How does my new oven work? How did my old oven work?

How does my new oven work? How did my old oven work?

Basically, how does the oven work on an electric stove that has no electronics. I think it's been the same for the last 50 years.

That is, when I put the Bake/Broil swich on Bake, and the temp on Broil, will the heat stay on all the time and the oven just get hotter and hotter, or is there a limit?

Conversely when I put the Bake/Broil swich on Broil, and *don't* put the temp on Broil (say I leave it on 350), does the broiler element go on and off, according to the temp, or is the fact that you do as they say and keep the oven door open 3 inches enough to keep the thermostat from getting hot enough to turn the element off temporarily?

When I do put the broil element on broil, does it stay on continuously, no interruption?

Since there is only one thermostat, even though it has separate connections for bake and broil, that's why I'm asking.

I should have asked this question 25 years ago, but I didn't have internet.

Reply to
mm
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Why don't you just look thru the looking glass in the door and see what happens???

Reply to
hrhofmann

No glass in the new oven. Self=cleaning (although some self-cleaning ovens do have glass and a door to put in place when the heat is high.)

Come on, the people here like topics like this.

Reply to
mm

On 3/12/2011 8:24 PM mm spake thus:

Y'know, some of your questions are pretty good. Others are, well, kind of idiotic, like this one.

Just think about it for a minute next time before posting. "Broil" does

*not* mean "infinitely hot", right?

You're welcome.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

I don;t know how stoves work in the UK, but here in the USA, I don't think it's true that new stoves have much bigger heating elements. I replaced a 25 year old oven with a new Kitchenaid one and it takes LONGER to come up to temp than the old one did. If new ones had significantly larger heating elements, it would present a major problem. It would require more current, and to retrofit a larger cable and breaker would be a real headache and sales limiter.

Also, the old ovens had a bottom heating element that was exposed. On my new one, the bottom element is under the metal floor, which one would think would limit how intense the heating element could be.

Regarding the original question, I understand what he means. But I think even with older ovens, setting the temp to broil did not mean the thermostat would never open. I understood it to mean that it was set to the max allowed by the thermostat, even though not marketd specifically on the dial at that point. If you exceeded that temp, maybe ~550, then whatever was on, oven, broiler, etc would shut off.

With my new oven you can't leave the door open when broiling. If you open the door, the element shuts off.

Reply to
trader4

Some of the new ovens require the door to be closed when broiling and there is a limit to the heat. Of course, the people that have those ovens complain they do not broil as well as older models.

Having only one element running, the temperature is self limiting as it does not have the capacity to overheat.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I've seen but never had an oven like you describe. My ovens always had one knob for the baking temperature and turning it all the way turned off the lower element and turned on the broiler element... with NO thermostat for the broiler. When I first learned to use it I was told to leave the door slightly open when using the broiler.

Reply to
Tony Miklos

Every oven I have used while in "broil" mode, kept power to the broiler element with no thermostat to turn it off and on. When I first learned to use the broiler I was told to leave the oven door slightly open.

You're welcome.

Reply to
Tony Miklos

"Tony Miklos" wrote

New models won't work with the door open. I guess a safety thing?

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

I don't know about the original question, but there seems to be more variety around than has been mentioned. My 1990s, low end oven has one knob. When I turn it all the way, it goes into broil mode, then I can turn it down to the temperature I want using only the top element. When I turn it all the way off, it leaves broil mode and when I turn it back on again, it is back in bake mode, using both elements.

--Betsy

Reply to
Betsy

I've never seen one that operates both the baking and broiling element at the same time, I think I'd like it.

Reply to
Tony Miklos

I saw Whirlpool stove/ovens like that. In that case you were supposed to put water in the bottom which would fill the oven with steam to make cleaning easy. Did the old self-cleaning ovens use too much electricity, or were thought unsafe (just guessing), or is this new for the sake of being new?

This started with my understanding of gas ovens, which I'm pretty sure never have less than a high flame when broiling.

I assumed 25 years ago that electric was the same way, but I shouldn't have and that's why I'm asking.

Wow. That's almost backwards from mine. With my old oven, 32 years old** the door was *supposed* to be open, and with this "new" oven, about 20 years old (also harvest gold), the manual says to leave the door open except when broiling chicken. "The door stays open by itself, yet the proper temperature is maintained in the oven."

But it doesn't say why. With the old one I thought if the door were closed, the oven got too hot and the broiler turned off, but with this one, it says no.

**I think, not certain, I caused the fire in the old one by trying to get hotter broiling, by putting the broiler tray on top of something (maybe an upside down cookie tray) and closer to the element. It was the first time I tried that and it was caused by grease in the broiler tray that got to hot.
Reply to
mm

I'd like that part too, but the rest of the procedure was overwhelming! My head is spinning.

Reply to
mm

My 30 year old models insisted you leave the door open. Diddn't say why.

The 20 year old one says to do so unless it's chicken! Doesn't say why.

>
Reply to
mm

I had one like that once. The thermostat continued to work even though you had selected broil with the other knob. Sometimes I used it that way to sort of cycle the broil element but I don't think the manuf expected you to use it that way. I think it was just simpler for them to have a basic thermostat on one knob and then a switch knob that picked upper or lower element. I have one at our lake house now that has it all in one knob. My oven at home has "electronic" controls.

As far as safety goes I've always wondered why the didn't just put timers on oves/stoves that would shut them off if they ran for more than say 8 hours.

Reply to
jamesgangnc

Now I think I did it that way every time for the last 27 years. That I never put the thermostat on broil, and figured it would keep running because the door was open, and yet I complained to people that the broiler wasn't hot enough. Now the old oven is in pieces, but I'll try to broil properly with the new oven, and then I'll have to find all those people and correct the mistake I probably told them. Ugh.

Reply to
mm

They have had it that way for several years now. In fact if you want an electric oven that will stay warm for more than 8 hours or whatever, they later came out with Sabbath Mode, which is cheap enough to add at the factory and pretty common. Observant Jews won't cook on the Sabbath, but they will let something that is already cooked stay warm if the oven is already turned on. An early generation of electronically controlled electric ovens kept turning off in the middle of the night and everything was cold by the next day.

Reply to
Ricky

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