heating correctly.

Most sensors have a digital display on the oven to tell when the sensor isn’t working properly.

Like with the electrical problems, don’t try to fix the sensors if you don’t know what you are doing, as you most likely will cause more harm than was already there.

The ignitor is out

If you have a gas oven, one reason for it not working is a faulty ignitor. To confirm that this is the culprit, you need to inspect the oven.

Begin with pulling the oven away from the wall and shut off the gas. The ignitor will be located at the back of the oven compartment, and to remove it, you need to unbolt it from the oven floor.

Using a multimeter, look out for continuity of power. If this is your first time using the multimeter, you should place one probe in one of the terminals and the other on the second terminal. A properly functioning ignitor should register between 0-100 ohms, and if it fails to do it, the ignitor will have lost continuity, and you have to replace it.

You can replace the ignitor by yourself if you know what you are doing, but let an expert handle it if you have never done it before.

Bad relays

Bad relays will also prevent the oven from heating as well as it should. Does your oven have two heating elements? It has two relays that can burn out over time.

Different ovens have different ways to access the relays, so you should follow your owner’s manual for instructions on how to access and fix your relays.

If you have gone through the manual and still can’t understand the instructions, get in touch with an experienced appliance repair Springfield professional to help with the inspection and replacement of the damaged relays.

When hiring the repair professional, take caution that you don’t hire just any contractor you come across. Take your time and hire the most experienced.

Oven Repair: 7 Tips To An Optimally Working Oven

oven repair

As a restaurant owner, the commercial oven is the heart of your business. Without proper oven maintenance, you will significantly reduce the efficiency and lifespan of the appliance. No matter the brand of commercial oven you own, you need to take good care of it. Here are tips given by oven repair professionals on how to go about it:

Have a strict cleaning schedule

Although, commercial ovens come with a cleaning feature, it’s not enough to keep the appliance in pristine condition—you still have to get your hands dirty. Come up with a strict cleaning schedule. Cleaning the appliance at the end of the day is a good start.

Create a cleaning duty plan for your employees. If the employees are new, teach them how to clean the appliance.

In addition to cleaning the appliance every day, it’s also beneficial to clean it at the end of every month. This is to help you catch the areas you might have missed in the daily routine. Of course, the monthly cleanings must be thorough than the daily ones.

If you come across areas that you are unsure how to clean, consult the manual or supplier.

Calibrate the buttons

Oven buttons are one of the most used parts of the oven. The constant “ON” and “OFF” movements throw the oven off balance. The continuous use also leads to loss of efficiency and even affects how the oven functions.

At least once a month, inspect the buttons and recalibrate them if not working as well as you would want them to.

Pay attention to the heating elements

The constant use of the oven affects the heating elements. Worn out parts influence the efficiency and performance of the stove. Inspect the components using a multimeter. A high reading means there is a problem with the heating element, while a low reading such as 100 ohms, says everything is running optimally.

Inspect the elements if you have the skills, but if you have never done it before, let an experienced expert handle it

Consider the intake fan

Convection ovens have intake fans that lead to severe oven problems if you don’t take good care of them. The presence of particulate matter in the stove is the most common cause of fan problems. At least once a month, inspect the intake fan and ensure that it’s clean. If dirty, clean it.

During the inspection, also be on the lookout for any defects the fan might be having. To keep the oven in pristine working condition, fix the fan problem immediately.

Recalibrate the thermostat

The thermostat controls the working temperature of the oven. When it has problems, it gives the wrong signal to the stove leading to an improperly-working appliance.

Keep a close eye on the thermostat. Compare the readings of the internal thermometer with the set temperature. If there is a discrepancy, recalibrate the unit.

If you have had your oven for a long time, the thermostat might have gotten old. In such a situation, recalibrating it won’t fix the problem—you have to replace it.

Get rid of spills and boil-overs immediately

Spills come about every day. While they might not look like a big deal, they significantly affect the performance of the oven, if you don’t clean them early enough. To keep your kitchen looking great and your appliance running in tip-top shape, get rid of the boil-overs as soon as they happen.

A good rule of thumb is always to have a moist piece of cloth in the kitchen. Use the towel to remove the spills immediately they happen.

