When you have a new gas oven, using it for the first time can be intimidating. When an oven is new you cannot use it straight away as it could make the food inside of it unsafe.
This is because new ovens might contain chemical residue from the manufacturing process, so before you cook in your oven you will need to burn off any of this residue.
To break your oven in, the first thing you will need to do is turn on the fan in the ventilation hood of your oven. If possible you should also open any windows in the room in case any fumes do come out of the oven.
With them open, you will then need to set the oven to a high heat of between 400 and 550 degrees Fahrenheit.
You should then leave the oven running for roughly 30 minutes, or even up to an hour, as this will break in the oven and remove any excess chemical residue that might still be coating the inside of your new oven.
How do you light a gas stove for the first time?
If you are new to owning a gas stove then lighting it for the first time can be difficult. The majority of gas stoves come with an igniter, but it is also possible to manually light it with a lighter or a match.
If the oven has a built-in lighter, then to light your gas stove all you need to do is switch the gas on and ignite this and the stove will begin operating like it is supposed to.
Alternatively, if you are choosing to manually light your gas stove with a match or lighter the process is slightly different. To do this you should set the heat of the stove to medium and then ignite the lighter or light your match.
With this lit you can then begin moving the lit match/lighter closer to the center of the burner that you have set the heat on.
Within 5 seconds of holding that lit match/lighter to the burner on the stove, the gas should ignite leaving you with a lit stove.
Why does my gas oven smell like burning plastic?
If your gas oven is new, there is a chance that it might emit the smell of burning plastic when it is first used.
When your oven is new it is common for it to smell like chemicals due to the manufacturing process, and these smells can be enhanced the first time that you switch your oven on.
This is why it is recommended that you ‘break in’ brand-new gas ovens before you use them to cook any food.
To do this, all you need to do is switch the oven on at a high heat and leave it running for between 30 minutes to 1 hour to allow any chemical residue burn off of the inside.
Even after you break in your oven it might still smell like burning plastic while it is still new.
This is because it will take a while for the oven to get used to being used regularly and for the materials used to build it to adjust.
But as long as you break in your oven before cooking anything in the oven you will not need to worry about any chemicals from the production process causing you any harm.
But the smell of burning plastic is something that you will have to get used to, at least for a little while.
Do you need to clean an oven before first use?
Yes, when you have a new oven you should clean the inside before you use it to cook anything.
New ovens can contain chemical residue from the manufacturing process which could make your food unsafe to eat if you do not clean the oven before using it.
For the best results, and to remove the smell of burning plastic as quickly as possible, you should ‘break in’ your oven and also clean the interior before you use it for cooking purposes.
Even though you might want to use your oven as soon as possible, cleaning it is very important. The best way to clean a new oven is the same way that you clean any oven.
Of course, you will not need to give it an incredibly deep clean because it will not contain any dirt or leftover food.
But you should give the inside of the other a wipe down before you turn on the heat to ‘break in’ your oven. After you have cleaned your oven and broken it in, it is likely that the strong plastic smell will persist.
However, all of the nasty chemicals that might have been inside of your oven will now be gone, and it will be safe to use.
