The Fresh Loaf

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Cracked inside oven glass -- safe to use?

neoncoyote's picture
neoncoyote

Cracked inside oven glass -- safe to use?

My steaming adventures -- without laying a towel on the oven door -- finally resulted in a cracked inside oven glass. I have a replacement on order.

I baked a pizza at 400 degrees today, and the oven held the heat amazingly well, according to my oven thermometer, and the outside of the oven door did not get hot; I've since found out that my Jenn Air range has four layers of glass in the oven door.

Has anyone with a cracked oven glass gone ahead and continued to bake bread at around 500 degrees with no further cracking of the glass, or other problems? What about steam...would that make the glass more likely to crack further? Guess this is both an experience and an engineering question!

Thanks :)

ehanner's picture
ehanner

I can only tell you when I cracked my glass inside panel I continued to use it without any problem. My oven has only 2 panes of glass and a 3x6x6 inch triangle eventually fell out in the center. I have run the cleaning cycle with careful observation and my trusty IR thermometer. I can't get a replacement glass so my option is to replace the oven. This will no doubt end up being a kitchen remodel so it may be a while before it's done. It looks bad with the cracked glass but it seems to work for me.

What ever you do, pay attention to how hot the external components get during use and be ready to shut it down if things get to hot to touch.

Eric

Kingudaroad's picture
Kingudaroad

And have used the oven at 500+ degrees with no problem. Mine was cracked so bad that I actually removed the cracked pane and now operate the oven with just the one pane of glass. Don't think I'll try the self clean mode though.

phxdog's picture
phxdog

Neon,

I've been too lazy for the past several months to replace the inner glass on one of my double ovens. Broke it the exqact way your describe. I notice that the oven with the broken glass takes longer to come to temp & bake my breads, but have not noticed much extra heat on the exterior surface.

All in all it's probably not a real good idea to let it go too long (wiring concerns?). If you can find a replacement they often want an arm & a leg for the glass. I've replaced the glass twice now! Some of us never seem to learn.

Scott (Phxdog).

neoncoyote's picture
neoncoyote

I appreciate all the replies...exactly what I needed to know.

@Eric: my situation exactly...replacing the stove, which needed a $300 control panel replacement earlier this year, is ideally part of a remodel so that I can get away from Jenn Air (stove on island, downdraft only exhaust option)...but a remodel isn't going to happen soon. If I replace the range now, it's around $2500, and I don't even want a Jenn Air!

I'll continue using the oven and keep an eye on it...I may just knock out the cracked glass in the mean time, since it's probably doing little good.

DonD's picture
DonD

I cracked the inside pane of my GE oven glass window and continued to use it for several weeks until the crack spread and a big piece fell out. I was able to get a replacement window which came as a double glazed framed unit from a mail order parts supplier and installed it myself. If you are a little handy, it is not very complicated. Costs me about $75 including shipping. 

Don

embth's picture
embth

Another oven feature to watch when misting for your home oven humidity is your light bulb and the glass cover over it.   If that glass breaks, you may have ruined bread because of the shards.