How to Put Oven Drawer Back on Track

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Introduction

An oven drawer is a compartment that slides out from the bottom of the oven. Oven drawers are standard in European-style cooking appliances. Unfortunately, there are not many American-made appliances with built-in oven drawers, which may be why this repair is less well known to some people.

However, even if your machine doesn’t have an oven drawer, you still might need to know how to put the oven drawer back on track. For this reason, the sole initiative of this article is to make this aspect lucid to our readers. So let us get started.

What Can Go Wrong With an Oven Drawer?

The most common problem with an oven drawer is when it becomes off track and no longer slides out or glides smoothly in its frame when pulled out by its handle. Sometimes the actual mechanism (the route) breaks, but usually, the tracks get bent out of shape.

It’s not complicated to fix oven drawers that have become bent out of the body. All it takes is a little bit of time and patience – about half an hour or so, depending upon whether you’re replacing a broken track as well as the extent to which the ways are off track.

Stepwise Guide on How to Put Oven Drawer Back on Track

The initial step is to pull out the oven drawers and check the extent of damage done to them. If they are badly stuck onto the runners or very deformed, you need professional help. Otherwise, move on to the next stage, which is trying with little force, by following a few steps given below:
In this case, start from an end where one crossbar that holds both sides together is loosened up either by manual efforts or with a screwdriver gently prying it from its place. This will make a sort of a gap in which you can now slide your hands in and apply some pressure manually, pulling it off towards the opposite direction of tracks/runners. If there are more than one crossbars that hold it together, then the same technique can be applied to others.
If you did not successfully pull it out from tracks/runners thoroughly after applying a little bit of manual force, you should apply some heat to loosen up the glue/adhesive used while putting it back again at the factory level. In this case, use a hairdryer and pass it in the opposite direction to gradually take out the oven drawer from tracks/runners, which should be easy now with a little more force being applied manually. In this process, try not to overheat the area where the adhesive has been used; instead, heat it enough so that glue starts loosening up and becomes easy to pull out by hand without breaking or deforming it.
If oven drawers are stuck in the middle, overheating them will ruin their surfaces, and effects can be seen in the form of melting plastic due to overheating. Therefore when pulling out oven drawers by applying heat, make sure you do not overheat or ruin their surfaces, bypassing too much heat on them because once you can pull it out this way, the chances are significantly less that instead of taking out one drawer completely another might get deformed while trying to take its opposite side towards tracks/runners.
Once both sides have been pulled off comparatively easily without much for, the next step is just getting the oven drawer back on track, but for that first requirement, they should fit back into tracks/runners without too much effort. If they do not fit in with ease, you have only one option left: going for professional help. If the oven drawer has been taken out completely, now what is required is that there should be a gap between two sides of the track/runner where it fits in. It would be best if you did this by inserting some thinner material like pencils or wooden sticks in tracks/runners from underneath.
In case if both sides of the oven drawer are coming together, but they are still not fitting into tracks/runners properly due to their deformed shapes, then also same technique can be applied, i.e., using pencils or wooden sticks inserted from underneath to create a gap between two sides of oven drawer and it will fit in easily.
Once you have applied heat or stuck thin wooden sticks inside tracks/runners to make a gap and they seem fitting back in place. However, still, there is difficulty in moving them outwards towards their respective ends then most probably the reason behind that might be that the crossbar that held both of them together has come loose just slightly, and for this, what needs to be done is gently pry the loosened bar up with a screwdriver and move it little upwards, i.e., along its length which should not cause many problems because when oven doors were fitted, they moved down freely without any resistance whatsoever due to the adhesive used over here. So, by moving the crossbar upwards, it will work between both sides of the oven door, and finally, you will be able to move them back into their respective ends, thus completing the job.
Sometimes, oven doors get stuck in tracks/runners; they deform slightly, i.e., bend outwards at one end. However, this might not cause many problems as far as taking it out manually is concerned but what can make a big difference is because of this deformation when these are being put back on track again after heating or prying by wooden sticks, the chances are high that one side will fit perfectly without any gap. In contrast, another side might have a slight gap because its shape has been damaged after taking it out by forcing it too much. This means that there should be a gap between two sides of tracks/runners to make both oven drawers fit back in their respective places without any difficulty. The same can be achieved by heating the area where it has been bent and after applying heat, try easing the oven door with hands so that it fits easily onto tracks/runners, which will create a gap between two sides of them because initially there was no gap present.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Drawer Under The Oven for?

The drawer under the oven is the perfect place to store all your cooked food like meat, fish, vegetables, and baked goods. Plus, it’s also a great place to keep cooking utensils like spatulas and spoons.

Can You Put Tray on Bottom of Oven?

Yes, you can put a tray on the bottom of your oven. However, it is recommended that you use a baking sheet for better performance and easy clean-up.

Is Drawer Under Oven for Proving?

The drawer under the oven for proving is a device that helps to proof bread and other doughs in the oven. It also provides a neat and tidy way of storing your baking items.

Is the Bottom Drawer of an Oven for Keeping Food Warm?

No, the bottom drawer of an oven is not for keeping food warm. A baking sheet is typically used in an oven to heat up and hold foods while they are cooking.

Is the Bottom Drawer of an Oven a Broiler?

No, the bottom drawer of an oven is not a broiler. A broiler is a cooking appliance that uses radiant heat to cook food on or below the heating element.