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bookmom41

Induction range users & pizza/high heat

bookmom41
11 years ago

I am in the midst of picking out appliances for an upcoming kitchen renovation and am 99% certain I am going to order the GE induction range. My one worry concerns using the oven heated to 500 degrees or so when I bake pizza. Will the electronics for the induction surface hold up under pizza-baking conditions? How about using the self-clean? I use my oven alot, it does get dirty after a while, and I use the cleaning cycle now and then. Can any induction range users comment? (and, hopefully, reassure me.)

Comments (13)

  • gsciencechick
    11 years ago

    I've baked pizzas on a pizza stone no problem at all.

    I've used the steam clean function but not the full self clean.

  • mboston_gw
    11 years ago

    My GE Induction is still new., less than 2 months old. I have not used the self clean yet but will need too after awhile. The GE Profile I have does not have the steam clean option. I am assuming all testing has been done to assure that the stovetop will withstand the heat from self clean. If not, they certainly have a problem. Does anyone know if there has been an issue with using self clean?

  • bookmom41
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the replies! It's reassuring to know the high heat needed for a pizza stone doesn't seem to be a problem, as I usually make pizza weekly. I certainly hope the self-clean isn't a problem either; agreed that if it is an oven feature, it should be able to be used without damaging the induction, or any other, electronics.

  • llaatt22
    11 years ago

    Unless you plan to bake pizzas almost all day several times a week, there is little to be concerned about re heat damage to the control and induction components from normal oven operation. The appliance will be covered by warranty in the beginning and buying an extended warranty at purchase time to cover your unit after that is a good idea. Once you are past the available warranty protection, using self clean on a usual three hour or more one shot long cycle probably isn't a very good idea.

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    The general consensus found from my research (mostly here at GW) is that using the self-clean cycle can kill the oven. Very odd, since my 26 y/o oven has been unaffected by running the self-cleaning cycle on an annual basis for 18 years. However, that might be why the 26 y/o microwave right above it has died.
    :-0

    It probably won't hurt the induction unit.

  • maire_cate
    11 years ago

    The warning about using the elf clean function is because the newer ovens have sensitive electronic control pads. Your 26 year old oven probably has hard wired knobs.

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    @maire_cate - I'll bet you're right. Touchpad is only for the microwave. Isn't progress great . . . Why have "self-clean" if you can't use it. (rhetoric question of course)

  • mboston_gw
    11 years ago

    If the touchpad is not on the cooking surface, then do I have to worry as much? My is above, not on the surface.

  • mboston_gw
    11 years ago

    If the touchpad is not on the cooking surface, then do I have to worry as much? My is above, not on the surface.

  • jwvideo
    11 years ago

    Cavimum: a 26 year-old mw above the stove is unlikely to fail because of oven self cleaning. If that kind of heat were a problem, simply cooking on the stove top would much be more likely to cause the failure. Your MW is much more likely to have simply worn out. For the last couple of decades, microwaves have been built and priced as commodity products. That means that some units wear out or break pretty quickly and some chug reliably along for a decade and more.

    Mboston:
    I'm old enough to remember the prevalence of problems with cooking-surface-control pads for induction stoves sold in the previous induction go-round back in the 70s and 80s. I worry less about oven heat from below, and mainly about the effect of cooking spills. With the GE induction stoves (which I also am considering), the control surfaces are away from the actual cooktop and much less vulnerable to spills. GE seems to have done a pretty good job with ventilation of the electronics.

    As for heat and oven self-cleaning cycles, I've been running self-cleaning three to five times a year for the ten years that I have had had my current GE stove. It has a touchpad on the backsplash. My oven gets used heavily for roasting, broiling and baking. I do large dinners every Sunday and run 8 large events a year. I do a lot of baking and roasting. My oven gets cruddy. My baking includes high heat baking, although I mostly do hearth-style breads rather than pizzas. I have never had a problem with the touchpads or anything else on the stove. Stoves are meant to be used. If there were a prevalent, recurrent problem with oven heat and control touchpads, by now, GE would be putting warnings in the manuals and have warranty exclusions and other ways of avoiding the cost of fixing problems.

    That said, it is a sure bet that SOME stoves will have problems. Some of every brand and model may overheat components and some circuit boards may otherwise fail. It is inevitable that some stoves in any product line will be defective when they come out of the factory. Some will breakdown prematurely. When you make and sell as many stoves as the major makers do, like GE, even a tiny percentage of defects can make for a pretty large number of angry consumers. When you are one of the people inflicted with a lemon stove, there is no comfort in knowing that your broken stove is a statistical minority. What you want is reasonable, prompt warranty service. That is where I see the biggest risk these days because so many companies have outsourced service to poorly managed, low-bid warranty service operations.

    So, I personally would not worry about self-cleaning and high-oven heat cycles but I would check on who does the warranty service for GE in your area. Find out who the bad companies are and look into what you can do to avoid using them if you need warranty service.

  • Cavimum
    11 years ago

    @JWVideo - I think the OP was about an induction range directly over the oven? My microwave is the upper half of a GE built-in wall combo unit, where the oven is immediately below it, all as one appliance. 2012 version is linked below.

    That's why I found it interesting that the annual self-clean hadn't killed the microwave or electronics.

    Here is a link that might be useful: GE Built-In double MW/wall oven

  • bookmom41
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I'm looking at the GE slide-in induction range; the controls are on a front panel. Guess I'll just make sure I do plenty of high-heat baking and an occasional self-clean while the range is still under warranty. I would think GE, or any manufacturer offering self-clean as an option, would need to insulate adequately to avoid failure of the electronics...but still like hearing about folks' experiences who actually use induction ranges.

  • jakkom
    11 years ago

    I have had 2 gas ranges since 1991 and experienced board failures on both after the 7 year mark. Mfgs make a lot of money off selling those replacement boards. They cost from $250-$475 PLUS the labor for putting them in.