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EQUIPMENT SAFETY

FOR FOOD WORKERS

Cooking Equipment:
CONVENTIONAL OVENS

Purpose

Bake or roast foods.

Equipment Safety Precautions

Always use care with any electrical or gas equipment.

• Do not store plastic items or other utensils in the oven. They may melt or burn.
• Use large enough cooking pans to keep food from boiling over.
• If food spills or boils over, wipe it up at once to keep it from baking on.
• Do not put pieces of foil on oven racks or floor unless the appliance manual recommends it. (Foil in the oven may slow cooking and reduce browning.)
• Never overload the oven.
• Never use deformed pans.
• Always follow lockout/tagout* procedures for your facility.

Safe Operating Directions

1. Preheat the oven.
   • Set it to the temperature you need.
   • Turn the oven ON.
2. When the oven shows that it is preheated,
   • Load the food to be cooked into the oven.
   • Move as quickly and as safely possible to keep heat from escaping.
   • Load from the bottom up, putting pans on the center of the oven racks.
3. Shut the oven door.
4. Set the timer for the amount of time needed.
5. When timer goes off and the food is cooked,
   • Use mitts to carefully remove the pans.
   • Turn the temperature to zero.
   • Turn the oven OFF.

Safe Cleaning Directions

1. Check that the oven is OFF, and allow it to cool with the door open part of the way.
2. Take out any removable parts, such as racks.
   • Use a mixture of mild detergent in the pot and pan sink.
   • Soak the racks and other parts in the sink.
   • Clean and rinse.
3. Wash the inside of the oven with warm water and detergent.
   • Do not drip water on the inside of the oven.
   • Rinse.
4. Brush any waste out of the burner compartment.
5. Clean both the interior and exterior of the doors with water and mild detergent. Then rinse.

DEFINITION

• Lockout/Tagout - The standard that covers the servicing and maintenance of machines and equipment in which the unexpected energization or start up of the machine or equipment, or release of stored energy could cause injury to employees.

**The Equipment Safety fact sheets are general guidelines. Final procedures for safe equipment operation and cleaning should follow the manufacturer's specifications. Check the manufacturer's manual at your site or ask your supervisor for specific equipment details.