When it comes to cooking do’s and don’ts, there’s a long and varied list of things that can (and usually will) go wrong – particularly if you’re a white belt in culinary kung fu.

Luckily, the trusty oven usually provides a fantastic “Get Out of Jail Free” card for anyone who has not quite graduated from the foundation level of student cooking standards.

That being said, oven cooking isn’t always as simple as throwing a few potato smilies in with a fistful of fish fingers; there are still plenty of problems that can arise from even the simplest of oven cooking.

To help prevent any catastrophic kitchen nightmares, we’ve collated a mini list of oven cooking do’s and don’ts to stop you getting hot under the collar and keep mealtimes casualty-free.

Cooking Do’s

It’s often said that a bad worker always blames their tools. While this may be true at times, it’s far from the rule. After all, sometimes the tools really are to blame!

When it comes to the kitchen, the tools at your disposal can make all the difference and an unreliable appliance can hold the fate of your meal in its molten, steely hands.

With that in mind, here’s a few preparatory pointers to help keep you cooking and set your nutritional voyage off in the right direction.

DO use timers and clocks

Keeping track of cooking times can be the difference between bon appetit and burnt offerings. Worse still, failure to set your alarm can be a real recipe for disaster when it comes to kitchen safety.

To keep your meal prep running like clockwork, make the most of your oven timer. This can be invaluable when you’re cooking a variety of dishes: whether you're frying a steak, boiling pasta of roasting a Christmas turkey.

DO keep your oven in working order

Figures published by Which? in 2018 showed that cookers and ovens were the cause of 11% of house fires, more than any other cooking appliance.

Meanwhile, GOV.uk maintains that cooking appliances account for a sobering 48% of all house fire ignition from April 2017 to March 2018.

Bottom line: keep your oven in working order. Failure to do so could not only land you in hot water but could quite literally see your home go up in smoke.

DO use oven mitts and handles

While it may seem logical to use a wet mitt or cloth to protect yourself when handling hot pans and trays, heat travels extremely fast through wet material, leaving your hand unprotected.

Always use a dry oven mitt (or, if absolutely necessary, a dry tea towel) to handle hot items. This should provide ample insulation to prevent your hand from the burning.

The same also applies for grilling. If you don’t already have one, avoid feeling the burn by taking additional precautions and investing in a pan handle for your grill.

Cooking Don’ts

Isaac Newton rightly once theorised that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the kitchen, this is just as applicable and for every “DO”, there’s an equally important “DO NOT”.

So open wide and prepare for a freshly baked batch of sugary glazed “DO NOTS”, as we run down a five culinary faux pas that you’d be wise to avoid.

DON’T use ovens with damaged doors

The smallest crack could lead to big safety issues once temperatures rise and can even cause your oven glass to break completely.

Similarly, microwaves with damaged doors can be just as dangerous, if not more so. An unsealed microwave door can lead to radiation emission that has the potential to provide a nasty burn.

To play it safe, if your oven door is faulty, be sure to get it replaced or fixed before you turn up the heat and get cooking.

DON’T overload your oven

Overloading an oven can not only increase cooking time, it can also affect how your items cook, preventing heat from adequately circulating.

More importantly, it can also increase the risk of a hazard, especially if you’re trying to cram too many items on a single tray (we’ve all been there).

If your oven is beginning to look like a game of Tetris at mealtimes, it may be worth investing in additional oven trays and grill pans to avoid unnecessary stacking.

DON’T ignore a wobbly cooker

If you have a free-standing oven, a wobbly cooker can be a major annoyance at the best of times. Worse still, it can be extremely dangerous at the worst.

Wobbly ovens often mean an unstable stove. When you subsequently use that stove, it can become very dangerous very fast, particularly when you’re using the stove for boiling water, soups and sauces.

Spills and mishaps can occur with effortless ease when your cooker is unsteady. Avoid a rocky horror kitchen stove by securing your free-standing cooker with level cooker feet.

For more information on safe oven cooking and cooker maintenance, why not drop us a line today? Call now on 02920 452 510 or use the button below to get in touch online.

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If the record viewing figures of The Great British Bake-Off have taught us anything, it’s that Britain is a nation that loves baking. Millions of viewers tune in each week to see the would-be bakers get hot under the collar in their quest to become Star Baker.

For further proof, look no further than Greggs. The home of the Steak Bake is the most popular high-street dining brand in the UK according to YouGov, handily beating off the likes of McDonald’s, Subway and Wetherspoons.

There’s no denying it: us bake-loving Brits can’t get enough of our beautifully British baked goods.

Sadly, like any great love story, there can be hardships and tragedies along the way. Kitchen hiccups and mechanical mishaps can put your baking dreams on ice in an instant, particularly when it comes to a problem-oven.