Make use of the manual

Many people throw the manual in the trash bin as soon as they install the oven. Don’t do this as the manual has valuable information. Before you tend to any part of the appliance, commercial appliance repair Alexandria professionals recommend that you first consult the manual.

If you have an area you don’t understand, read what the manual has to say. It’s common to fail to get the information you are looking for. Contact the supplier and ask them about it. Don’t rush to make any adjustments on your own as you might cause more problems than were originally there.

Oven Repair: Oven Maintenance Tips

appliance repiar

For you to avoid undertaking constant oven repair, you need to take good care of your oven. The cool thing is that there are plenty of tips on how to go about it:

Take good care of the blower motor

The blower motor is one of the most important parts of the oven. For you to keep it in top shape, you need to keep it lubricated. If the blower motor has oil cups, lubricate it with at least five drops of non-detergent oil.

When lubricating the motors, follow the manufacturer’s manual. As a rule of thumb, avoid over-lubricating the motor as you will cause more problems than were originally there.

Keep it clean

It goes without saying. A dirty oven not only works harder than it should, it also tends to develop plenty of problems. For you to prevent this from happening you should keep your oven clean at all times.

During the cleaning, take a look at the insulation. It’s common for foreign materials to get caught here making the oven work too hard. For you to get rid of the dirt you should use a vacuum or air jet to keep the openings clean.

While you are at it, you also should keep an eye on the blower wheel and extension shaft set screws. Tighten the screws as necessary. When tightening them, take care that you don’t over tighten them as you might crush the isolation or resilient washers.

Isolation washers are located behind the mounting screws and mounting plate. If you find the washers damaged, replace them.

Inspect the heating elements

Telltale signs that you have an issue with your heating elements is a drop in the performance of the oven or the oven takes a long time to heat up. For you to inspect the elements you need to use a digital multimeter.

For safety reasons, always turn off the power to the control system. After disconnecting the power, disconnect each element from the circuit and connect the voltmeter.

A high infinity reading means that the element is burnt out while a low reading means that you have a normal or good element.

You can also inspect the oven by inspecting the amperage of the elements. This requires you to use a clip-on ammeter to check the current draw.

Replace the gas

Do you have a gas oven? You should replace the gas when you notice it dropping. If you have been having your oven for a long time, the moving and swapping of the ovens often create a lot of movement and vibrations that cause leaks in the gas line.

You don’t have any other way out other than to replace the gas line. Buy a new gas line from the company that installed the oven for you.

Pay attention to where you place the oven

Where you place the oven is crucial as it determines how well it works. As a rule of thumb, don’t place the oven in an area where airflow around the blower is blocked. You should always be cautious of where the specimen or product is placed in the oven.

You should note that by restricting air inlets and outlets you reduce airflow through the entire oven, leading to premature oven failure. The oven also tends to function poorly.

Use the correct power

How much power is getting into the oven? You need to think about this. Some people use reduced power, which isn’t good as it leads to poor performance. At the same time, if you operate with a lot of power, you end up damaging the oven.

If you notice the oven is functioning poorly due to reduced power, consider connecting it to a buck-boost transformer.

Avoid unnecessary heat losses

To prevent the oven from losing a lot of heat, avoid unnecessary heat losses. For example, if your oven has a light, use a port plug in the light socket when not using the light. The port plug in the light socket reduces heat loss and at the same time prevents the socket from malfunctioning from the heat.

It’s common for the port plug to crack or get damaged. In such a case appliance repair Springfield professionals recommend that you replace it.

Oven Repair: Signs Your Oven Is On Its Way Out

Regardless of the type of oven you have in your home, it will come a time when you will have to replace it. Oven repair professionals report that an oven that is on its way out always gives signs. Some of the signs that you should be on the lookout for include:

Failure of the oven to cook the food right

You put all the necessary ingredients in the food, but the recipe doesn’t come out right. This usually comes about when the different components of the oven wear out or break, bringing about fluctuations in temperature. The fluctuations lead to poor results when you make your food.

When you are having this problem, it means that the oven is no longer able to properly regulate the temperature and you need to replace the thermostat.

