I have a smeg freestanding cooker approaching 4 years old. Half of its gets caked on grime in a matter of days without any splattering usage. The other half is relatively clean. I had a repairman in to check it when it was under warranty. He said there was no problem. Bollocks! It’s still given me trouble, but is now out of warranty. Should I call it a different repair service or just admit I bought a lemon and shop for a new cooker? I am a pensioner taking care of an invalid partner, and I feel exasperated. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thank you s hill, hobart
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Welcome to the Community @shill
Could you be more specific as ‘half’ leaves much to the imagination. Is this half the oven, half the burners, the left or right half?
If it is your oven (I have a SMEG wall oven as my reference) and you use it in fan forced mode often it may be normal because the fan blows hot air over the food and it picks up moisture, grease, etc from the food and deposits it on the oven walls, racks, and frames. The deposits are not always uniform and are partly dependent on the airflow pattern inside the oven, that somewhat depends on the sizes and shapes of the pans used.
If that is what might be happening try using conventional mode and see how it goes.
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Thank you, PhilT, for such a prompt reply. Sorry I was not very specific. The problem I describe refers to the oven. I have stopped using fan forced for at least a year now, but I still seem to hear some fan when using conventional mode. Not sure if that is normal or not. I understand that grease and such can get onto the walls of an oven. But the grime is only on the left side of the oven – wall, roof, back, trays and even door – and the right side is clean. I have written to Smeg Australia, not for redress but hoping to get some guidance. No reply.
Thanks again. shill
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Virtually all modern ovens use electronics in lieu of old school mechanical knobs, and they have fans that always run when the oven is hot (and cooling) to keep the electronics cool, so that is normal.
Have you used either the email shown on this page, or rung them? In my experience those who have manned the email have been very responsive, and Alantin Appliances (Vic service agents) exemplary in attending to problems.
I cannot attest to the service agents in other states but if they reflect Alantin they should be diligent and aim to please.
I am not an expert by any means but a semi-educated guess is it could be the door sealing may not be as tight as it should be. That could be related to the seal or the door being very slightly misaligned. You might ask about that when you contact them. Please let us know how you go with SMEG and anything you find out about your oven problem.
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A final comment. PhilT, you have set off a chain of events (which I won’t bore you with here) that led to the discovery that my Smeg Cooker is under a 5-year, not 2-year, warranty. Since it was purchased in 2018, it’s still under warranty.
The link you gave me led me eventually to an agency here in Hobart that handles Smeg Australia customer service. Never knew about that before! The agent seems competent and willing to assist me.
Thank you for all you have done in helping me get to this point. Cheers. shill
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I am also not expert, but if it isn’t the door seal, I wonder if the shroud around the fan hasn’t been installed properly causing a faster air movement in the oven (from right to left) causing the splatters to deposit on the left side more than the right.
That is great. Let us know how you get on and also what the problem was…as it will be interesting to know what caused the uneven build-up in the oven.
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Brilliant. I trust they will be similarly responsive and on top of SMEG cookers as is Alantin.
I considered that also, but @Shill indicated she was only using convection rather than fan forced, and at least in my SMEG the electronics cooling fan is isolated from the oven interior.
Unlikely, but perhaps the oven door window seal should to be checked while they are having a look. Whatever it is, it seems an air current that should not be there is the likely culprit. As an ambit thought maybe there is something in the shroud not right that makes part of the oven hotter or cooler than it should be?
Also contact SMEG support. The agencies are repairers and often have a lot of good advice but SMEG staff can run issues up the SMEG flag pole more quickly, even to SMEG home office. If you contact SMEG also, make sure both the agency and SMEG know you are also taking with the other to avoid unnecessary confusion that might arise.
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