How Long Does It Take Your Electric Oven to Preheat to 350 Degrees?

[gulfporter]

We inherited a GE Profile electric double wall oven (with convection option) when we bought our current home.  I have not owned an electric oven in a few decades and when I owned my last one we were working 60 hour weeks and rarely turned the oven on, so I don't remember how long it took to preheat.  

 

Not sure how old our current oven is; guessing between 5 and 7 years. 

 

This wall oven takes 20 minutes to preheat to 350 degrees (not in convection mode).  That seems awfully slow to me, though patience is not one of my virtues.  

 

 

[Arey]

I have a Whirlpool Electric stove which I bought in January of 1997.  It's the old electric coil type, and I'm devoted to it.  When you turn it on it shows the preheating time depending on the temperature you selected,  At 350 degrees it preheats for 4 minutes 15 seconds, and then it beeps just once rather softly. (It's not one of those in-your-face demanding modern appliances) However, the oven thermometer I stuck in   was still at 200 when the oven beeped and took another ten or so minutes to reach 300.  However, the thermometer is an old Cooper oven thermometer and may not be that accurate anyway.

[Darienne]

I've never timed it, but it's well under 10 minutes.

[Deryn]

Kenmore Elite single wall oven - inherited when I bought the house but suspect it is about 5 years old as well. Just tried heating it up to 350 since honestly I didn't really know how long it takes as I am usually busy doing other stuff and either just set it and put stuff in or walk away and when I notice it is up to speed, put in whatever was supposed to go into a preheated oven. 

 

It took almost exactly 10 minutes - give or take a few seconds.

 

I wonder if perhaps your broil element isn't working properly? My oven shows that the broil element comes on periodically to help the heating process, as well as indicating when just the bottom element is being used.

[ElsieD]

I have the GE Profile wall oven which we inherited when we moved in.  The first time I used it I was surprised at how long it took to heat up.  Since then, I just turn it on when I start preparing something.  So, not knowing how long it actually takes, I decided to find out.   I just preheated it to 350 and it took 19 minutes.  While it takes a long time to preheat, it is very accurate.  I mostly use my Breville Smart Oven unless I am doing something that is bigger than it can handle, and only then do I use the GE.  

[blue_dolphin]

I have Kitchen Aid electric double wall ovens. The first time I used them, I was shocked at how long it took to come to temp without convection.  With convection, it's about 10-12 min so I always use convection for the warm-up and switch over if I don't want the fans for cooking.

[Maison Rustique]

It shouldn't be more than 10 minutes. Ours is only a couple of years old or so, but it started taking longer and longer to heat up, then just wouldn't ever reach the desired temp. Turned out that the bottom heating element was burned out and had to be replaced.

[liuzhou]

It took me longer to work out what 350º was in ºC (around 180ºC) than it did my highly inefficient Chinese toaster oven to reach temperature. Around 5-6 minutes.

Edited January 26, 2016 by liuzhou
typo (log)

[palo]

Just a side thought, are people assuming that 350 is reached when then the oven dings or otherwise tells you have reached that temperature?

 

A good oven thermometer (not expensive) will give you a more accurate temperature reading.

 

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[Deryn]

I used a thermometer when I tested mine, Palo. The ding and the thermometer reading at 350 most likely happened within a few seconds of each other - since it took me that long to open the oven and check the thermometer.

 

The heat up time and accuracy of this particular oven seem to be pretty good. Thanks for helping me remember to check the former. 

 

This oven has only 2 'features' I don't like - you have to remember to push the start button after you set it (my Jenn-air down south doesn't require that step so I forget all the time) and I find it is not really big enough to fit in a turkey or other large cut of meat that requires my roasting pan and anything else in any size container at the same time so I have often wished for a double oven for the first time in my life despite it having 3 racks (one of which is useless if I want to fit in any kind of pan - other than maybe cookie sheets I guess - while all are inserted, so it resides on the floor permanently!) The cavity is definitely smaller than the one on my Jenn-air. A bit off topic but it makes me wonder if ovens weren't downsized a bit on purpose to get us to buy two at a time. I have never needed a second oven just to be able to cook at different temperatures ... guess I learned the art of culinary timing/organization many years ago when no one had more than one oven.

[gulfporter]

5 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

It shouldn't be more than 10 minutes. Ours is only a couple of years old or so, but it started taking longer and longer to heat up, then just wouldn't ever reach the desired temp. Turned out that the bottom heating element was burned out and had to be replaced.

After reading about your burned out bottom element, I opened our oven doors.  And again, this is a double wall oven....and there is NO bottom element in either oven!  Just a single upper/broiler element in each oven.  Now I wonder if that's the reason it takes so long to preheat??  

 

BTW,  i always use an oven thermometer...well ever since our oven in Mexico which had NO thermostat (this is common in even the 'better' ovens there).  

Edited January 25, 2016 by gulfporter (log)

[MelissaH]

Is it possible that a bottom element is hidden under the oven floor?

[Anna N]

58 minutes ago, gulfporter said:

After reading about your burned out bottom element, I opened our oven doors.  And again, this is a double wall oven....and there is NO bottom element in either oven!  Just a single upper/broiler element in each oven.  Now I wonder if that's the reason it takes so long to preheat??  

 

BTW,  i always use an oven thermometer...well ever since our oven in Mexico which had NO thermostat (this is common in even the 'better' ovens there).  

Definitely looks like you have a "hidden bake element".  Google the specs for your oven model. 

[boilsover]

Well, I timed my cheap electric's oven for you.  From a cold (60F) start, empty save for one rack, 5:35 to 350F.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Balderdash.  Before baking bread or pizza I let my oven preheat for an hour.

 

 

[Ashen]

I do a similar thing for bread , pizza , assorted baking, usually preheating beyond the temp I want for a fair amount of time   them turning down to my desired temp  just before putting the item in. 

[Maison Rustique]

16 hours ago, MelissaH said:

Is it possible that a bottom element is hidden under the oven floor?

Yes, am certain this is the case. Ours is hidden under the oven floor as well, which is why I didn't realize it was burned out.

[lindag]

I have a GE Profile dual fuel free standing range with the electric convection oven.  It's about 10 years old now.  It takes under 10 minutes to come to temperature.  I've never had a complaint with it.

[ElsieD]

As mentioned, I have the GE Profile wall oven.  My bottom element is covered.  Page 24 of the owner's manual says, after telling you to remove the door, to "press down and pull out the removable oven floor".

[gulfporter]

On 1/26/2016 at 2:16 PM, ElsieD said:

As mentioned, I have the GE Profile wall oven.  My bottom element is covered.  Page 24 of the owner's manual says, after telling you to remove the door, to "press down and pull out the removable oven floor".

Duh.  Yes, you're right!  I haven't owned a 'real' oven since 2003, when we retired.  Since then I've owned a 1927 Garland gas range and a Mabe gas stove (made in Mexico).   

 

Back to my current appliance: when I start the oven, the cover over the bottom element gets warm, so it's working.  Though to find out if both of the elements are working correctly may require a service call.  Or maybe I'll just putz around the kitchen while the oven preheats.  Once heated, the oven performs well, holds its temperature, etc.  

[ElsieD]

If you do end up getting a service call, let me know what happens as mine takes forever to warm up as well so it would be nice to know if that is a typical time for that over to pre-heat.  

[dscheidt]

7 hours ago, gulfporter said:

Duh.  Yes, you're right!  I haven't owned a 'real' oven since 2003, when we retired.  Since then I've owned a 1927 Garland gas range and a Mabe gas stove (made in Mexico).   

 

Back to my current appliance: when I start the oven, the cover over the bottom element gets warm, so it's working.  Though to find out if both of the elements are working correctly may require a service call.  Or maybe I'll just putz around the kitchen while the oven preheats.  Once heated, the oven performs well, holds its temperature, etc.  

Call GE and ask how long the oven is supposed to take to preheat.  1-800-626-2005  I was pleasantly surprised when I called them a couple years ago that I was able to talk to someone who knew something about my fridge.  Have the model number and serial number handy, if you can. 

[FauxPas]

On 1/25/2016 at 8:41 AM, liuzhou said:

It took me longer to work out what 350º was in ºC (around 180ºC) than it did my highly inefficient Chinese toaster oven to reach temperature. Around 5-6 minutes.

 

Wow, that really is slow. And I don't mean the oven.   

 

My basic Maytag oven here took about 11 mins to get to temp on a chilly morning. I have a convection oven at the other place and it seems faster, but I will have to check to see if that's the case. Good test! 

 

Edited January 28, 2016 by FauxPas
Tried to find the right 'smiley,' gave up. (log)

[gulfporter]

12 hours ago, dscheidt said:

Call GE and ask how long the oven is supposed to take to preheat.  1-800-626-20051-800-626-2005 FREE  I was pleasantly surprised when I called them a couple years ago that I was able to talk to someone who knew something about my fridge.  Have the model number and serial number handy, if you can. 

I found this at GE website so I guess mine is within range (hidden element).  My last electric oven had a visible bottom element so guess that's why this one seems oh-so-slow to me. 

• Electric Ovens with Hidden Bake Elements and Gas Ovens can take 15-20 minutes to preheat
• Electric Ovens with Hidden Bake and the Fast Preheat feature can take 7-10 minutes.
• Ovens with a visible bottom bake element can take 5-10 minutes to preheat

[boilsover]

On 1/26/2016 at 11:33 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Balderdash.  Before baking bread or pizza I let my oven preheat for an hour.

 

 

 

I preheat for an hour, too, if my pizza steel or ECI cocotte must be at temperature.  I probably wait for 10 minutes for preps where nothing extra needs preheat, e.g., just cookies on a sheet.