Most electric ranges employ a sheath-type enclosed micromere heating element to provide a controlled amount of heat to the cooking surface and to the oven cavity. The heating elements on the top of the range are shaped to make the maximum amount of contact with the bottom of your pots and pans. It is quite important that your cooking utensils be flat and in good condition, however. Otherwise, the pan can produce "hot spots" in the element, and Hot spots reduce the life of the element as well as yield poor cooking results. The cook-top elements or surface units as they are called can usually be removed easily. On many newer ranges, in fact, the surface units simply plug into a special receptacle at the rear, while on some other ranges; the units are hinged to make their wiring accessible.

There are two types of surface units. One type of surface unit contains two elements, an outer coil and an inner coil, the outer coil is usually of a higher wattage than the inner .coil. The unit has circuits. Generally, a separate fuse (located beneath the elements) or a circuit breaker (on the control panel) protects the outlet and light circuit. If the outlet or light ever fails to operate, check the condition of the fuse or the position of the circuit breaker.

If the entire range fails to operate or if it operates only at a low temperature chances are that one or both of the main fuses in your home's electrical circuit to the range have blown. If they are cartridge-type fuses, you must check them with a continuity tester or replace them with new ones. If the range circuit is protected by a circuit breaker, simply reset it to restore the range's power supply. Of course, you should try to determine why the fuse blew or the circuit breaker tripped.

Self-cleaning ranges burn away any food soils on the oven surfaces by raising the temperature in the oven cavity to 800 or 900 degrees. Besides having special cabinets made with high-density insulation, these ranges also are equipped with special chrome plating on the racks and a special porcelain coating on the inside of the oven cavity. During the high-heat cleaning, the oven's elements are usually connected into a 1 1 5-volt circuit to allow them to heat much more slowly than they normally would slow heating permits proper decomposition the food soils. A high-limit switch which may be part of the oven thermostat controls the heat air the proper level during the self-cleaning process.

If your self-cleaning oven fails to clear properly, check to be sure that you are setting controls for the proper length of time (usually three hours are required to burn away normal oven grime You should, of course, wipe away heavy spills below you initiate the cleaning cycle. If you still have problem, call in a service technician who has the special testing equipment required to examine your oven's high-temperature operation

Other ranges possess a special coating on the oven liner to help decompose food soils as regular cooking temperatures. These continuous cleaning ovens use a catalyst in the liner material that reacts with the soil. You must, however. Exercise special care with continuous cleaning ovens. Never use commercial cleaners on the finish nor attempt to scrub it with abrasive cleaner. Wipe away heavy soils immediately, before have a chance to smother the action of the catalytic coating, and avoid damaging the finish in any way such damage would leave an unprotected area in the oven liner