— By Brad Killen

Getting to know your oven and the basic parts of your oven is very important.

The task of learning your ovens anatomy might seem intimidating but with this list, you will now feel confident when talking about your oven. Whether you need to order parts, certain parts of your oven need to be cleaned or if a part of your oven has been recalled by the manufacturer.

Oven Door

The Oven Door is the most commonly known part of the oven. We all know that this door opens up and allows us to place our food in there. The oven door has a seal around the entire door itself to ensure that all heat is kept inside the oven allowing the oven to operate as efficiently as possible

Heating Control Zone

The Heating Control Zone is used to control Ovens that also have a built in stove top. These knobs allow you to select the desired burner to be used to pan fry food, boil water and more. Heating Control Zones can be found normally in sets of 4, but some stove tops have more and some have smaller knobs and smaller burners.

Digital Timer/Control Panel

The Digital Timer/Control Panel is also very commonly known and this is where you will have the options to set the temperature, choose between Bake, Broil, Keep Warm and many other options. You are also able to set a timer on your oven for the time needed to bake your food and it will go off and beep or buzz like a traditional timer for when the food has been in the oven for the desired time.

Cook Top

Cook Tops come in a variety of different forms. Most commonly found are electric, induction or gas cook tops. Not all ovens have cook tops and not all cook tops come with ovens. The cook top is controlled by the Heating Control Zone as discussed above.

Vent Tube

The purpose of the vent tube is to let the oven ventilate when the oven itself is being used or the broiler is being used. It is very important to keep the vent tube clean so your oven is able to breath properly. The vent tube is located below the surface of the cook top, facing the front of the oven. 

Fan Blade

The purpose of the fan blade in a oven is to keep the heat moving around in your oven. It helps ensure that the head is spread evenly providing even baking to your food so nothing cooks too fast or to slowly.

Oven Rack

The Oven Rack is simply a place for you to place the pan, baking sheet or anything you place in there. The oven rack holds that item in place. The oven rack can also be placed higher or lower depending on how close you want your food to be to the Bake Element. The closer to the Bake Element, the faster and hotter the food will bake but this can also cause your food to burn or cook too quickly on the outside and not the inside

Bake Element

The Bake Element is found at the bottom of the oven. This element heats up to high temperatures which is what causes your oven to get warm and ultimately cooks your food. The bake element often gets dirty and can cause unwanted smoke or burning smells which will then be infused into your food. Keeping that clean is key!