Kitchen Appliance Maintenance – Preparing for Holiday Culinary Success

A kitchen appliance breakdown is never convenient, but during the holidays, it can be devastating. The holiday festivities often revolve around what’s going on in the kitchen, so you want to make sure all your appliances are up to the challenge. The best way to start preparing for culinary success during the holidays is to perform kitchen appliance maintenance. 

There are some general maintenance tasks you can take care of yourself. However, after you’ve performed these and discover that one of your appliances isn’t working quite the way it should be, you’ll need to schedule professional kitchen appliance maintenance and repair service.

The Refrigerator

Since this is where most of your holiday fare begins, the refrigerator is the perfect place to start. When was the last time you cleaned the refrigerator coils? We’re guessing it’s been a while or maybe you didn’t know you should.

The refrigerator coils, also called condenser coils, are typically located on the back or at the bottom of your fridge. These coils pull in air to help keep the unit cold. Unfortunately, they also attract dust, debris, and pet hair. If allowed to accumulate, these materials will restrict the flow of cool air to the condenser. This will make it work harder to keep the refrigerator cool. Not only will this interfere with the unit’s ability to maintain a consistent temperature, but it will also cause unnecessary wear and tear, shortening your refrigerator’s lifespan.

To clean the coils, unplug the refrigerator to eliminate the risk of electrical shock. For models with the coils on the back, you can vacuum them off with the brush attachment. If your model has coils at the bottom, remove the grill, and use a condenser coil cleaning brush to remove the dust and debris. When you’ve finished, remember to plug the fridge back in.

Some newer models require professional maintenance to clean the coils, and some coils don’t require cleaning. Not sure about your model? Check the owner’s manual. If the refrigerator isn’t operating at peak performance after the coils are clean, it’s time to schedule professional kitchen appliance maintenance. There are also other measures you can take to make sure your refrigerator is ready for the holidays. Check out these tips.

The Range

To prepare for the serious workout your range is going to get during the holidays, oven cleaning should be on your to-do list. However, if your oven has a self-cleaning feature it is best not to wait until the last minute. The extreme heat (900 degrees) of the self-cleaning feature can blow the oven’s fuse or damage its control panel. Also, any large pieces of food should be removed before starting the self-cleaning feature as they could catch fire. If you use the self-cleaning feature a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving dinner, you will have time to schedule kitchen appliance maintenance or repair should there be an issue.

Some newer models have a steam cleaning feature, which heats to a much lower temperature (250 degrees). Of course, you can clean the oven manually with spray-on oven cleaner and a little elbow grease.

You should also double-check your temperature setting for accuracy. Use an oven thermometer to see if the oven temperature is what the temperature setting says it should be. Just imagine if you burned a batch of sugar cookies or the main course of your holiday meal turned out to be undercooked. You may also want to make sure your range hood is working properly. Scheduling kitchen appliance repair can prevent a holiday disaster.

The Dishwasher

All that holiday cooking and baking leads to endless rounds of clean-up. You definitely don’t want to have a dishwasher breakdown during this time. If you haven’t cleaned it in a while or assumed it wasn’t necessary, now would be a good time to do it. Over time, grease, food residue, and soap scum will build up and clog the sprayer arm and dishwasher drain. 

You can use a dishwasher cleaner. These are typically manufactured by dishwasher detergent companies. You can also refer to your owner’s manual. It will tell you how to clean the sprayer arms and drain, or if you’re not confident in your DIY skills, you can schedule kitchen appliance maintenance.

Keep in mind how you load your dishwasher can also affect its performance. For this and other maintenance tips, check out our blog on dishwasher performance.

Kitchen Appliance Maintenance Professionals

Don’t leave your culinary success up to chance this holiday season. Professional appliance maintenance will keep your kitchen running smoothly and let you avoid holiday disasters. 

At Jersey Coast Appliance, we can handle all your kitchen and other appliance maintenance needs. Our trained technicians have the knowledge and experience to keep all your household appliances operating properly or advise you when the best solution would be appliance replacement. We service and sell a wide variety of top-name brands and carry a large inventory of parts, including Kenmore. Contact us for all of your appliance maintenance needs!