Luckily, there are ways around it. It’s not always easy, but where there’s a will there’s a way!

Read on for our fool-proof guide on how to bake without an oven and earn yourself a Paul Hollywood handshake the hard way!

Why bake without an oven?

If your oven is broken, the best course of action is, of course, to get it fixed as soon as possible. Life without an oven can be a real pain so it’s well worth attempting to fix it before you resort to alternatives.

It could be as simple as replacing an oven knob or fixing door hinge, so be sure to do some detective work and give your cooker a once over. You may be able to get it back up and running a lot easier than you think.

How to bake when oven is broken

If, despite your best efforts, you find that your oven is out well and truly of commission, baking probably seems like an impossible task. However, that’s not always the case.

While it can be difficult and is far from ideal, there are ways to bake without an oven.

From cakes and cookies to bread and brownies, you might be surprised at just what you can achieve with non-oven baking. Here are a few tops tips on how to bake without oven power.

Microwave

If you happen to own a microwave – which most 21st-century British homes do – there’s a veritable world of microwavable flavourables quite literally at your fingertips, particularly if your microwave has a convection mode.

The simple mug cake is the perfect example of microbake mastery and notoriously easy to boot; however, the list doesn’t stop there. In fact, you can bake a huge variety of goodies in the microwave, from bread and pizza to cake and brownies.

If you’re thinking of exploring the world of microwave baking, a silicone Bundt pan is well worth purchasing. Metal pans are obviously not suitable for microwave use, while the hole in the middle of the Bundt pan allows it to cook through to the centre.

Stove

An expected feature of any decent kitchen, the humble stove top is the typical partner in crime for the oven: the Bonnie to its Clyde, the Rodney to its Del Boy, the…Kevin Hart to its Dwayne Johnson? You get the idea.

Like any good double act, when one falters, the other picks up the slack. The stove is the perfect support system should your oven take a tumble; however, there is more than one way to bake using the stove top.

Here are the three most popular methods of baking with a stove.

Skillet

The almighty skillet is a multifaceted piece of hardware that can lend its cast-iron credentials to a variety of baked delights. Ideal for baking cookies and brownies, this method is also ideal for muffins, Welsh cakes and scones.

Steaming

A classic method of yesteryear, steaming is a great way to bake without an oven, most famously used for making Christmas Puddings. While this can ideally (and most easily) be achieved using a steamed pudding mould, the same effect can be created using a bowl sealed with foil via the traditional wrap and tie method.

Dutch Oven

One of the most versatile options for non-oven baking, the Dutch oven is essentially a cast-iron cooking pot made of heavy-duty metal. While it can be used for a variety of purposes – from stews and casseroles to curries and meat roasting – Dutch ovens are also perfect for baking bread and even capable of baking cakes.

Slow Cooker

Often overlooked and under-utilised, slow cookers are great outside the box kitchen appliances when it comes to baking.

While they are commonly used for casseroles, stews and the like, slow cookers are also great for baking a wide variety of breads and delicious desserts: from cakes, puddings and pies to brownies, cookies and crumbles.

Provided you line the slow cooker first or place your ingredients in a silicone pan (or a metal cake/loaf tin), baking with a slow cooker can be a breeze.

Pressure Cooker

Much like the slow cooker, a pressure cooker is also capable of baking a variety of dishes yet is, more often than not, criminally overlooked.

Whether you’re looking to bake bread, desserts or anything else you may fancy getting your bake on with, chances are that you can get it done in a pressure cooker. In fact, you can even use it to make cheesecake and, what’s more, it often cooks better than conventional oven methods.

Best of all, pressure cookers don’t hang about when it comes to cooking times and you could have the finished dish in your hand within 30 minutes. If you follow the instructions to the letter and do everything by the book, you could have delicious baked goodness is no time!

Problems of baking without an oven

While it is clearly possible to bake without an oven, it’s by no means a long-term solution. We’re sure Mary Berry would agree that there really is no substitute for the oven when it comes to creating a baking masterpiece.

Daily cooking without an oven can be a frustrating experience that limits your culinary options. What’s more, over-reliance on pan-frying and microwaves can quickly have a negative effect on your diet and a notable impact on your waistband.

Get back to baking with Cooker Spare Parts

While baking without an oven can be a cool little novelty and a fun way to test your kitchen skills, it’s no replacement for the real thing.

If you’re without your oven due to an appliance malfunction or a faulty part, the best solution for your overall baking experience is to simply get your oven repaired. It may even be a lot easier to fix than you think!

If you can get to the bottom of your oven issue and find out what’s putting your baking dreams on ice, you may be able to fix it by simply replacing the problem part with a spare from Cooker Spare Parts.

