Is the oven vulnerable to frequent use? (how often do you use it?) (stove, electrical)

[ocngypz]

Nothing is built to last anymore.

In 1996 I replaced a 1960 GE stainless steel wall oven. It worked perfectly fine - but I was redoing the kitchen.

The KitchenAid I put in.. lasted 7 years.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by CGab

I use mine almost daily. The problem is they are not made well like they used to be and won't last 30 years anymore.

I am not sure there is point in having them last 30 years.

You do get significant technological advances over 30 years.
For example:
1. There were almost zero convection ovens 30 years ago. Now, readily available.
2. Our Miele oven has a low temperature setting of 90 °F which is useful for proofing (the actual lowest temp setting is 75).
3. Our oven can be set to 110 °F which is useful when cooking steak using a reverse sear. This is a precise temp and I do not worry about wide temp swings.
4. Residential speed ovens did not exist 30 years ago. Nor, did steam ovens.

[BarstowC]

Stoves nowadays have an electronic control board. We had a Whirlpool double burner convection oven that only lasted about 5 years before the control board went out. Cost to fix? I was quoted $400 ($250 for the part and $150 for the labor, and that is on top of the service call charge of $75). We used the stove pretty much everyday as my wife likes to bake.


I did not have the stove fixed, but went out and bought a lower end Whirlpool for about $550. We have had it about 3 years now.


I agree with harry chickpea above; that is, the thermostat is not to be trusted. Sometimes it is high, sometimes it is low, we bought a separate oven thermometer.

[E-Twist]

There's no point in having an oven if you can't use it. Things wear out, but an oven is built to take high temps. Also, if your oven is new it should be under warranty.

[reneeh63]

I once had an oven that broke after I tried to use the "self-clean" function - you know, where it gets super hot for several hours. The repair guy said that is fairly common so never self-clean your oven just before a holiday or if company is coming over!

[snowmountains]

Thanks. Some recipes call for preheating the oven for like an hour with nothing in it: empty oven heated to 450-500F for one hour, does it have the same effect (as far as the oven wear is concerned) as having some food inside?

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by snowmountains

Thanks. Some recipes call for preheating the oven for like an hour with nothing in it: empty oven heated to 450-500F for one hour, does it have the same effect (as far as the oven wear is concerned) as having some food inside?

Are you keeping a dozen bricks in your oven? Anything glass or metal will conduct heat well enough that an hour is complete overkill for preheating. The only way an hour makes any sense at all is if you have a wimpy electric oven and you are cooking on a massive pizza stone or something. I have never heard of extra long preheating with an empty oven.

The 'wear' on your oven is generally not due to thermal cycling. It is from slamming the door, bumping the sides, and flipping switches or turning knobs. The other 'wear' is corrosion that will happen whether or not the oven is used.

[snowmountains]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

Are you keeping a dozen bricks in your oven? Anything glass or metal will conduct heat well enough that an hour is complete overkill for preheating. The only way an hour makes any sense at all is if you have a wimpy electric oven and you are cooking on a massive pizza stone or something. I have never heard of extra long preheating with an empty oven.

The 'wear' on your oven is generally not due to thermal cycling. It is from slamming the door, bumping the sides, and flipping switches or turning knobs. The other 'wear' is corrosion that will happen whether or not the oven is used.

Flipping the switches is bad? Good to know, thanks. I watched some bread baking videos that say to preheat the oven for at least 30 min before putting the dough in.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

we have to much stored in our oven to ever use it . it looks like a gym locker .

I'd be careful with that, my Grandmother did that but she was only storing pans and stuff. Not being used to it I flipped the oven on with the stuff inside more than once. The final straw was a spatter guard with plastic handle somehow managed to fall down behind the racks, it ended up melting and catching on fire. That was the end of storing stuff in the oven other than a large cookie sheet.

[fishbrains]

Originally Posted by snowmountains

Thanks. Some recipes call for preheating the oven for like an hour with nothing in it: empty oven heated to 450-500F for one hour, does it have the same effect (as far as the oven wear is concerned) as having some food inside?

That is absurd. The reason for preheating is to bring the interior of the oven, and all of its contents, to a consistent temp. As chemistryguy noted, a long preheat isn’t necessary because the contents of an empty oven are highly conductive racks and don’t have a lot of mass that absorbsthe heat. In other words, you get 450 degree air and racks about the time your thermostat registers 450. If you have a brick or six in the oven at that time, the center of the brick will be less than 450, because it is a material that conducts heat very slowly. In that very specific case, a longer preheat would be necessary, because you are heating up large rocks.

Pizza stones are about 1/4 or 3/8” think. They will heat up quickly because of how thin they are. You may want to hold your preheat temp for 5 minutes or so if you are being thoroughly cautious, but I have never found it to be necessary.

Originally Posted by snowmountains

Flipping the switches is bad? Good to know, thanks. I watched some bread baking videos that say to preheat the oven for at least 30 min before putting the dough in.

Using any mechanical device anywhere at any time can decrease its lifespan by a minuscule amount. This holds true for the doorknob on your front door, your toothbrush, the buttons on your remote control, and every component of your car as well. Eventually everything wears out, but not to a significant degree. Theswitches and knobs on your oven should be good for many thousands of uses, as is every light switch in your house, the lever on your toilet, and faucet on your sink.

Chemustryguy was trying to tell you to use your oven and not worry about the wear and tear, because it is so minor and not different from anything else in your house. He wasn’t telling you to baby what is generally a pretty robust device.