The stovetop is under control and ready to cook.
Now you’ve got a new oven, and the chef in you is ready to put together some healthy home-cooked meals!
Should your new oven be smoking?
Is that normal? What can you do?
Ovens (new or old) can present a variety of issues that can hinder your weekly meal prep.
However, if you’ve bought a new oven and it’s smoking, don’t panic!
Sometimes oven issues are easy to diagnose and resolve on your own.
At other times, an appliance repairer can get you cooking again without requiring an oven replacement.
Is your new oven smoking? Learn the potential causes of this issue, and other typical oven problems!
1. Smoking Oven
Smoke coming from your brand new item can be alarming—especially if it sets off your smoke alarm!
Clear the air, then take a deep breath.
A smoking oven could be a simple issue.
Your new oven came with plenty of protective packaging.
Sometimes it’s difficult to remove every piece of plastic or cardboard.
It’s also easy to overlook a piece of packaging in the oven.
When you turn on the oven for preheating, and you notice smoke, turn it off and let it cool down.
The oven could be burning off a small piece of the plastic covering or a scrape of tape that stayed behind after installation.
Inspect the oven, remove any packaging left behind, then start the “burn-in” process.
This exercise allows your oven to burn off any small traces of packaging or residue left in the oven before you cook your first meal.
Make sure you wipe the oven clean after you let it cool from the burn-in.
2. It’s Dark Inside
You flip on the oven light to check on your dish without letting the heat out—but the light doesn’t come on.
There’s a good chance the interior oven lightbulb burned out.
It’s a common problem with a simple solution!
Make sure the oven is off and cool before attempting to change the bulb.
Remove the bulb cover and confirm the type of lightbulb before replacing it with a standard light bulb.
It needs to withstand the heat of the oven without breaking or shorting out.
Replace the cover before heating the over again!
3. It’s Not New, But It Smokes
When your well-loved oven smokes, there’s more to the issue than old packaging.
Do you know when you last cleaned your oven?
A smoking oven usually means something has dripped on the heating elements.
Over time, the heating elements can become covered with grease or residue.
If your delicacy overflows its container while cooking in the oven, you might have to deal with some smoke in the kitchen.
Before cleaning your oven, make sure it’s off and cool.
Depending on how often you use your oven, you should clean it several times a year.
The self-cleaning function is an excellent place to start, as long as your oven isn’t too dirty before using the self-cleaning feature.
A good store-bought cleaner can help, but be careful of the fumes.
A spray bottle with a mixture of baking soda, water, and vinegar can cut through greasy build-up without the fumes.
4. The Self-Cleaning Function Doesn’t Work
We just told you to clean your oven, but the self-cleaning function doesn’t work!
Double-check your settings and make sure the settings are correct for the self-cleaning function.
If you haven’t cleaned your oven in a while, the self-cleaner could be working—but your oven could be too dirty for the self-cleaner to handle the grime.
If a heavy spill or layer of grime isn’t the issue, you might need to replace the control board, door lock switch, or thermostat that’s causing the self-clean function to fail.
5. The Door Doesn’t Close
Even if it’s “mostly” closed, your oven isn’t safe to use unless the door closes all the way.
Before trying to fix it, make sure the oven is off and unplugged from the wall.
Check the door for broken hinges or springs.
You might need to remove the door to get clear access to these areas of the door.
If you’re missing any springs or hinges, check inside the oven and on the floor to see if they’ve fallen out of place.
Replace broken or out of place pieces with new pieces.
Chances are if they became bent or broken enough to fall out of place, they’re too damaged to be useful in your oven door going forward. If new hardware doesn’t solve the problem, call an appliance repairer to fix a broken oven door.
6. It Doesn’t Heat
Heat can be an issue in a couple of ways. If your oven doesn’t heat up at all, check to make sure it’s plugged in.
If it’s plugged in and the knobs indicate the oven should be heating, you could have a faulty igniter or heating element.
You can replace these pieces yourself (or with the help of a repair service) without needing a new oven.
7. It Doesn’t Maintain the Correct Temperature
Maybe your oven heats, but you notice your dishes aren’t cooking correctly.
You could have an issue with the heating elements getting to the right heat setting and staying there.
You can purchase a thermometer to check the oven’s temperature against the settings.
If they don’t match after a few tests, it could be a simple fix by calibrating your oven.
You could also have a faulty heat regulator that needs a replacement.
Get Help With a New Oven Smoking!
Your oven can be a dangerous appliance to fix if you aren’t sure about what you’re doing.
If a good cleaning doesn’t resolve the new oven smoking issue, call a repair service to investigate the issue.
On Point Service Company can make your oven smoke-free!
Our technicians can identify the problem and repair your oven to save you from replacing the appliance.
Don’t go hungry or deal with a smoking oven!
Contact us to have our professionals get you cooking again.
