--- title: "Gas, fire and burn safety — Oven Guides | OvenRepair.center" description: "What to do if you smell gas, why smoke behind the door means keep it shut, and how to switch an oven off safely when its controls will not." url: "https://ovenrepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/" --- When to stop using the oven # Gas, fire and burn safety guides. What to do if you smell gas, why smoke behind the door means keep it shut, and how to switch an oven off safely when its controls will not. ## Gas, fire and burn safety, guide by guide. This section is for the moments when an oven stops being a cooking question: a smell of gas in the kitchen, flames behind the door glass, a cavity that will not switch off, or a meal you are not sure is cooked through. The action comes first in every guide below, and the reasons come after it. [All 18 guides](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/) 6-minute read ### [Gas Smell at the Wall Oven: Get Out, Then Call](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/oven-gas-smell-what-to-do-first/) Why nobody touches the controls, a light switch or a phone, who to call from outside, what a faint smell or a yellow flame means, and when the oven can be used again. 5-minute read ### [Flames Inside the Oven: Keep the Door Shut and Cut the Heat](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/oven-fire-what-to-do/) Why a closed door smothers the fire, what to do when self-clean has the door locked, when to leave the house, and what to check before the next bake. 5-minute read ### [Safe Internal Temperatures, and What the Oven Display Cannot Tell You](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/cooking-temperatures-and-food-safety/) The USDA's minimum temperatures food by food, where the thermometer goes, and how delay start, keep-warm and a slow oven affect food safety. ## When to stop using the oven. A wall oven puts either a gas supply or one of the heaviest circuits in the house behind a cabinet face, and runs hotter than anything else in the home. The rules that follow from that are short and do not bend: for gas, everyone leaves and the utility is called from outside; for fire, the door stays shut and the heat goes off; for food, the thermometer in the meat decides, not the display. Read these before anything goes wrong, especially after moving somewhere with a gas wall oven or buying your first built-in model. None of them asks you to open a panel, and every one says plainly where the owner's part ends. [Not sure where to start?](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/#start-here) ### The short answer Gas Smell at the Wall Oven: Get Out, Then Call An oven gas smell, like sulfur or rotten eggs near a gas wall oven, means leaving the house at once without switching anything on or off, then calling 911 and the gas utility from outside. ### The short answer Flames Inside the Oven: Keep the Door Shut and Cut the Heat For an oven fire, keep the door shut and turn the oven off, which smothers the flames by cutting off air; if you can, switch the oven's circuit off at the breaker. ### The short answer Safe Internal Temperatures, and What the Oven Display Cannot Tell You The USDA's safe minimum internal temperature is 145°F with a 3-minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb, 160°F for ground meats and egg dishes, 165°F for all poultry, leftovers and casseroles, and 145°F for fish. ## When reading is not enough. If the checks in these guides did not settle it, the visit picks up from there, stop by stop. [What repairs cost](https://ovenrepair.center/cost/) 1. 01 Heat it up first 2. 02 The cost before the work 3. 03 Parts in the van 4. 04 Repaired, then tested hot ## The problems these answer. Each has a page of its own, with the causes in the order worth checking. [All 17 problems](https://ovenrepair.center/problems/) Gas, fire or electrical risk ### Oven Gas Smell 5 causes, cheapest first Gas, fire or electrical risk ### Oven Burning Smell 5 causes, cheapest first Problem ### Oven Not Heating 6 causes, cheapest first Gas, fire or electrical risk ### Oven Won't Turn Off 5 causes, cheapest first For the heart of your home. ## Questions about gas, fire and burn safety. ### What should I do first if I smell gas near my wall oven? Leave the house with everyone in it, touching no switches, controls or phones on the way, and call 911 and the gas utility once you are outside and well away from the house. ### Where do the food temperatures in these guides come from? From the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, and only from there. Each guide links the FSIS page behind every figure it gives. ### Will a technician come out for a gas smell? The gas utility comes first, because a suspected leak is its emergency to handle. After its crew has cleared the kitchen, a diagnostic visit can look at the oven's igniter, valve and burners. ## The other sections. Split by what you are trying to find out rather than by which part of the appliance it concerns. [All guides](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/) Why the bake turned out like that ### [Common problems](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/common-problems/) - [Why an oven won't heat, from the breaker to the element](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/why-an-oven-wont-heat/) - [Why baking comes out uneven, and what the tray is telling you](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/why-baking-comes-out-uneven/) - [Why an oven runs hot or cold, and when an offset will fix it](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/why-an-oven-runs-hot-or-cold/) Oven checks that are safe to make ### [Troubleshooting](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/troubleshooting/) - [Five wall oven checks worth making before you book](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/five-checks-before-you-call/) - [Test your oven temperature without being fooled by the thermometer](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/test-your-oven-temperature/) - [Where the model tag hides on a wall oven](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/find-your-model-number/) Keeping the oven out of trouble ### [Maintenance and prevention](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/maintenance-and-prevention/) - [Self-clean without trouble: before, during and after the cycle](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/self-clean-without-trouble/) - [Oven door gasket and glass care that keeps the heat inside](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/door-gasket-and-glass-care/) - [Steam oven descaling: the water, the schedule and the reminder on the display](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/steam-oven-descaling/) Which oven suits the kitchen ### [Choosing and comparing](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/choosing-and-comparing/) - [When to repair or replace a wall oven](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/repair-or-replace-a-wall-oven/) - [Single or double wall oven: matching cavities to the way you cook](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/single-or-double-wall-oven/) - [Steam and speed ovens explained: how each one cooks and what it asks of you](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/steam-and-speed-ovens-explained/) Built in to last ### [Installation and setup](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/installation-and-setup/) - [Wall Oven Cutouts: The Measurements That Decide the Fit](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/wall-oven-cutout-and-cabinet-fit/) - [The Circuit Behind an Electric Wall Oven](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/wall-oven-electrical-supply/) - [How a Gas Wall Oven Is Connected, and Who Should Do It](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/gas-wall-oven-connection/) Not sure which section? ### Start from your question The four questions most visits start with, each with the guide that answers it. 18 guides Where to start Where to start --- **[Read on the site: Gas, fire and burn safety — Oven Guides | OvenRepair.center](https://ovenrepair.center/guides/safety-and-food/)** **[Book a visit with OvenRepair.center](https://ovenrepair.center/schedule/)**