This is a question from a bachelor, so please bear with me.
I rarely cook, and even less use the oven. After carefully reading a bunch of online cooking web sites, I decided to go all out and attempt to cook a small turkey, rather than the usual diet of hamburgers and spaghetti or pancakes. This was going to be my first time to ever cook anything like this, and I was prepared to go all the way. I opened the oven and discovered loose fiberglass all over the inside. Right away I know one of the that I trapped since I last used the oven had gotten in there. I live on a farm, and mice tend to get in the house no matter how well I think I plug holes. This is probably the
5th ot 6th time I have found this mess in the oven. Needless to say, I stuck the turkey back in the freezer and will give it to someone else to cook. I am not in the mood to stay up half the night cleaning the damn mess in the oven, disinfect the whole thing with bleach, get the bleach odor out of the oven, and by the time the turkey would be done, it would be one or more days after Thanksgiving. I heard there is a community dinner for the homeless today, I guess I'll go there instead, and just eat and give a donation.Anyhow, I posted this for a purpose. This is a gas stove (propane). Why in the hell do they put all those f**king holes in stoves? There is a hole in the rear of the oven, another in the bottom compartment under the oven (whatever thats called), and of course the big gap in the back to the underside of the burners. These are all places where mice can enter. I know I am not the only person in the world to get mice in the house, and all this does is invite them into the stove for a feast. Not only that, but the amount of insulation this stove has lost over the last few years, has probably ruined it.
Don't they make stoves that are SEALED? I know I will have to buy a new stove after this incident. If they DONT sells stoves that are totally sealed, is it safe to cover the entire back and bottom with tin? I am really sick and tired of this problem, and I may as well just eliminate the stove entirely, to save kitchen space, and use an electric hotplate to cook, because the oven is useless.
I'd find it pretty easy to attach sheets of tin, the only problem would be the gas pipe entry point, where I would have to add some solid steel pipe and weld on some sort of sleeve to seal around the hole, instead of using the flex pipe. The bottom of the stove could be a little tougher to enclose, but when there is a will, there is a way. Anyhow, my biggest concern is safety. I sort of understand the reason for the hole (gap) under the burners, to allow heat to escape. Maybe I could put some sort of screened vent on there. But that hole in the rear of the oven really puzzles me. What the heck is that for? I thought the purpose of the oven door was to keep the heat IN the oven? Then they put that hole back there where not only heat escapes, but mice enter.
Ideally, I'd like to totally eliminate the mice, but this is not an ideal world, and this is a farm, and an old house. So all I can do is try to keep the damn things out of the stove and other items in the house. For example, they got in a dresser drawer and made a nasty, stinky nest on my clean laundry. Another stupidly designed piece of furniture. Dressers have open bottoms, so mice can crawl right up into the drawers. (stupid). I covered the bottom of the dresser with
1/4" plywood. I did the same thing with the night-stand cabinet next to the bed. That solved those problems. But there is no safety issues there.I appreciate all advice.
Thanks
George
PS. Happy Thanksgiving to all, especially those who actually got to cook their turkey !!!