John Myers
Whether pizza, pasta casserole, or cake: when the food is ready, some let the oven cool down with the door open, and others keep it closed. What makes more sense?
Oven door open or closed immediately after use? Opinions often differ on this question. Proponents often inherited the “open oven door” habit from their parents. The argument: This allows the device to cool down faster.
What’s more, some people even fear that the residual moisture could damage their oven if they don’t do this. But that is a mistake. “For many years, so-called cross-flow fans have ensured that the warm air and moisture from the devices escape to the outside,” explains Claudia Oberascher, spokeswoman for the Association for Efficient Energy Use (HEA) and project manager of the Home Appliances+ initiative in Berlin. Such fans have been installed for at least 20 years.
Manufacturers warn of damaged furniture fronts
So there is no need to open the oven door after baking. But is there anything against it? When it comes to the operating instructions of some oven manufacturers, the answer is yes.
The instructions from a well-known company state, for example, that you should only let the oven cool down when the door is closed, otherwise adjacent furniture fronts could be damaged over time. This also applies if the oven door is only slightly open. The question arises, furniture can actually suffer from it.
An open oven door is usually not a problem
“First and foremost, the manufacturer’s instructions always apply,” says Volker Irle, Managing Director of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Die Moderne Küche (AMK) based in Mannheim, on request. “As long as the kitchen and the oven have been installed correctly, nothing should usually happen on the fronts,” he explains.
After all, it is normal for the area around the oven to get warm – even when the door is closed. For this reason, too, German household appliances as well as kitchen and furniture fronts have to pass standardized quality tests before they come onto the market.
“For example, the fronts are tested in a heating cabinet with circulating air at several heat levels,” says Irle. Owners of a kitchen with foil fronts should be careful. The material is more sensitive to the effects of heat; the foils could shrink or become detached. For this reason, certain temperatures, which vary depending on the manufacturer, must not be exceeded.
Do not tilt the oven door, open it fully
In autumn or winter, some people like to leave the oven door open for another reason: in the cool months, it ensures a pleasant, cozy warmth in the room. While heating the kitchen with an oven would of course be inefficient and expensive, theoretically, there is nothing wrong with using the residual heat after baking.
“However, you then have to accept that the smells spread more widely in the room. This also increases the humidity in the kitchen,” says Claudia Oberascher, spokeswoman for the Association for Efficient Energy Use (HEA). Anyone who fears for their furniture should open the oven door all the way and not leave it tilted – no matter what the season.
This is also the opinion of Volker Irle from the Modern Kitchen Working Group (AMK): “As soon as the oven door is opened, it should always be opened fully so that the warm air can be better distributed in the room and is not concentrated in one place, i.e. at the kitchen front, strikes.”
If in doubt, follow the instructions for use
So it is primarily a question of personal preference whether you want to leave the oven open or closed to cool down after baking. However, it should be borne in mind that cooling down with a completely open door may be faster, but it is not exactly practical: the door takes up a lot of space and the heated device may pose a risk of injury, especially for (small) children.
In general, Claudia Oberascher advises questioning parental habits – such as opening the oven after baking – and not continuing everything you learned as a child. “Technology is constantly advancing. What was common in the past can now be outdated. It’s better to know your own devices and to find out more about them from the instructions for use,” says the expert. If in doubt, follow what is in the manual.
