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A US home kitchen with a slide-in electric range, a thin haze of smoke drifting up from a skillet on the glass top, a pot lid resting on the counter beside it and every knob turned to off.

Range
Burning Smell

Smoke, a hot plastic odor or a sharp electrical smell comes from the range top, from the oven below, or from the back of the range.

(844) 875-7576

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Gas, fire or electrical risk
  • 5 questions that narrow it
  • 6 causes, cheapest first

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or call (844) 875-7576

If you smell gas, get outside first; if not, cut the power

Smoke from the controls or from behind the range, a plastic or electrical smell, or any flame outside a pan or burner is urgent. Switch the range off and cut its breaker, keep the oven door shut if the fire is inside, and call 911 if a fire does not go out. Leave the range off until the source is found. A smell of burned food that ends after cleaning is not an emergency.

What it
usually means.

A range works hot above and below, so some smell comes with cooking: grease on a drip pan, a spill on the oven floor, the first heat of new parts. What makes a burning smell urgent is its character and where it comes from. Plastic or electrical odors, smoke from the control area or from behind the range, or flames in the oven point to wiring, the terminal block where the cord connects, a failing element or a knob softening near heat. Food and grease smell like food and grease; overheated wiring smells acrid and does not fade when the pan comes off.

The glass top of a freestanding electric range is lifted on its hinge in a US home kitchen, showing the round radiant elements and their wiring underneath. The 6 causes, cheapest first

Answer these first

01

Does the smell come from a burner or element, from the oven, or from the back or the control area?
02

Is it food, grease, plastic or a sharp electrical odor?
03

Do you see smoke with the range off, or only while something is cooking?
04

Is any knob, switch or part of the backguard warm, discolored or soft?
05

Did it start right after a spill, a new pan, or a self-clean cycle?

Check these
before you book.

Range burning smell: 5 checks, and none of them costs anything.

01

Turn every knob off and, on an electric, induction or dual-fuel range, switch off the range breaker.

02

If there are flames inside the oven, keep the door shut so the fire runs out of air, and call 911 if it does not die down or it spreads.

03

Never pour water on a grease fire in a pan; slide a lid over it and turn the heat off.

Also worth checking

  • Once everything is cool, look for spills on the drip pans, under the burner caps and on the oven floor.
  • When you book, say where the smell came from and whether you saw smoke from the controls or behind the range.

The causes,
cheapest first.

6 things range burning smell turns out to be, from grease or spills burning on drip pans or the oven floor to scorched terminal block or power cord connection.

The cost guide
  1. 01 no repair

    Grease or spills burning on drip pans or the oven floor

    Fat that ran under a coil into its drip pan, or sugar that bubbled over onto the oven floor, smokes every time that spot heats. It smells of burned food and stops once the residue is cleaned away.

    No repair: check it yourself
  2. 02 no repair

    Items stored in the drawer or resting near the oven vent

    Oven mitts, paper or plastic containers kept in the drawer under the oven, or items set near the oven vent at the back of the range top, can scorch. Clearing them away ends the smell.

    No repair: check it yourself
  3. 03 low

    Oven element arcing

    A bake or broil element can split and spark, with a bright flash, a hiss and a burned smell. Once it has arced it will not heat properly again.

    Fixed by bake and broil elements See range broiler not working
  4. 04 low to moderate

    Surface element or its socket overheating

    A plug-in coil that sits loosely in its socket overheats the contact, and the socket blackens and smells. Under a glass top, a radiant element that is failing can scorch the insulation around it.

    Fixed by surface element and glass top repair
  5. 05 low

    Knob or switch softening near heat

    Plastic knobs next to a large pan or the oven vent can soften and give off a plastic smell. A switch that is breaking down inside can also run hot behind its knob.

    Fixed by knobs, switches and controls
  6. 06 moderate

    Scorched terminal block or power cord connection

    Where the power cord enters an electric or dual-fuel range, the terminal block and its screws can loosen and overheat. The connection blackens and smells of hot plastic, sometimes with the breaker tripping as well.

    Book a diagnostic visit See range keeps tripping the breaker

The makes
it happens on.

32 makes on this site; range burning smell can show up on any of them. Each mark opens that make's own page.

All 32 brands

Range Burning Smell,
where we come out.

9 metros, each with its own page.

All service areas

Tampa BayFL · 31 areas

OrlandoFL · 30 areas

Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas

New York MetroNY · 75 areas

HoustonTX · 36 areas

ChicagoIL · 50 areas

Los AngelesCA · 95 areas

San DiegoCA · 31 areas

San Francisco Bay AreaCA · 74 areas

A parent and a child stirring a pot on a gas range together in a bright kitchen
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
range burning smell.

My new range smells when I use the oven. Is that normal?
New ranges often smell hot and oily the first few times the oven and elements heat, as coatings from manufacturing burn off. Run the oven empty with the kitchen ventilated; if the smell turns electrical or keeps returning after several uses, book a check.
The oven smoked during self-clean. Should I stop it?
Self-clean burns soil to ash, so some smoke and odor is expected, especially with heavy spills. Thick smoke, flames seen through the window or a smell of hot plastic are reasons to cancel the cycle and cut the breaker; the door stays locked until it cools, so leave it shut.
Can a gas range give off an electrical burning smell?
Yes. A gas range still uses power for the spark module, the oven igniter, the clock and the lights, and those parts and their wiring can overheat just as they can on an electric range.
Is a burning smell from the back of the range serious?
It can be. The back is where the power cord, the terminal block and much of the wiring sit. Switch the range off at the breaker and do not pull it out from the wall while it is hot.

Back to your everyday

Still seeing range burning smell?

Book with what you checked above — 5 answers save the technician the first part of the visit.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 875-7576
(844) 875-7576 Schedule a repair