Causes of Electric Oven Smells

There's nothing better than smelling freshly baked bread or a nice batch of cookies when entering a home. Smells like these can make people feel at ease; however, bad smells can cause the opposite to happen.

Strong smells such as fish or even the odor of burnt plastic can linger in the air for a long time. If your oven smells weird and is making your home smell bad too, the best way to get rid of the odors is to cut them off at the source. The food that's cooked in the oven is the cause of most of these foul odors, but bad smells can come from brand-new appliances or even from using the wrong cleaning agent.

There's nothing we can do to avoid odors from greasy or fatty foods. Heating these foods sometimes results in liquid that drips down into the bottom of our oven that we forget about once we turn the appliance off. With every use of the oven, it gets baked in deeper and deeper, causing our nose to turn at the smell of all the burnt food.

Deep cleaning your oven is a highly effective way to eliminate the odors. It may take a bit of effort and time, but if you have a self-cleaning oven, all of the hard work is done for you. To avoid having to scrub hard during cleaning, a drip tray can be inserted into the bottom of the oven. These are usually purchased separately from the oven for a minimal price. Replacing this tray regularly will not only keep your oven cleaner than most but will also remove some of the strange smells and keep your oven in the best shape possible.

One of the most pungent, and confusing, odors that can come from an oven is the smell of burning plastic. Immediately, you wonder how and why your oven smells like burning plastic. It's likely from forgetting a piece of packaging on the food that you heated. However, it can also occur if your oven is brand new. Many people forget to fully inspect their new oven or read the manual before using it. This is cause for concern because sometimes there are plastic zip ties holding things in place within the oven that we don't pay attention to.

Upon purchasing a new oven, it's often suggested to heat the oven before using it to cook any food. This is to burn-in your oven and eliminate any protective chemicals that were used to cover its lining. This method comes in handy if you forgot a zip tie. It allows you to go in and fix the problem before you use the oven for actual cooking.

If your electric oven smells like gas when preheating, turn off the heat source immediately and have your oven checked for faulty wiring or production issues. The smell of gas is something that needs immediate attention and is better dealt with by a professional.