Will the new oven smell really burn off?

October 19, 2024 8:05 AM

New electric Frigidaire range (entry level) has a wicked chemically-plasticky smell after 30 mins x 350F (which was all manual said was required) plus 1 x 450F x 60 mins + 1 X 450F x 45 mins (all we could take). Apparently a tech will contact us. Wondering what the odds are of having to return.

Model: FCRE308CAS

Purchased at Costco (https://www.costco.ca/frigidaire-30-in-5.3-cu.-ft.--electric-5-burner-range-with-air-fry.product.4000221115.html ) so we can return it easily within 3 months.

Double checked and no plastic was left inside

Bonus if you’re super bored: do you see any other model by any brand on the Costco site, in the same price range, that’s higher quality (and won’t sting your eyes with the chemical burn)?

Looking for a free standing electric that has convection

posted by cotton dress sock to Shopping (9 answers total)

Also it seems like the energy saving models (like this one) are terrible (inconsistent heat)? I just want to safely roast chicken and have it be awesome.

Ugh: https://www.google.com/search?q=FCRE308CAS&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-ca&client=safari#fpstate=reviews

This stove is giving me bad vibes, help me pick another
posted by cotton dress sock at 8:08 AM on October 19

It's difficult to quantify without being present, but I would run a full self-clean cycle with all ventilation fans in your home running and/or windows open to see if that takes care of the issue before passing judgement on plasticky new appliance smell, which honestly is not terribly uncommon in this modern world. Costco's appliances are generally of good quality across the board - replacing it could result in time and effort spent resulting in even more plasticky smell.
posted by eschatfische at 8:33 AM on October 19

That oven is self-cleaning, so why not set it to run a self clean cycle when you are going to be out of the house for a while, then turn on the fan or open the windows? It's very likely that any smell is going to be burnt off by self clean, which is much hotter than regular oven temperatures.

I think this oven will be just fine to roast chicken: it has convection and sufficient power in the oven.
posted by ssg at 8:34 AM on October 19

We have an entry level Frigidaire electric range—it was new when we moved into our rental. It had the new oven burning plasticky smell for longer than we expected, to the point we were considering seeking help or exchanging it, but then it just went away. It took more than three uses, and ours doesn’t have a self-cleaning mode to accelerate the process.

Based on my experience, just power through it and it will be fine.
posted by ejs at 10:08 AM on October 19

We bought a Frigidaire oven in July and had the same worrying issue with that smell. It was gone within a couple weeks.
posted by michaelh at 10:26 AM on October 19

I am not sure I would feel comfortable cooking food in it currently… a couple weeks seems long, considering the manual said one shot of 350F for 30 minutes would take care of it?
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:38 AM on October 19

To clarify, the oven's own self-clean cycle setting will run the oven at very high heat to burn off any contaminants, either from manufacturing or your own cooking. Take out the racks before running self-clean and wash them separately. Wipe the oven down after the self-clean cycle. Open windows and run as much ventilation as is possible in your household during the cleaning cycle.

I would not return the oven in good faith without running at least one self-clean cycle. You will have to burn away the "new oven smell" with virtually any modern oven you buy. This likely is not a defect, and if you replace it with another oven, you will likely start this same process over again.
posted by eschatfische at 11:24 AM on October 19

I understand the concept and I understood your reply.

I would have thought that if these measures were necessary in the ordinary case, the manufacturer would have indicated as much in the manual, and would not have guidance saying a short “burn-off” at a low temp is sufficient. They are putting me in contact with a tech specifically because the CSR I spoke to did not find it normal either. So actually now changing my question to: does anyone have experience of the ranges on the Canadian Costco website I listed above.
posted by cotton dress sock at 12:16 PM on October 19

Part of it is that different people have different sensitivities to smells like this. I have no doubts that you're experiencing this issue, but if the same stove were in my house I probably wouldn't have noticed the original smell. I would have done the burn-off step from the manual but would assumed it was overkill.

Hopefully the self-clean, since it is so strong and effective, will get the smell to a state that you think is acceptable.
posted by past unusual at 9:12 AM on October 20