Oven waits too long to reheat? Steam?
A recent kitchen remodel landed me in the happy place of having BOTH types of ovens! Gas oven is part of standard range unit, and electric oven is a wall unit combo with microwave (Kenmore model 790.49613318).
I'm of the opinion that the gas oven is better for energy efficiency, and the electric is better for even and consistent heat. If I misunderstand this or you have info to add, please share!
Now that I'm getting a little more serious about the nuances of baking, I'm noticing more and more that the electric oven doesn't maintain temp very well - it seems like it waits too long to start re-heating. It preheats just fine, but as I'm baking a loaf the temperature just drops and drops.
I don't think it's a hardware problem because:
-it preheats just fine, confirmed by two external/probe thermometers
-if I turn the oven off and then on again, it immediately starts heating back up. when it's preheating it shows the current temp, and most recently the temp showed 279F when I did this, and immediately started climbing to the setpoint of 400F, where it wasn't reheating at all until I turned it off and on again (are we really at the point of treating our ovens like our computers?)
...so the oven's internal thermometer obviously works. Is this potentially a software issue? Something others have encountered? Is this one of the potential problems caused by using steam?
I'd contact Kenmore customer service, via web or phone.
Yeah, i'm about ready to make that call, but this seemed like a good place to get some feedback on the possible effect of steam in residential equipment. What is the theoretical harm I've seen vaguely referenced from time to time (other than "voiding the warranty")?
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Wheeled Goat - 2 answers. Possible dangers of steam is that a few users have reported that their control boards died. I don't think autopsies were done, but some suggested that producing a lot of steam in an oven directly below where some of the electronics were located was the cause . It would all depend where the control boards are located, and whether steam would reach there.
As to too long to reheat, the best thing is to determine exactly what is going on before you call. You should get a quick read thermometer - and use that - not one like this amazon and instead something like this thermoworks DOT or even one like this amazon.com/Yacumama-Digital-Thermometer- the traditional analog ones will take too long to react to show temp changes. Then turn on the oven and set it to your normal temp, then ignore it for about 30 minutes ( most agree the first few temp swings will be wider than once it is preheated to operating temp) Then just sit and watch the temperature gauge and watch as the temp gauge goes down and write down the lowest number - then watch it as the element comes on and the temp starts rising, and keep watching till the temp peaks and write down that number, and repeat for 3 or 4 cycles. The difference between the highest and lowest numbers of each set is the variance - and different manufacturers have different specifications for what is acceptable. AFAIK, it can't be adjusted - it is just part of the way the control board is wired and the components, and the thermostat used. Here is an article that describes this test , and they even sell a thermostat that will record minimum and maximum temperatures blog.thermoworks
If when you do several cycles , the high temp gets lower with each cycle, that is definitely something you would want to ask the manufacturer about since that suggests you may have a problem with a burner or the thermostat.
In a cheap toaster oven , it is not unusual to see a very wide swing between the upper and lower temp, most home ovens are around 25 degrees ( plus or minus set temp ) though some are more and some are less. I don't think the blog goes into the details, but you want to have the probe suspended so that it is not touching the metal racks or anything that would slow it reaction to the change in temp - you can try to hang it with wires - near the middle of the oven and keep the door closed.
Excellent idea, barry (documenting variance before calling). I do have a probe thermometer very similar to the ChefAlarm on that blog that I use to monitor my mash for brewing, should work great. Thanks too for the clarification on steam damage. Greatly appreciate your thorough reply, will report back! Cheers.
I have a Kenmore oven that does exactly the same thing. It only does it on the standard bake setting. When I use convection bake setting it maintains the set point temp correctly. It seems like a software problem to me. I'd be curious what Kenmore has to say.
So good to hear I'm not alone (I was going to say crazy, but I don't think you can absolve me of that). This is happening to me on convection setting, but I'm glad you mentioned that - I'll test both modes and have that data before calling Kenmore. Will let you know the outcome.
Haven't tested my gas range since I've been exclusively using the electric for baking (under the assumption that it delivers more even heat - which is pretty much a joke at this point!). Looks like I'm in for a fun Saturday. Better stock up on Basil Hayden.
Possible Solution: heating element. After some online searching, one customer with this problem fixed it when he discovered wires to the bottom heating element were burned. The oven still "kinda" works because there's also a top heating element. Haven't confirmed that this is my problem yet but it might be yours.
Sitting at work here, I'm wondering if me being purposefully sloppy pouring water in the tray in the bottom of the oven might have damaged it. I've taken to letting some water miss the pan and hit the bottom of the oven because it releases a burst of steam - and maybe some of that water got around/through the bottom and directly onto the heating element. Not sure that's the case, but it's my working theory.