Your essential guide to oven parts

How well do you know your electric oven parts? Get familiar with the different parts of your electric oven and how they operate. From elements, baking trays and seals to racks and thermostats, we give you the low down on all the essentials!

Electric oven

Let’s start with how ovens work. Electric ovens use a heating element to generate heat. The heating element applies resistance to the flow of electrical current and generates thermal energy. Electric ovens:

• Are often easier to clean and use
• Need pre-heating, although newer models pre-heat fast
• Tend to stay at a more accurate temperature than gas
• Offer a variety of cooking modes
• Cheaper to buy and install than their gas counterparts
• Do not require any special gas fitting or energy source

Conventional:

Once heated, the heat spreads around the oven unevenly, which means food needs to be rotated to ensure even cooking.

Most electric styles are convection ovens (fan assisted). A fan at the back of the oven distributes heat evenly. This results in better browning and faster cooking.

Understanding your oven parts

1. Grill element

Situated at the top of your oven, the grill element provides heat when grilling. Grill element also known as: Broil element

2. Racks

Racks are easily removable and can transition to other rack positions in your oven. Some are mounted on ball bearing slides that enable them to easily glide in and out. Racks also known as: Full extension racks, telescopic racks, roller racks

3. Rack guides

Rack guides are secured on the inside of your appliance, on both sides. These enable racks to transition to different positions in your oven.

4. Element

A heating element creates heat for cooking. They heat up as an electric current passes through them.  They typically have:

A bottom element

Located at the bottom of the compartment. Also known as a baking element.

A top grill element

Located at the top of the compartment. Also known as a broil element.

Fan forced element

Fan forced ovens have an additional element (also known as fan forced element) located at the rear, circling the fan. When your appliance is switched on, the element heats up and the fan blows hot air into the oven and circulates it all around.

5. Thermostat

A thermostat regulates the temperature.  The thermostat controls the power to the heating element by turning it off and on to maintain the designated temperature inside the oven. Thermostats also known as: temperature regulator, control switches, simmerstat, control

6. Fan

A fan circulates air throughout the oven to help evenly distribute heated air. Fans also known as: cooling fan, convection fan

7. Fan cover

A fan cover protects your fan. Fan cover also known as: Baffle

8. Control panel

A control panel is situated on the outside of your oven. The buttons are used to control the temperature and functionality. For newer models, display screens can also feature diagnostic codes (also knowns as fault codes) to help indicate any problems or malfunction. Control panel also knowns as: Control board, digital display

9. Knobs

Knobs are used to select different functions and to adjust temperature.

10. Door seal

A door seal prevents heat from escaping from your appliance. A seal is attached to either the door or the oven itself. Also knowns as: gasket

11. Door hinge

Oven doors generally have two door hinges that allow you to easily open and close your door. These are often removable to help with cleaning and installation.

12. Globe

A globe ensures your oven is well lit. This prevents you having to constantly open and close the door (which lets the heat out) to check if your food is cooked. Globes also known as: Light bulbs, halogen globes

13. Door handle

A door handle enables you to safely open and close your oven door.

Now that you have the essentials down pat, why not inspect yours and replace any faulty or damaged parts?  You can shop oven spare parts at Statewide Appliance Spares. We have Australia’s biggest range of appliance parts such as elements, racks, hinges, seals, thermostats and knobs with fast, Australia wide delivery.

Need some help replacing your oven parts? Check out our handy guides:

• Change your element in just 9 easy steps. We show you how!

• Blown globe? No worries! Get your replacement globe and follow our easy instructions.

• Damaged seals can easily be replaced so that your oven is working like new again.

Have a question? We love to help. Our team of experts have been helping customers for over 35 years. Order online, with fast shipping, Australia wide.

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