To ensure your cooking habits don’t go off the boil, give us a call today on 02920 452 510. Alternatively, keep your oven running hot by hitting the button below.

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If we’ve learnt anything from re-runs of Jerry Springer and his “Final Thought” musings, it’s that a solid foundation is the basis of any long-term relationship (thanks, Jerry).

Coincidentally, the same thing applies to a free-standing oven!

Bring some stability back to your life and resume your balanced diet with these tips for fixing a wobbly cooker.

Shaken Not Stirred

A wobbly cooker can be more than just an annoying inconvenience; if you have hot liquids on the boil, it can quickly become a major hazard.

A simple task like boiling spaghetti shouldn’t leave you with a soaking floor and third-degree burns. Luckily, there are a few ways to avoid such a pasta disaster and keep your mealtimes safe and scold-free.

Footloose

If you discover your cooker wobbling, the very first thing to check is the feet of the cooker. If just one of the cooker feet is out by even the slightest amount, it can throw the whole levelling out of whack and leave your cooker swaying like a drunk at closing time.

When the oven is not in use, get up close and personal with the problem leg and inspect the issue, adjusting the height to ensure it is level with the other legs.

You may want to use a spirit level to ensure it’s just right. If necessary, adjust each leg accordingly so that all are aligned correctly to the same level.

If all goes to plan, your appliance should be back on its feet and good to go, leaving you with one ready steady cooker!

Finding Your Feet

If, on closer inspection, you find one or more of your cooker feet is on its last legs, it may be time to replace them. Simply swapping them with new ones could be all you need to get your cooker back on its feet and standing firm.

As luck would have it, here at Cooker Spare Parts, we have a variety of replacement cooker feet at our disposal, covering the most popular cooker brands on the market: from Hotpoint and Cannon to Indesit and Creda.

Find your feet with CSP today and browse our replacement cooker feet section for your make and model.

If you can’t find the correct cooker feet for your model, why not drop us a line today? Call 02920 452 510 or click below to drop us an email and banish your woeful cooker wobbles for good!

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Have you lost that oven feeling? You’re not alone.

A dodgy cooking appliance can quickly turn a simple meal into a vengeful voyage of four-letter words.

Don’t fall foul to a faulty thermostat. Turn up the heat and save your kitchen compadre from a premature pilgrimage to the scrapyard with these tips on how to fix an oven knob.

Oven knob problems

When it comes to oven knob issues, two of the most common problems are either that the knob won’t turn at all or that the oven knob turns but won’t register when it does.

If this is sounds like your dilemma, you’ve come to the right place!

So, don’t reach for the nearest hammer and slip into “Hulk Smash” mode just yet – there are still plenty of options available.

How to fix an oven knob

While it might seem like a minor issue, a stiff oven knob can cause a number of problems in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to food preparation. Nobody wants to rely on toast and microwave meals for the foreseeable future, so fixing the oven is paramount.

To get to the root of the problem before you begin, your first port of call should be removing the knob handle. The problem is likely to lie in either the peg shaft or the knob cap itself and this should settle the argument immediately.

However, while getting to the crux of the matter can be as easy as removing the cap, it can also lead to additional issues, if done incorrectly. Careless fiddling can result in a whole host of other knob-related problems, so be sure to take time and care.

How to remove an oven knob

Gently prise off the cap of your oven knob, placing your thumb on the front. If the cap is putting up a fight, try to ease it off with a butter knife on either side.

Once you’ve successfully removed the knob from your appliance, you can now inspect the shaft for damage. Without the casing, this should resemble a small peg protruding from the cooker front.

Using a pair of pliers, you can now attempt to turn the peg manually to change the temperature. If the peg now turns and works successfully, your problem lies in the knob itself (which can simply be replaced).

However, if it turns and still doesn’t register the temperature change, your problem likely lies within the thermostat or the oven wiring and will need professional attention.

How to fix a broken oven knob shaft

If you’ve followed the above steps and the peg still remains motionless, it could be a sign that the shaft has seized up. Should this be the case, WD40 is a handy weapon to have at your disposal.

Apply the WD40 to the peg and leave to soak in, ensuring the peg is well lubricated. Next, gently turn the peg, without applying too much force to avoid snapping. If the dial still won’t budge, it may be time to admit defeat and call in a pro.

What to do if your oven won’t turn off

If the oven knob is stuck in the “on” position, the number one priority on your mind before anything else will probably be turning the oven off safely.

A faulty oven knob can prove dangerous if it means you can no longer turn your oven off. As such, it’s important to know how to manually disconnect your oven, should the situation arise.

