GE Oven Not Heating Evenly? Here’s Why (+ How To Fix)

A half-baked cake isn’t something you’d want to pull out of your oven, especially if you’ve set the controls correctly. But controls’ settings aren’t the only reason your GE oven may heat unevenly. 

Here are the 3 most common reasons why your GE oven is not heating evenly:

• Your oven didn’t preheat properly
• Your oven has a defective heating element
• The convection fan is not working

This article diagnoses the causes of a GE oven not heating evenly and offers you quick solutions, so your cooking can come out perfect. Let’s get to it!

Your Oven Didn’t Preheat Properly

Your GE oven needs to preheat before you can add what you want to cook. Preheating gives your oven an even temperature distribution before the cooking starts. If you don’t preheat your oven correctly, some parts of the oven may have lower temperature levels than the others, making your food cook unevenly.

How To Fix Improper Oven Preheating

Always follow the ‘Cooking Guide’ instructions in your GE oven Owner’s Manual. GE ovens will have one of these two preheating options:

• 10-20 minutes of preheating with an audible or light preheat signal activated when the set temperature is obtained
• 7-12 minutes of preheating with an audible signal activated when the oven is hot enough to aid the cooking

Note: If your model doesn’t specify the preheating time or has no signal when the set temperature is reached during preheating, go by the 10-20 preheating time to be on the safer side.

Your Oven Has a Defective Heating Element

Traditional GE ovens typically have two heating elements: bake and broil. If you have a “true” or European convection oven, your unit has a third heating element around the convection fan to distribute heat evenly. 

Whichever your case, if any of the heating elements isn’t functioning properly, your oven will not have an even hot air distribution. 

How To Fix a Defective GE Oven Heating Element

First, you’ll need to make out which of the heating elements in your oven isn’t heating. A functional oven heating element will glow when heated. 

However, this isn’t usually the case with the broil element. The broil element could be the culprit if the bake and convection elements are glowing. If the bake or convection element isn’t glowing, it could be the cause.

A faulty GE oven element needs to be changed following these steps:

1. Turn off the oven.
2. Remove the oven racks.
3. Unscrew the potentially defective heating element.
4. Detach the connection wires.
5. Pull out the defective heating element from the oven. You can test if the element is open using a multimeter to ensure you’re not replacing a good element. 

Check this YouTube video by RepairClinic on how to test the element for continuity: 

6. If the element fails the continuity test, order a genuine GE appliance heat element to replace the defective one.
7. Reattach the connection wires to the new element and screw it back onto the oven wall.
8. Test the oven to see if the heat is now evenly distributed.

This video on YouTube by GE Appliances will make the steps for replacing a bad GE oven heating element easier: 

The steps are pretty much the same for all three heating elements.

The Convection Fan Is Not Working

If you have a GE electric range or wall oven, your appliance has an air convection system that includes a convection fan to help circulate air evenly around the food. If this fan isn’t working, the heat may be concentrated on one side of the oven and not the other. 

How To Fix a GE Oven Convection Fan That’s Not Working

Fan operation in an oven is controlled by the working of a motor, and the control board regulates the power supply. If any of these components are faulty, the convection fan won’t work.

Because a convection fan won’t run with the oven door open, it might be difficult to determine if it’s running via a visual inspection. To be 100% sure, call a GE oven technician to assess the convection fan for voltage and determine if the control board is causing fan problems.

Other possible reasons your GE oven isn’t heating evenly include:

• The heat from the elements is blocked by a baking pan or aluminum foil.
• Heat is lost through the frequent opening of the door or a worn-out gasket. 
• The oven thermostat isn’t controlling heat properly.
• The cookware absorbs heat unevenly (dark pans absorb, lighter pans reflect).

If you can’t make out which of these issues is causing your GE oven not to heat evenly, hire the services of a GE oven technician.