If you have been cooking a meal recently and took a wander back into the kitchen to be greeted with a cloud of smoke, you may have been fearing the worse. However, a smoking oven is one of the most common issues that occur with an oven and although it can be a concern of health and safety, in terms of the state of your oven it is often not a major cause for concern and there is often not any technical issues that are at fault. It is worth noting that a smoking oven must be resolved quickly as it is a cause for concern and in some individual cases, if not dealt with can result in a fire. Therefore, it is important to diagnose the issue quickly and if the fixes we have provided are not sufficient, please get in contact with a qualified professional or the manufacturing support team for your oven.

Reasons why your oven is smoking

There are a handful of common issues that cause your oven to smoke when it is being used, these range from various easy-to-fix and common faults to some more technical and complex faults that will require professional help from an oven expert. 

It’s a new oven (factory coating)

One of the most common reasons why you may have found that your brand new oven that was just recently installed and had never been used before began to smoke when you started to cook your first meal was because of the factory coating. The factory coating is something that is completely normal and causes your oven to smoke during the first couple of uses. This is because the heating element inside the oven has an oil-based factory coating that produces smoke as it begins to burn off during the first few uses. This is nothing to worry about and completely normal however it is best to avoid the food that you are cooking when the oven is smoking as it won’t taste great! 

There is a way you can avoid your new oven smoking when cooking your first few meals in the oven. This is by following a burn-in process that oven manufacturers recommend when you first install a new oven. The burn-in process consists of firstly ensuring that your oven is completely cool and also that it is empty inside. Once it is cool and empty, you will want to close the oven and set it to the bake feature. Once this is set you want to adjust the temperature so it matches the recommended burn-in temperature for that oven brand. You can check this in the user manual that comes alongside your oven. A good rule of thumb for the average burn-in temperature is 200 to 300 degrees. You want to keep this going for the recommended duration of 30 to 60 minutes and it should burn away the factory coating producing smoke. After completing this burn-in process, you will be able to cook meals and use your oven as usual without having to deal with plumes of smoke coming out of your oven.

The oven needs to be cleaned

Another common issue that causes your oven to smoke when cooking is that your oven needs a full clean down. Sometimes when you are cooking bits of crumbs, foods, sauces and grease drop down from the baking trays and pots into the floor of your oven. When you go to cook a meal the next day, these leftover bits of food debris can start to burn up in the oven. This begins to cause smoke as the high temperature of the oven begins to turn the leftover food into a charred and burnt mess. The oven build-up of debris is often after months or years of not cleaning your oven and in specific cases, people who have not cleaned their oven in years are actually at a big risk of oven fires. 

To avoid the risk of oven fires and your oven smoking it is best practice for the average person to clean the inside of their oven every 6 to 12 months. However, if you are an avid baker and have just cooked a messy meal, it is worth cleaning your oven a lot more frequently. To clean your oven, once the oven is cool, simply remove everything inside including the grills. Next, you want to scrub away at the inside of the oven with natural agents such as white vinegar, baking soda and water. This will easily scrub away any hard to get rid of residue and leftover food. Once all the inside and oven door is clean, wipe down with a paper tool to ensure the inside of the oven is dry. You can now place your grills back into the oven and begin to cook meals as usual once again. If you would like to know different methods on how to clean your oven, read our blog here. 

The cleaning products you use

A common culprit that causes your oven to smoke if you have already cleaned it and the oven is not brand new is the cleaning products that you are using to clean the inside of the oven itself. The chemical makeup of some cleaning agents is not suitable for cleaning the inside of the oven and the leftover residue of some cleaning products such as foaming sprays will begin to burn up and therefore create smoke. As a safety precaution, these types of chemicals are something that you do not want to be heating up and subsequently be breathing in. 

Thus, to avoid this you should ditch the foaming sprays and instead opt for more natural agents to clean your ovens such as white vinegar, baking soda and water. However, if you are still adamant about using your sprays you must ensure that you wipe down the inside of your oven with a damp cloth once you have finished using the cleaning products inside it.

High gas pressure

If you own a gas oven and you are unsure why your oven is smoking despite it being clean inside, it could be due to the fact that your home has high gas pressure. High gas pressure overfeeds the flame that heats the oven. This causes the oven to smoke when it reaches higher temperatures. In order to fix this issue it is best to contact a qualified gas expert and your gas supplier company and they will be able to assist you. 

Issues with the heating element 

A common fault that causes smoke in electric ovens occurs during the self-clean cycle. This occurs due to excessive heat buildup and results in an impending shortage in the heating elements. The heating elements will buzz and produce smoke before failure. 

In order to check if your heating elements are working efficiently and still intact, simply turn the oven off and on. If the bake element which is found at the bottom of the oven does not turn red or the broil element which is found at the top of the oven does not turn red, the non-glowing heating element needs replacing. To replace the heating element get in touch with a professional oven repair expert or the support team of the manufacturer of your oven.

Conclusion 

It is important to remember that these are only minor fixes with nothing too complex and technical. If your oven continues to smoke when cooking and you have tried the tips that have been included in this blog then it is always worthwhile to contact a qualified oven professional and your oven manufactures dedicated support team. These professionals will be able to advise you on all the steps you will need to take and ensure that you follow the health and safety guidelines especially when electrics and gas is involved. 

If you are looking to replace your faulty oven with a brand new oven, here at Powerpoint Wallasey we provide the Wirral, Wallasey and Birkenhead with high-quality ovens at affordable prices from leading manufacturers such as Bosch, Hoover, Neff and many more!