08

May

What Are The Causes Of Commercial Oven Temperature Issues?

Commercial ovens make baking and cooking easier in restaurants and cafes. Correct temperature settings are essential for cooking food in an oven and if the set temperature is not reaching or the temperature is too high, it will ruin the food. So, you should consider commercial oven repair if your oven is undercooking or overcooking food even when the temperature you set should not allow that.

If you want to check your oven, these are the common causes of temperature-related problems.

Commercial Oven Temperature Problems

Thermostat Problems

Most of the time, temperature problems in an oven are due to something wrong with the thermostat. The thermostat can be broken or out of calibration.

Testing A Commercial Oven Thermostat

You should first check if the oven’s thermostat needs calibration. This will also help you determine if the thermostat is broken.

To perform this test, you need another thermostat that you know is accurate and you can put it inside the oven. After keeping the thermostat in the oven, set the oven temperature to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Open the kick plate of the oven so you can see the burner. If the thermostat is working correctly, the burner should go off at 250 degrees, but if it goes off before that, you should calibrate the thermostat.

Calibrating An Oven Thermostat

For calibrating the thermostat of your commercial oven, remove the knob to see the type of thermostat your oven has. There are two types of oven thermostats. One thermostat has a small hole in the front where it attaches to the knob. The other thermostat has a disc-like dial that you can rotate and has numbers on it.

Depending on the type of thermostat turn the screw or the disc one point at a time until the burner turns on. The burner turning on shows that the thermostat had a calibration problem. After you see that the burner is on, check the temperature of the oven. It should reach 5 to 10 degrees near the current temperature. If it does, the thermostat is calibrated. However, if it doesn’t you should try again.

If the thermostat’s calibration doesn’t work after multiple tries, the thermostat may be defective and you should replace it. This is because new thermostats come with proper calibration. They only require to be installed.

Going back to the first step, if you turn the screw or disc of the thermostat and the burner doesn’t turn on even though you turn the disc or screw more than a quarter turn in either direction, the thermostat is bad and must be replaced.

Keep in mind that if you successfully calibrate your thermostat, you should still perform the temperature check using another thermostat to determine that the thermostat is functioning fine. If the readings of the thermostat are off, you should calibrate it. An oven thermostat should be calibrated every three months or so.

In case you can’t calibrate your thermostat or the calibration fails to show that the thermostat is malfunctioning, consult a technician for the calibration or replacement of the oven thermostat.

Incorrect Thermostat Settings

The temperature problems of your commercial oven can be a human error. If someone set incorrect temperature settings, the oven will either become too hot or not hot enough for cooking the food.

Check the thermostat settings and the food inside it. Make sure that the correct temperature is set for preparing the type of food you want to cook.

Capillary Tube Bulb Is Not Attached Correctly

Thermostats come with a capillary tube that has a bulb. It is the part that determines the temperature inside the oven. Many times, during thermostat replacement or inspection, the capillary tube is not correctly attached. Moreover, moving the oven or any other reason can displace the capillary tube from its location or disconnect it from the clips where it’s attached.

This leads to an oven cooking food unevenly, overcooking food, or undercooking food. In short, the oven runs wild because the component that allows it to follow the set temperature is not properly connected and can’t aid in determining the temperature inside the oven.

So, whether you replaced the thermostat, moved the oven, or the oven is showing temperature-related problems, check the capillary tube and its bulb. The bulb should be attached to clips inside the oven otherwise, it can’t determine the oven temperature. If it’s stuck in the oven cavity, attach it to the clips and check the oven again.

Crammed Oven

If you checked the thermostat and capillary tube bulb and they are fine, but your food is undercooked, overcooked, or unevenly cooked frequently, it could be due to too much food loaded inside the oven in one cycle.

Cramming an oven with food can be tempting given that food is required in large quantities in restaurants and other facilities. Therefore, instruct your staff to keep an optimum amount of food in the oven without overloading it food otherwise, the food won’t cook evenly. This can turn off your customers, so never ignore this tip.

Broken Oven Door

If your food is not cooking evenly or undercooking, the issue could be related to the door of your commercial oven. For perfect cooking, the door should be completely shut and stop air from peeking inside or hot air from escaping the oven.

Oven door problems like broken hinges and a cracked gasket will make it difficult to close the door completely. Even if you close the door fully, a cracked gasket will allow air from the outside into the oven. This will lead to undercooking or uneven cooking.

Therefore, check the door and its components. If the door is not shutting properly, call in an expert for fixing the oven door.

The Gas Valve Is Not Completely Open

A commercial oven may undercook food if the gas valve is not fully open. This issue is usually ignored because the only gas-related issue that’s checked is whether the oven is receiving gas or not. If the burner goes off, most people don’t pay attention that it can be of low intensity due to a semi-open gas valve.

For fixing this problem, all you need to do is check the gas valve and make sure it’s completely open. If you can’t determine that, turn off the valve and then turn it on completely.

Moreover, you should also clean your commercial oven regularly to avoid various problems. Food particles on the racks and the interior of the oven can cause smoke and impact the flavor of the food. Therefore, clean spills and boilovers immediately if they occur.

You can also divide quick cleaning and thorough cleaning into daily and monthly tasks. Clean the oven daily so the food smells fresh every day you cook in it and a thorough cleaning every month for removing grease and grime from the nooks and corners of the oven.

Conclusion

A commercial oven with temperature-related problems can ruin the food cooking in it. So, you should try to fix it quickly by checking the oven thermostat, door, and other components. Get in touch with commercial appliances repair Northern VA services for a full inspection of your commercial oven for fixes and replacements.