Got a new GE range and ran the self-cleaning feature first as per the manual. The chemical fumes stank something awful, made my gf's eyes burn and jacked up my stomach. Did some reading online and apparently that smell is the teflon breaking down, which releases a host of toxic shit into your house. Even in a ventilated house it's deadly to small animals, so we holed up with our pets isolated from the fumes.

This stuff is no joke; a little further reading in the manual says to remove birds from the house and that "it is advisable to open a window." You kidding me? The only reason the bird warning is in there is because some woman killed her birds when she used the self-clean and filed a lawsuit. How is the hazard info here not made MUCH more available??

Interested in someone dropping some legal and science knowledge here. Also, heads up.

[Edited on July 3, 2012 at 1:14 AM. Reason : phone]

7/3/2012 1:12:56 AM

The smell has always made me wary of using that feature, and it takes SOOOOOOOOOOO long for the process to work. I just scrub mine down every once in a while.

7/3/2012 1:32:22 AM

7/3/2012 7:37:23 AM

^this, but wouldn't you want the Teflon® to stay in the oven and not break down?

7/3/2012 7:40:33 AM

same goes for using traditional non-stick (usually aluminum) pans...the PFOA is released at the higher end of the range's temp

that's why we use stainless or cast iron

7/3/2012 8:32:29 AM

^ Same here. Teflon is nasty nasty stuff. They have a whole chapter devoted to it in Slow Death by Rubber Duck.

7/3/2012 9:22:00 AM

it is insulation and stuff from the production process that causes the smell. Never heard of teflon in ovens but a google search of teflons in ovens shows that it is either urban legend/old wives tale or something they did in the 50s when noone cared about effects of anything. Cavities today have just porcelain on them, never heard of teflon used anywhere in an oven..

dont think its a good idea to put al. in the bottom of ovens.. at least for hidden element ovens.. that is what we put in our instructions





[Edited on July 3, 2012 at 10:06 AM. Reason : .]

7/3/2012 9:50:03 AM

Yeah, I seriously doubt it was Teflon burning in the oven. Similar issues do come up online where people overheat their non-stick pans and release fumes...don't do that. Brief search online shows that its mostly OCD parents who think the whole world is out to kill them who say that ovens are Teflon coated.

More than likely it was some sort of preservative coating to keep the interior of the oven from corroding while waiting on the shelf in the warehouse.

The 'self-clean' cycle is meant to get the oven hot enough (900 F/482 C per GE) in order to destroy all organic bonds - I generally think in terms of C-C bonds which generally are destroyed between 350 and 400 C - so from a design standpoint it makes no sense at all to put anything with an organic backbone into the oven...including Teflon.

Besides, birds are extremely sensitive to anything in the air so its no wonder they would die from something like insulation crap burning off.

[Edited on July 3, 2012 at 10:14 AM. Reason : you editted!]

7/3/2012 10:14:08 AM

well, thanks for this thread. I'd been contemplating selling my appliances with the house and buying new. guess I'll at least be taking the oven with me!

7/3/2012 11:12:39 AM

^I imagine a well-seasoned oven would be much better than busting out a new one, with all of the other packaging crap they put in there that you have to burn off. I did see brief mentions of new ovens that feature ceramics and such

7/3/2012 11:18:51 AM

wdprice 100% correct here. Just put some foil down, replace when necessary

7/3/2012 12:58:08 PM

Teflon or not that shit ain't good for you. Her eyes were burning and i got sick to my stomach, and i have guts of steel

7/3/2012 3:02:10 PM

Quote :

"The only reason the bird warning is in there is because some woman killed her birds when she used the self-clean and filed a lawsuit. "

birds are pussies and die if anything goes changes in the air. apparently your stomach is also a pussy.

7/4/2012 11:24:45 AM

are you supposed to run this feature when you buy a new oven?

7/4/2012 4:51:22 PM

Our manual said to, I take it to burn off the anti-corrosion and insulation chemicals that come from the factory to protect it before it reaches the end user

It's like cosmoline for ovens

7/4/2012 5:05:39 PM

thanks for the heads up. i have one being delivered on the 9th and ill make sure the house is properly ventilated (i bought a house)!

its midrange GE so i assume itll be the same-

7/4/2012 6:13:29 PM

That's exactly what this is...fairly nice GE electric coil range. Plan on doing it when you're going to be spending a few hours outside. Open all the windows, cut on hvac and ceiling fans, etc. Ours defaults to 4 hours 20 min run time but manual says you can run it for 3 or so for the initial cleaning.

We made the mistake of running it then leaving the house for an hour or so, all locked up. We got back and the air inside was hazy and toxic-smelling. It's been a few days now and there is still a faint chemical smell, but it's fading

7/4/2012 7:42:00 PM

jesus christ.

i think ill try to clean it up by hand before running that.

7/4/2012 10:13:42 PM

I mean it aint gonna kill ya just take some precautions first

7/5/2012 12:42:37 AM