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Routine Appliance Maintenance Tips
REFRIGERATORS
Last updated : 12/30/2020
Normal Use
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Routine Appliance Maintenance Tips
COOKING APPLIANCES
Last updated : 9/7/2023
We highly recommend to not use the self clean feature and to use solutions, such as Easy Off. Follow the directions on the package and use a little elbow grease. On wall ovens the self clean can often caused fuses to fail, with it usually involving the whole oven to have to be pulled from the wall to replace. On ranges (and wall ovens) the door lock often fails during the self cleaning.
Normal Use
:. Keep units as clean as possible, like trying to
clean crumbs and grease as much as possible
during normal use or in between uses.
:. Microwaves:
Use a microwave-safe cover over the food to help
prevent splatters inside of unit. Try to keep the
inside clean.
:. Ovens:
Thermometers placed inside the oven are not a
good way to measure internal oven temperatures.
They can be highly misleading.
Read this webpage for more information from GE
(which would apply to any manufacturer) Click for full article
Some clips of the article are:
** "When using recipes you've used for a long time, differences in timing or
cooking performance between an old and a new oven are not unusual. For the first
few uses, follow your recipe times and temperatures carefully and use the rack
positions recommended in the Cooking Guide in your manual."
** "If you are following your recipe times and temperatures carefully and still think your
new oven is too hot or too cold, you can adjust the temperature yourself to meet
your specific cooking preference."
**"The amount the oven will cycle higher or lower than the set temperature will vary and
each individual unit can be different."
Routine Maintenance
:. Ranges/Stoves:
Try to periodically pull the range out enough to
clean the sides of the range. It can get a bit
nasty over the years with food spilling.
Be careful cleaning with liquid cleaners around
the knobs as the liquids can get to the switches
below the knobs and cause damage. Also, with
gas cooktops, the spark module or igniter
harness can become wet and make it constantly
"click" or spark the igniters. If this is happened
remove power from the unit and see if it dries up
in a day or two. Sometimes if this is occurring it
will dry up and stop. If it does not stop after
allowing to dry for a few days there might be an
actual issue.
:. Wall ovens:
Many times using self clean will blow a fuse. This
might result in the display not coming on or the
oven not heating, or both.
The entire oven usually must be removed from the
wall to replace these fuses. To help avoid this and
a costly repair, avoid using self clean and clean
oven with a cleaning product, such as the "Easy-
Off Heavy Duty Oven & Grill Cleaner" aerosol
spray, use as directed.
Cooking Tips
HOW OVENS WORK
Most ovens are insulated metal boxes containing two heating elements, one on the top and one on the floor. During preheating, both elements heat up, but when in baking mode, all the heat comes from the bottom.
The bottom heating element cycles on and off to keep the temperature at an average of what you've set the temperature for. For example, if you set your oven at 350°F, the temperature can fluctuate from about 325°F to around 375°F, but the temperature over time averages out to 350°F.
Intense heat is generated when the heating element is on. Since heat rises, this extremely hot air rises to the top of the oven, where it cools slightly (we're talking fractions of a degree).
When the air cools, it falls again, only to be heated by the element again. This sets up a gentle convective current, even without a convection oven. (A convection oven quickly circulates heated air through a fan).
IT'S HOTTER AT THE TOP
Since the oven's heating element does not always stay on and only emits intermittent bursts of intense heat, it is consistently hotter near the top of the oven. So, as a general rule of thumb, put it on the lowest rack if you need something to brown very well on the bottom, such as pizza or a pie crust.
Put it on an upper rack if you want something to brown nicely on the top, such as a casserole. The middle rack is the happy medium, applying fairly consistent heat from the top to the bottom of whatever you're baking.
PLACEMENT
One thing to consider with middle-rack cooking is how deep the cooking vessel is. Do you want the center of the food in the middle of the oven or the vessel's base in the middle?
If you're baking a 2-inch cake, putting the pan on the middle rack is fine.
If you are baking a Bundt-type cake, where the finished cake will be 4" thick, it's best to put the pan in the bottom third of the oven. This allows the center of the cake to be in the oven's center.
ADJUSTING ALONG THE WAY
Also, no rule says you can't move items from one rack to another during baking. So, for example, let's say you're baking an apple pie and want to ensure that the bottom gets crisp and that the filling cooks all the way through.
You can start baking with the pie on the bottom rack, and after a few minutes, move it to the center rack to finish baking. If the pie is almost done, but you'd like it to brown a bit more, move it up into the top third of the oven.
USING BOTH RACKS
Of course, ovens are also designed so that both racks can be used simultaneously. For example, you can undoubtedly bake two pans at once when baking cakes and cookies. For cakes, if the pans are small enough that there is at least an inch of air space between the pans and the oven walls, and in between the pans, you can bake them on the same rack.
If there is not enough room, you must bake on two racks. Since the cake batter is less stable than the cookie batter before it starts to "set up" in the oven, do not move the pans until the cakes are almost done, and then carefully rotate them.
For cookies, the ones on the lower rack will brown more quickly on the underside, while those on the higher rack will brown more quickly on the top. Rotating the sheets halfway through baking helps all the cookies to bake evenly.
Placing one cookie sheet on top of another can help insulate the bottom so that the bottoms of your cookies don't brown too much. You can also purchase those double-layered "Airbake" pans to help with that.
BROILING
If using your oven for broiling, the bottom element does not come on at all, but the top element provides constant radiant heat. The closer to the element the food is, the more quickly it will brown.
If broiling a very thin piece of meat--maybe ½ inch or so, you'd want to have it on the top rack, as close to the heat as possible. For thicker cuts--maybe an inch--set the rack lower. This allows the heat to penetrate the meat evenly, ensuring the center cooks before the outside gets overly brown.
RULE OF THUMB
These are the basics of oven rack position. A good rule of thumb is to place the rack low if it is more important for the bottom to brown while baking.
If the top brown is more important, place the rack high. But, of course, the converse holds true, as well: if the top of your pie is browning too quickly, place it on a lower rack. Likewise, if the bottoms of your cookies are browning too quickly, put them on a higher rack.
For most baking, positioning the food in the center of the oven is ideal. Just remember for the center of a large turkey to be in the center of the oven, you'll have to place the rack lower than if you're roasting a pork tenderloin or baking cookies.
SAFETY FIRST
It would be best to never move an oven rack with a baking dish or pan. For safety's sake, adjusting the racks before preheating the oven is best.
If you have to move a rack once the oven is hot, use oven mitts or thick oven pads, and use both hands to re-position the rack.
This information on Cooking Tips was sourced from an article that we found to be very informative from: