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Key Points
- Check your oven’s manual or controls to identify if the bottom drawer is for storage, warming, or broiling.
- Using the drawer incorrectly can damage the appliance or stored items, so always follow its intended purpose.
- Knowing the drawer’s function helps you use your oven safely and maximize its features.
While all ovens are built for the same general purpose and functionality, they don’t all have the same extra features. One possibly surprising difference across various models pertains to the bottom drawer.
On some ovens, this space is meant for kitchenware storage, but on others, it’s actually a food warmer. In some cases, it might even be a broiler. Figuring out what you have is crucial to maximizing its function, as well as maintaining safety in your home.
Here’s how to figure out what your oven’s bottom drawer is actually for.
Meet the Expert
Brit Angelesco is a kitchen appliance expert and the executive vice president of ZLINE.
How to Tell If Your Drawer Oven Is for Storage
Figuring out the function of your bottom oven drawer should be fairly straightforward, but according to kitchen appliance expert Brit Angelesco, it might still require some investigating.
“The easiest way to tell if your oven’s bottom drawer is meant for storage or warming is to refer to the oven’s manual, but from a design standpoint, the controls are almost always your biggest giveaway,” she says.
Look for any controls on the range’s main panel that imply your bottom drawer has a warming drawer setting—including a temperature range or on and off indicator.
“A storage drawer, however, is un-insulated and has no buttons for heat settings,” Angelesco says.
Determining this is critical, as in general, these drawers are not meant to function as both warming and storage.
“Using a warming drawer as storage (or vice versa) can damage the appliance or the items stored inside,” says Angelesco. “If a drawer is designed as a warming drawer, it should only be used as such.”
This is particularly true if the bottom drawer is a broiler, though Angelesco says this is far more common in older gas models; she also notes it’s a great example of why you should know exactly how to use your oven’s bottom drawer.
“A drawer like this is meant for high, direct heat cooking for things like browning a dish or melting cheese,” says Angelesco. “This type of drawer should never be used for storage.”
5 Things to Store in an Oven Drawer
One you’ve determined you have a storage drawer at the bottom of your oven, Angelesco says there are only a few things you can safely store here, like oven-safe cookware that can withstand high temperatures.
“They won’t be damaged when the oven warms up,” she says. These items include:
- Metal baking sheets
- Roasting tins
- Cast-iron cookware
- Oven-safe glass
- Ceramic cookware
Angelesco also notes you should still take certain kitchen safety precautions when removing these items from your storage drawer.
“It’s best practice to use an oven mitt when removing cookware from the drawer while the oven is on to avoid any injuries,” she notes—and don’t be tempted to store things in your warming drawer, even when not in use.
Always use your oven’s bottom drawer for its intended purpose, and never store anything highly flammable in there, like plastic, paper products, towels, cleaning supplies, or aerosol cans.
Read the original article on The Spruce
