Oven smells when turned on
Why does my oven smell when turned on?
by Emma Marks
+9
Hi all,
Lately, my oven emits an unpleasant smell whenever I turn it on. The kitchen then smells and the foul odor lingers, it's very frustrating.
I'm sure I'm not alone in experiencing this, so I'm reaching out to all of you for some collective wisdom.
Have any of you encountered a similar problem with your ovens? What do you think might be causing these unpleasant smells? And most importantly, I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for preventing bad odors from the oven.
Thank you
My first thought is it needs cleaning. Anything that has spilled over will cause a smell.
I Agee with Ann. If it smells only when it heats up, then there is probably something on the bottom.
I agree with Ann & Seth. Try placing a glass bowl with about 1 cup of ammonia in your oven overnight. DO NOT HEAT THE OVEN. Remove the bowl of ammonia and the oven should be easily cleaned with hot soapy water. See if the oven continues to smell when heated.
If it was a spill, it should have baked off by now, I would look for a critter in and around the oven.
the picture does not look like the oven is very dirty. My first thought was something like a dead mouse. Pull out the bottom drawer and use a flashlight to see if there is something under there. Search under the drawer rails and behind it. Use a yardstick to pull out any dirt crumbs etc under the stove itself.
Has something dripped or burned in the oven? Have you used Easy Off and not wiped it totally clean?
The insulation within the oven's cavity may emit this odor when it's initially turned on and should quickly dissipate. If your oven is not new and suddenly smells like burning plastic, it's likely due to a wiring malfunction or melted plastic. Leftover cleaning residue can leave a strong plastic burning smell that lingers long after the cleaning took place.
You most likely have a small piece of plastic that has melted in the oven. Hopefully, you didn't have an oven liner down because they seem to be causing a lot of issues.
I would take everything out and look over every inch of the walls to see if you can find even a tiny bit of plastic. I had that happen once in my dishwasher and I thought my house was burning down.
I wonder if something got burnt inside the oven and needs to be cleaned out. Or, it's possible a critter got indoors and within the stove. I hope the latter is not the case. Try cleaning the oven interior really well and hopefully that does the job.
It's possible you have a grease build up. Sometimes it's on the door or on the shelves or the heating element itself. I'd start with a good cleaning and see if that solves the problem.
We had mice when I was growing up. They could get in our oven. And every time we turned the oven on we got a really bad smell. We finally figured out that it was the droppings burning when the oven was on. I obviously don’t know if this is why you are getting an odor. But it’s worth checking into.
Good Luck.
Does your oven have a deep clean setting? If it doesn't I would set it to broil at the highest temp it can go and let it just be hot for a couple of hours. During this time its really going to stink but it should eventually burn out whatever is causing the problem.
Hey there, Emma! When you first start the oven, it is normal to detect an unusual odor. This is caused by the combustion of gas at the burner and will go away within a minute or two. The odor of the unburned gas can be compared to the smell of rotten eggs. It is not normal to smell unburned gas in your kitchen.
Great advice, thank you