The heat might also be escaping out of the oven. Before you run into a conclusion that your appliance needs to be replaced, check the seals around the door and ensure that thy are in good shape. If they are worn out, it’s time to replace them.

Pilot problems

If you have a gas oven, one of the clear signs that it’s time to think about replacing it is having consistent pilot light problems. If your oven isn’t lighting automatically, you might be having a broken switch.

As a gas oven owner, you should be cautious of carbon monoxide poisoning. If you notice the oven burning with a yellow orange flame instead of a vibrant blue one, it means that it isn’t receiving enough oxygen. This should be a case of concern.

Sometimes the pilot light will light up but keep on going out. When you are having this problem or any other, you should contact a repair professional to inspect the unit and identify the source of the problem. If the issues are due to old age of the appliance, you have no way out, other than to replace it.

Failure of the electric oven to heat up

Many people prefer electric ovens due to their convenience. Unfortunately, just like any other appliances, they tend to develop problems that you should have them fixed. One of the most common problems is their failure to light up.

This is often due to problems with the heating element that might be have broken or worn out. If your heating element isn’t glowing, you should think about replacing it. Sometimes you might find that the oven isn’t heating up at all. In such a case, you have a serious problem in your hands that you should have it looked into by a professional.

Scorching worktops

There should be no scorch marks on your worktops when you are cooking; therefore, when you notice them, you have a reason to be worried. The marks often come about when there isn’t enough space between the oven and cupboards. The seals on the oven might also be worn out, hence making the heat escape.

When you are having scorch marks when cooking, the first thing you should check are the seals and confirm that they aren’t worn out. If they are, replace them.

In some cases, you might find the oven doors and knobs overheating. This is usually due to failure of the cooling fan. Unless you have the skills, you should avoid trying to fix the issues. The best way out is to simply hire a professional and ask them to inspect the unit.

An oven that is problematic to clean

One of the ways of maintaining your oven is to regularly clean it. In addition to cleaning leaving your oven looking great, it also increases its efficiency as you get rid of the annoying dirt that might have built up.

You also tend to get rid of odors that might have been caught up in the grease and food spills. A good oven should be easy to clean even with a simple moist piece of cloth.

If you find yourself having problems cleaning oven surfaces, the tops might be damaged or too old and you have no way out, other than to replace them.

Before you pull the plug, ask an appliance repair Alexandria professional to inspect the unit and make the necessary recommendation.

Oven Repair And Safety Tips

oven repair

While the oven is very valuable at making the workings of the restaurant possible, it can cause plenty of accidents. People can get burnt in the process of cooking and if you aren’t keen enough, you can start a fire.

Due to the hazards that come with having the unit in your home or place of work, oven repair professionals recommend that you put oven safety tips in place. To help you out, here are some of the things you should do to ensure that you are safe when using the oven:

Be cautious when cooking

Everything starts here. There is no way you are going to be safe if you aren’t keen when preparing your meals. Always ensure that the stove and oven hood are s safely and correctly installed.

Do the staff have long hair? Make them understand that they need to keep it tied at the back all the time. They also should tuck in any loose clothing. When moving pots and pans, use protective hot mitts all the time.

At all times, keep the pot handles facing inwards. This is to prevent them from getting bumped into or knocked off the stove top. Some people use the stove as a storage space. Don’t do this.

Keep the oven clean

Keeping the oven clean not only leaves it looking great, it also prevents a fire from coming about. Grease and debris from the cooking can easily ignite, causing a fire. When spills come about, you should get rid of them immediately.

At the end of the working day, even if there aren’t any spills, you should still clean the oven and get rid of any dirt or debris that might be there.

Oven experts also recommend that you regularly run the self-cleaning function on the oven. Before you run the feature, wipe and scrape out any large messes, especially the greasy ones.

If you haven’t used the feature before, you should know that it’s simply a function of the unit going at maximum heat. This means that if the unit has excess grease in it, it’s bound to start a fire.

Due to the dangers that come with having the self-cleaning feature, you should never allow the feature to run in your absence. Always supervise its workings

Don’t line the oven with aluminum foil

Lining the bottom of the oven with aluminum foil is a great way to catch drippings, right? Wrong. Oven maintenance professionals report that doing so blocks air flow or traps heat, causing a wide range of problems such as carbon monoxide buildup, fires, or general damage to the appliance.

