What is Causing an Oven to Smoke?

Is your oven smoking like your chimney? Well, that is understandably worrying, but it probably doesn’t mean there is a serious problem. You can usually get to the root of why an oven is smoking rather quickly. However, if you need it to stop, consider checking all these potential causes first.

Food and Grease

Even if you are very careful to never spill any pan in your oven, food and grease will build up in there. Pans can boil over without you seeing it, grease and food can float up into the air, or grease can bubble and pop. This will build up over time. When it gets to a certain point, the particles will start to burn and thus produce smoke. This is most likely when you are running an oven at a high temperature. This is essentially how the self-clean cycle works, but the oven door is locked during so you cannot see the smoke.

Cleaners

If you like to manually clean your oven, you also need to be aware that if you do not fully remove certain cleaners, they will burn and smoke. Obviously, chemical smoke is not something you want wafting in your face or around your food. Be sure to be thorough in removing the cleaners after cleaning.

Food too Close to the Broiler

Your electric oven uses two heating elements to cook food. The bake element is on the bottom and usually hidden. The broil element is on the top. If you have your oven racks up too high combined with tall food like a whole chicken if the food touches the broiling element or gets too close, it will create smoke. It is always best to keep your food located near the center of the oven for even cooking unless you are specifically trying to broil an item.