help! what is this inside my 70s oven?

[elinorw88]

As I was trying to remove the burner on my new oven to clean it (second question) I discovered this strange fuzzy substance under the drip pan. Any idea what this is? Is it supposed to be there? Looks like it could catch fire!!

Second problem- I accidentally left an enamel tea kettle on and it burned on the burner. I tried scraping it, goo off, and nothing works to remove it. I was going to try to take it off and use paint remover to get it off. Any other ideas before I go this far? LOL

I appreciate this website so much.

 

[petek]

It looks like insulation from the oven.. Perhaps a mouse was nesting in there?

 

[cfz2882]

mice..

yep,mouse activity...

 

[elinorw88]

eeeeek

Ok I guess I will just throw that insulation out! Yuck.

Any ideas as to how to get this enamel off the burner?

 

[rp2813]

You may have to let the enamel burn off over time.  Meanwhile, you might not want to use any cookware you care about on that burner. 

 

Hard to say whether that is one seriously kick-ass burner or the enameling on your tea kettle was sub par.  If the kettle is still usable, you may want to get one of those wire trivets to place between it and the burner from now on.

 

[goatfarmer]

Have you tried scraping the red goo off the burner with a butter knife?

 

[tomturbomatic]

Let the element get red hot and use a chisel to scrape the softened enamel and see if you can remove it. Only scrape the unit. Do not hit it.

 

[ea56]

If this kettle doesn’t have a whistle I’d recommend NOT using it again on this stove if you want to keep this stove functioning and be able to use that burner,  The next time you might have a bigger problem than just some red enamel on the burner.  These burners could melt right thru the bottom of the kettle of left unattended long enough, and maybe start a fire.

 

As Tom suggested, you may be able to scrape the enamel off if you get it back up the melting temp, but you also run the risk of damaging that burner for good if you bang on it while its red hot.

 

 If you have a pan you don’t care about try filling it with water and letting it boil on that burner repeatedly, in hopes that the red enamel will little by little transfer to the bottom of the junk pan.  Scrape the any transferred red enamel off the bottom of the junk pan between each heating, otherwise you’ll just keep re transferring the enamel back on to the burner.

 

Good luck!  And please be extra careful with this vintage stove so you can have many years of enjoyment from it.

 

Eddie

 

[rp2813]

I was going to recommend letting the burner get red hot (because with cookware on the burner it wouldn't likely ever reach the bright red stage) and see if the enamel would burn off or soften up enough to be scraped, but word from on high, so to speak, is to never let the burners glow red.

 

[ea56]

Word From On High

Well Ralph my burners have always glowed red when on high on any electric stove I’ve ever cooked on and I’ve never had a burner burn out or cease to function.  Now granted I don’t routinely cook anything on high with a red glowing burner for long, but when I boil water whether in a teakettle or pot that is the fastest way to get it to come to a boil.  And I’ve never seen any owners manual say don’t allow the burner to glow red.

 

That being said I also did a Google search on removing enamel from an electric burner and one source recommended trying to scrape it off with a razor blade, which makes sense to me since a razor blade is very thin and has a better chance of actually working under the edge of the enamel to chip it off.  

 

The thought crossed my mind that allowing the burner to reach the dreaded red glow, then turning it off and immediately placing a pot filled with ice in the burner may make the enamel brittle due to the shock and make it easier to chip off with a razor blade.  

 

As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

 

Eddie

 

[rp2813]

Eddie, I was referring to advice provided from an authority here, who stated that red coils are an indicator of cookware that is incompatible with an electric burner (which the subject tea kettle seems to be).

 

My experience with my mom's '49 Westinghouse agrees with that statement.  When boiling a pot of water, like for pasta, the coils would turn a dull red at best.  After removing the pot from a burner, a coil would brighten up quickly if you didn't shut it off or turn it down.  I presume this is simply physics, with the cookware and its contents absorbing heat from the coil. 

 

Here's a link to the discussion I've cited:

Loading…

www.automaticwasher.org

 

[ea56]

Ralph

I knew exactly what post you were referring to and it wasn't my intent to to mock you, so I hope no offense was taken.

 

  I use Farberware SS cookware and when I boil water the coils turn red, maybe not 100%, but they are red and I have no doubt that my cookware is compatible with an electric range.  Now if the pan is smaller in diameter than the burner the coils will turn red on high, and I know that the pan size is optimally supposed to match the size of the burner, but my 1 qt. Farberware saucepan is slightly smaller in diameter than the smallest 6” burner and I can’t see that any harm has been done to my stove by using it this way.  I only leave it on high until it boils, then turn it down right away to med to low.  

 

Eddie

 

[rp2813]

It's all good Eddie.

 

Your smaller-than-the burner cookware experience is the same as mine.  A small pan could be used on either of the Westy's 6" burners.  When set for medium high, the outer coil on all burners stayed black while the inner ones went red. 

 

I don't know if modern burners work the same.  My friend has a Frigidaire cooktop in his apartment.  Around 10 years old maybe.  I can't figure out the burners on it at all.  They look like the ones you'd buy on a hanging card at ACE.  They don't even set into position right and a couple are hopelessly floppy.   Cheap and tinny.  Nothing like the build quality Frigidaire was famous for when elinor's stove was produced.

 

[ea56]

Ralph the burners on all the electric stoves I’ve had for the last 26 years have had plug in burners.  All the coil elements have heated more less uniformly and according to the setting of the switch, the higher the more red.  And I know what you mean about the burners on many being flimsy and crooked.  I learned a secret from the owners manual of a previous GE that if you remove and reinstall the drip pans and elements together they will remain flat and in place.  So thats what I do and our stove is almost 4 years old and still looks brand new.

 

But without doubt, none of the new electric stoves come close to the quality of your Mom’s ‘49 Westinghouse or the nice Poppy Red Frigidaire in this post and the other you referenced.  And we’ll never see this quality in another new electric range again, sad to say.  But that said the GE we have now is really excellent, not as heavy weight as a vintage GE, but works great.

 

I’ve had mostly electric stoves for the past 50 years, and learned on electric and I just like it better.  Its really what you get used to I guess.

 

Eddie

 

[retro-man]

I would never leave the kitchen if a burner is set on high, especially if there is a small kettle on the stove. That must have been on for a while to boil the water out and melt the enamel. It is too easy to get distracted and forget what is going on in the kitchen. I always set a timer when cooking anything and not going to watch over it. Can't count how many times I will be in the kitchen on my laptop and have put something on the stove and then the timer will go off and I will think damn I am glad I set the timer because I would have forgotten. Once you start doing it and realize what a great idea, you will continue.

Jon

 

[ea56]

I too always set the timer when I leave something on the stove, whether on high or not, except the tea kettle because it has a whistle.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

Eddie

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

surely some of that insulation should be put back in and saved, so it can still do what it should down there...

— Dave

 

[iej]

If it’s a stove of that era, just be carful about handling loose insulation. I wouldn’t be entirely confident that it’s not asbestos.