Disconnecting an electric oven

Some electric ovens will have a wall fitting that can allow you to simply shut off the power at the flick of a switch. However, this isn’t always the case, especially if you have a built-in wall oven.

If you don’t have a wall switch, you may need to check the cabinet under the oven and cut the power via the oven’s fuse box.

Disconnecting a gas oven

For gas ovens, you will have to manually turn off the gas. While this may seem like a precursor to an explosive scene from EastEnders, it’s actually a lot easier and less daunting than it sounds – luckily, with far less fireworks attached.

Gas supply valves are typically located behind or beneath the oven. All you need to do is gently pull the stove away from the wall enough to see the shut-off valve (usually painted red or yellow for easy identification). Simply turn the valve 90 degrees to the off position, stopping the flow of gas instantly.

If your oven knob needs replacing, head over to our dedicated cooker knobs page for our full range of replacement cooker knobs caps. If you’re still having issues with your oven knob that haven’t been rectified by the suggestions above, feel free to drop us a line on 02920 452 510 or send us an enquiry using the button below.

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Okay, when it comes accessorising, it’s fair to say that accessorising your cooker or oven may not be right at the very top of your list… but stay with us.

Foodies of the world will know the importance of a good kitchen utensil. What’s more, anyone that spends time cooking up a storm in the kitchen will know that there’s nothing quite like a kitchen appliance that’s firing on all cylinders (a fact you soon learn when they aren’t).

A dodgy oven can blacken up a tray of chips like a blowtorch to candyfloss, while a faulty knob can lead to disappointing results all round! Which is why accessorising with the right tools for the task can be vitally important.

So, before you blow a gasket, fly off the handles and give a loved one a grilling, check out these handy Rangemaster cooker accessories that could halt a heated argument before it becomes too hot to handle.

Rangemaster Oven Accessories

While there are certain things that your Rangemaster oven or cooker simply can’t survive without – be it a motor, elements or even the door itself – there are certain non-essential kit that can make the whole culinary process a lot less heated – in a good way, that is.

That being said, there are a few non-essential accessories that many would deem must-haves, particularly if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

From cooker clocks to oven bulbs, there are certain pieces to the cooking puzzle that just help make the whole process a lot easier and less stressful. As the job of chef often finds itself in the list of “top stressful jobs”, anything to calm the kitchen situation in your home has got to be seen as a welcome addition!

With that in mind, here’s a few of the top accessories for Rangemaster cookers.

Grill Pans & Trays

We’ve all been there: you’ve tried to be healthy by grilling that slice of juicy steak or pack of plump sausages and forgotten to put foil underneath to catch the beefy/porky run off.

“It’ll be fine” you say. “It’ll clean itself” you hope. “It’s not as bad as it looks” you pray.

Sadly, ignoring the problem usually results in burnt-on grease, a hefty cleaning job and, in some cases, a completely ruined grill pan.

If you happen to have fallen into this common trap, you may want to invest in a new pan altogether. Or, if you have simply broken a handle or misplaced a grill tray, that’s also an acceptable excuse.

Rangemaster Grill Pans & Trays >

Oven Shelves

Much like a grill tray, an oven shelf can also see the signs of age and bear the scars of meals gone by. After all, as tasty as that four-cheese pizza may well have been two weeks ago, the remnants of those same four cheeses baked into a blackened dairy concrete are a stark reminder that it pays to clean up.

Instead of tirelessly scrubbing steel like Robocop in the shower, why not buy a new one entirely? If your roller is getting old, a replacement may not be a bad idea anyway. Worn shelves can be pain to deal with and will only get worse over time.

On the other hand, you may want to get an additional one if you find yourself cooking multiple things on a regular basis. After all, if you have a large household or are having a lads/ladies night, that means multiple pizzas to cook at once!

Just don’t forget to clean up the cheesy run-off when you’re done. “Fool me once – shame on you; fool me twice…”

Rangemaster Oven Shelves & Runners >

Instruction Manual / Handbook

The holy bible for Rangemaster or any other kitchen appliance, the humble oven handbook is the must-have accessory for any self-respecting kitchen-dweller.

A junk drawer staple (commonly found beneath a few unidentified keys, the odd battery and a few loose screws), this is the culinary equivalent of an umbrella – completely useless in 99% of circumstances but, when clouds form and the storm starts, it’s the first thing you look for to save the day.

Sadly, oven manuals can often find themselves lost in a move or simply tossed away if you decide you're never going to need it. If you've misplaced your Rangemaster oven handbook, fear not – the good folks here at Cooker Spare Parts have your back.

Rangemaster Instructions & Handbooks >

For more Rangemaster accessories and spare parts, head over to our Rangemaster page using the link below and find out what’s cooking.

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