Is your oven not getting hot enough or baking unevenly? There could be a number of reasons why your oven won’t cook properly. With a little investigating, you may be able to determine what’s wrong and fix it. Let’s take a look.
Your Oven Won’t Cook Properly? Here’s Why.
Oven Interior Is Dirty
When your oven has heating issues, it may need a deep cleaning. Electric oven temperature problems can be the result of grease and food buildup on the inside of the oven. A dirty oven interior can prevent the radiant element from heating the oven effectively, which may be why the oven cooks unevenly.
Service experts recommend that you avoid the self-clean feature of the oven. The self-cleaning cycle can reach internal temperatures of up to 1,000°F. This can cause important components to fail including door locks, thermostats, bake elements, control boards, and more.
Your best bet if your oven needs cleaning is to use vinegar steam to clean the oven naturally. This method is safe, effective, and won’t leave foul-smelling fumes behind for days. Here’s how to do it:
- Remove the racks and soak. Use hot soapy water to soak racks and scrub with a steel wool pad or heavy-duty scrubber.
- Vacuum loose debris. Clear out as much of the oven debris as possible.
- Put the bottom rack back in the oven.
- Place a bowl of vinegar solution on the bottom rack. Make a 1:1 vinegar/water solution.
- Turn oven on to 250 degrees. Let the vinegar bubble and steam for 5-10 minutes, then turn the oven off.
- Spray vinegar solution all over oven interior. With the oven off and still hot, spray vinegar all over the inside and let it sit for about 30 minutes.
- Wipe the oven clean once the oven has cooled completely.
- Scrub any remaining residue with a paste of baking soda and water. Spray with vinegar solution to rinse then wipe down.
Temperature Sensor Malfunction
When you notice your oven won’t cook properly, you should check the temperature sensor. The temperature sensor monitors the internal oven temperature. If the sensor malfunctions, you’ll notice your oven not heating enough or not maintaining its temperature correctly.
Check the temperature sensor and ensure it is not touching the oven cavity, as this throws off the readings. Ovens that do not have a sensor have a temperature sensing bulb – inspect the bulb to make sure it is not burned out or loose.
Faulty Bake Element
Over time, the bake elements that are responsible for baking and broiling in an electric or convection oven wear out with normal usage. Consequently, if your oven won’t cook properly or the oven won’t heat up all the way, you may have a defective bake element.
Inspect the bake and broil elements. They should be free from blisters, holes, cracks, or any visible signs of damage.
Additionally, the bake elements should glow bright red when on and working properly. Test this by turning on the bake elements and watching for the glow.
If there are any indications that the bake elements are faulty, they need to be replaced.
Defective Bake Igniter
Is your gas oven heating slowly? If so, you may have a defective bake igniter.
The igniter draws electrical current through the safety valve and ignites the gas in the burner. When the igniter fails, the oven won’t heat properly.
Observe the igniter and see if it glows red hot while the oven is on. If it takes more than 90 seconds to ignite the gas, the igniter is too weak and needs replacement.
Tired of troubleshooting and just want it fixed? Give Best Service Company Appliance Repair a call for oven repair Aurora and we’ll lend a hand. Sometimes leaving it to the experts is just what you need.
