In this day and age, I think it’s fair to say that most of us have a stove and an oven. You know, those giant appliances we use to cook our food on? Anyways, I never thought there was anything special about ovens— they’re all pretty standard: elements, oven, buttons, and that drawer at the bottom.
But what is that drawer on the bottom for anyways?
Most recently, articles have been circulating that call the drawer a “warming” drawer— but depending on the type of stove you have, it turns out that may not be completely true!
There are actually 3 possible uses for the drawer in an oven:
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Broiling
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Warming
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Storage
Pop Sugar says that your oven manual should tell you what the purpose of your drawer is, but here are a few clues in case you don’t want to go try and dig out the instruction booklet.
According to Pop Sugar, if you have a gas stove with heating unit on the bottom, your drawer is more than likely a broiler drawer. You can use this drawer to brown a casserole, or even roast marshmallows or veggies, for example. Pop Sugar says you shouldn’t store anything in a broiling drawer (at least not while the oven is on) because the oven’s heat rises and may end up warping items like trays.
Next, if you have a warming drawer button on your oven, then congrats, you have a warming drawer! While most of us try to organize our cooking so different dishes finish at the same time, the warming drawer will keep any already-cooked food at a warm temperature while you wait to eat or finish cooking the rest! It’s super handy; check out this video from GE Appliances that elaborates on the warming drawer:
Lastly (and I hate to disappoint), if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, and quacks like a duck, most of the time, it’s a duck. If you don’t have a gas stove like the one mentioned above, or a warming button located on your oven control panel, then chances are you have a run-of-the-mill storage drawer. While this is the most boring option, it’s still pretty convenient. So in the end, I think we all win.
Multiple sources have been saying that EVERY OVEN DRAWER is meant to be used as a warming drawer. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case.
Here’s additional information about the rumor from Snopes. They confirm, “Not all ovens have warming drawers.”
As mentioned, if you have any doubts about your oven drawer, be sure to check your oven manual. It will definitely be able to tell you its exact purpose.
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