This fall, our oven stopped working. First the upper range wouldn’t produce heat, and then the lower range quit. (But the broiler still worked, which mystified me.)
I went online and chatted with an AI bot who told me that my problem was likely faulty oven igniters—they break down over time. It turns out our particular oven has three igniters: one for each main range and a separate one for the broiler. I was transferred to a technician who would help me diagnosis the problem with certainty; I had to enter my credit card number for a $5 “fully refundable” identity check, which turned out to automatically subscribe me to a $48 per month service plan (which I caught and cancelled after the first month; annoying, but the single $53 payment was worth every penny).
I received a phone call from Jared who helped me identify the oven model of our KitchenAid (assembled in Benton Harbor, Michigan—130 miles from the town where I was born!), and then talked me through the pieces to get. Jared saved me over $200 by instructing me to order a generic kit instead of the branded replacement parts. And then he told me how to replace the igniters. A few YouTube videos filled in the gaps, after the call.
When the parcel arrived a couple days later, I pulled out the oven from the wall in our kitchen, turned the gas off and unplugged the cord, removed the back panel (so many screws to keep track of!) and got to work taking out the old oven igniters and installing the new ones. I learned how to splice the igniter wires using ceramic wire nuts that came with the kits. I learned that the igniters are made of graphite. I learned that the wires are not polarized, so it doesn’t matter if you cut them and forget which is which (which I did, by accident).
The entire process took most of a day. One screw inside the oven was stripped, resulting in a ferocious tug-of-war between me, a large set of pliers, and the innards of the oven. I had to go to Home Depot to buy a replacement screw. Home Depot didn’t have the exact match, but I found one that fit. Eventually I got the new oven igniters in place in both ranges, and reassembled all the internal parts.
I repositioned and screwed in the back panel, turned on the gas and plugged in the power cord, and eased the oven into its spot between our counters. We bought the house two years ago, and this experience helped me get to know it better—the oven, but also the nether regions behind and beneath the oven, which needed a deep clean.
Igniters are the hidden workers in the oven, turning gas into flame. Now every time I start cooking, and I hear the quiet click of the igniters, and smell the graphite heat, I appreciate these magical little devices, our oven igniters.
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Art by Lara Schaberg