You also should avoid using aluminum foil pieces on the racks to catch the grease. This is because it has been shown to lead to grease pooling and as a result, the foil tends to bend and eventually spill.

If you need to prevent the grease from getting on your oven, you should use a real pan instead.

Keep an eye on the pans

For the food to heat up fast, you may want to make the pans as hot as possible. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as you keep a close eye on them.

You should note that when the pan is on high heat with nothing or with just oil on it, it’s bound to heat up very quickly, which can be a fire risk as the oil or grease or even the lining on the pan ignites.

When you are looking to get the pan very hot, whether on the stovetop or in the oven, you should use a carbon steel or cast iron pan. When doing it, ensure that the pan doesn’t have any wood or plastic parts.

As mentioned above, when heating the pan, keep a close eye on it.

Invest in a fire extinguisher

Even with all the fire safety tips in place, fire is bound to come about. For you to be able to put it off as soon as it comes about, appliance repair Alexandria professionals recommend that you have a fire extinguisher in place.

For ideal results, you should have a class B type of fire extinguisher. Having the extinguisher in place isn’t enough, it should be properly maintained so that it can be ready in the event of a fire.

Appliance Repair Tips On How To Use Your Oven

While the oven has been around for a long time and almost every household has one, most people don’t know how to properly use it. To help you out, here are tips given by appliance repair professionals on how to go about it:

Defrost the food first

What do most people do when they are cooking meat and other foods? They take the foods directly from the freezer to the oven. Don’t do this. In addition to the food not tasting good enough, it often takes longer to cook. Experts report that you also end up spending up to 30% more energy to cook frozen food than when you would cook it defrosted.

For you to save on energy and keep your food tasting good, you should always defrost the food before you put it in the oven.

Keep it clean

This is a no-brainer. You need to keep your oven clean all the time. This not only keeps it looking great, it also increases the efficiency of the unit. For you to have an easy time keeping it clean, you should get rid of any dirt as soon as you notice it.

Are there burnt-in stains in your unit that you would like to get rid of? You can easily get rid of them by using a rinsing agent. All you need to do is to pour a rinsing agent into a bowl of water and place it in the oven at 100 degrees Celsius for at least an hour.

After an hour has elapsed, you should be able to easily get rid of the stubborn stains by swiping them off with a wet piece of cloth.

You should note that the best time to clean the appliance is when it’s cool. Avoid cleaning it when hot as you will cause irreversible discoloration of the enamel.

Aim at saving as much energy as possible

When you are running the oven, you shouldn’t spend a lot of energy. In addition to ensuring that the food is properly cooked, you also should keep an eye on your electricity needs. As rule of thumb, you should strive to keep your bill as low as possible.

You can do this by doing a number of things. One of the things you can do is to turn off the appliance once you are done with your cooking. Experts also observe that you can save even more when you turn off the unit before the stipulated cooking time.

This calls for you to switch off your oven at least 10 minutes before the time that you had set elapses and let the food stand for the remaining time. By doing this, you will save 10-25 % of your electricity bill.

You will also save some energy by placing multiple items in the unit. For example, you can put baked or roasted potatoes in the oven at the same time. You can also throw in your dessert while cooking your dinner.

It’s common to want to see how your baking is coming along. You should resist the urge to open the oven door. You should note that when you open the door, you tend to lose up to 25 degrees which increases your energy bill.

The best way of going about it is sticking to your timer and oven light. If you want to know how things are going, use your nose but don’t open the unit.

Always use the right rack

Plenty of ovens have been ruined from using the wrong rack. Do you want your unit to last for a long time? You should use the right rack. Using the right rack also leads to proper cooking of the food.

The top rack is meant for food that is meant to be cooked at high temperature. You also should use this rack when you are looking to quickly cook the food.

The middle rack is best used for moderate temperature cooking while the bottom rack is ideal for slow cooking and low temperatures.

While you are at it, you should use the right baking dishes. You should note that glass and ceramic dishes tend to hold the heat much better than their metal counterparts.

Even with the best care, it’s common for the oven to develop problems. When this happens, you should contact an oven repair Alexandria professional to help you in fixing it.