Electric Range Not Working?

One common problem with electric ranges is the prongs. Sometimes they can get bent inwards and they don't handle the electricity right, which means the element doesn't heat up.

Luckily, this is an easy fix.

When the element is 100% cool, unplug it and take it out. This would be a great time to clean it if it's in need of a great scrubbing. Then bend the prongs (pictured red in the diagram) outward. This makes it much more likely that the element will be able to have the electricity flow through it and heat it properly.

How to check if your gaskets are good

This is a very simple fix to ensure that your gaskets on your fridge or freezer are still good. Open the door and shut it with a dollar bill in it.
When you try to pull it out, there should be a little tension - you can't just pull it straight out.

The Month of Smells, Week 3: Oven

The last 2 weeks have chiefly dealt with appliances that include a water aspect. However, this week's is different; no water included. When cooking in an oven, some smells can linger and can affect future meals cooked in it. There's some very quick and easy ways to try to get those smells to no longer linger.

• Fill a baking dish with an inch of water and put vanilla extract in it and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Bake a citrus peel (orange, lemon, lime, etc)
• Fill a baking dish with lemon juice and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Fill a baking dish with white vinegar and turn your oven on low heat, while checking on it periodically
• Scrub everything with a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar

Calibrate Your Oven

A properly calibrated oven is important for baking your food perfectly. An oven that isn't calibrated can over or undercook your food and cost you money and the loss of a great meal.

The first step is to get an oven thermometer. This one on amazon is just over $5. You will use this to determine how accurate your oven's internal thermometer is.

Place the thermometer you bought from amazon in the center of the oven, and turn your oven onto 350 degrees. Give your oven plenty of time to pre-heat. Once it is pre-heated, check to see what the thermometer says inside. After that, move the thermometer around the oven and see if there are pockets that are hotter or colder. If it's accurate, it might just be you burning those cookies!

If your oven's temperature is off, give us a call! We'll fix it right up for you. Contact us at 208-344-6700, or come see us at 607 N Orchard St, Boise, ID 83706!

Baking Soda in the Fridge?

Putting baking soda in your fridge does nothing to keep your fridge smelling fresh. This myth was perpetuated by Arm & Hammer to sell more baking soda.

A more reliable way to get a smell out of a fridge is to put activated charcoal in a cookie sheet and leave it in there for a couple days. Activated charcoal is what they use to filer fish tanks and is a great odor absorber.

The best way to get smells out is to regularly clean your fridge!

Fridges in the Heat

June is here and summer is upon us! With June brings even hotter temperatures. While you know how to keep cool by going to the pool, how will your refrigerator act with to the heat?

When the temperature raises outside, your fridge has to work harder to keep up. If your fridge isn't in tip top working shape, it could spell disaster for your food, or even the fridge itself.

The best way to keep your fridge working properly is to do the following:

• Keep your fridge several inches away from the wall
• Clean the condenser coils frequently
• Keep your house at a cooler temperature

If your fridge needs maintenance or does break down, give us a call!

Too any Burn Brownies? Your Oven May Need Re-calibrating.

Are your brownies always turning out burnt? Your oven may need to be re-calibrated. Luckily, the re-calibration process is easy.

You first need to make sure your oven really needs to be re-calibrated. The tried and true method is to put a cooking thermometer in the oven and see if it says what you put the oven at.

If you don't have an oven, there's another way. Make 2 small cups out of aluminum foil and put a spoonful of sugar in each of them. Set the oven for 355 and put one of the packets in. After 15 minutes, increase the temperature to 375 and leave both for another 15 minutes. If the first cup's sugar is still white and the second melts and turns brown, your oven is calibrated. If both cups' sugar stay white, your oven is too cool. If both are brown, your oven is too hot.

If your oven needs re-calibrating, give us a call at 208-371-8676

Chest Freezer Organization

Having a chest freezer can be a huge help when you have a big family or just get a good deal on your favorite foods. However keeping your chest freezer organized can be a bit difficult. Here are five tips to help your chest freezer stay organized and all of your foods easily accessible.

Tip #1

Keep an inventory.  This keeps you from over purchasing one type of food.

Tip #2

Use reusable shopping bags to keep like food together. Sturdy plastic bins work well also but run the risk of becoming brittle with time.

Tip #3

Freeze your foods flat in gallon sized, freezer safe Ziploc bags. This makes it easy to stack and organize foods either horizontally or vertically.

Tip #4

Clearly label all food with the expiration dates. Painters tape and a sharpie can help with those store bought items that have small or hard to find expiration dates.

Tip #5

Clean out your freezer quarterly and dispose of expired items.


These tips should help you to get the most out of your chest freezer.


For more helpful tips like these

Call us at

208-344-6700

Visit us at

www.expressapplianceid.com

Stop by at

609 N. Orchard, Boise

Business hours:

M-F: 8-6; Sat 8-5

Here's some alternative uses for your major appliances:

Dishwasher

Disinfect smelly sponges and wash rags

Place them in the dishwasher, and run those stinkers through a regular cycle with your dishes. This time, add detergent.

Clean and shine garden tools

Dirty garden tools can spread germs and bacteria throughout your garden. Place your metal garden tools and shears on the top rack, and run through a regular cycle. Don’t try cleaning eating utensils at the same time, though.

More things your dishwasher can scrub

• Baseball caps
• Metal switch plates and outlet covers
• Range hood grilles
• Metal vent covers
• A gazillion hard-plastic kids toys
• Plastic sports equipment and pads

Freezer

Freshen denim

If you don’t want your favorite jeans to fade, place them in a plastic bag and stick them in the freezer for a week. Yes, your loved ones may think you’ve lost your mind. But the cold will kill germs and freshen the jeans without cooking them in hot water, which fades colors.

Life extender

Candles will burn slower, hosiery will evade runs longer, and NiMH and NiCd batteries will last longer when you store them in your freezer.

Steel wool

Instead of watching steel wool rust in a sink holder, place it in a plastic bag and store it in the freezer. The steel wool will stay free of rust longer.

Ice cube trays

They’re not just for water anymore. These little compartmentalizers are great for freezing single portions of pesto and making coffee cubes that cool but don’t water down your iced coffee drinks. Bonus: Freeze grapes in a plastic bag, then throw a few into white wine for a quick cool-down.

Microwave

Juice helper

You’ll squeeze more juice from lemons and oranges if you zap them in the microwave for 10 seconds, then squeeze.

De-germ sponges

Soak a sponge in water with a spritz of white vinegar, and place it in the microwave for two minutes. Not only will your sponge smell fresh, but the steam will make scrubbing the microwave and its telltale spaghetti sauce a snap.

Homemade heating pad/hand warmer

Fill an old sock with rice (not instant) or dried beans, tie the end closed, and place in the microwave for 60 seconds on high. Always touch lightly to check the temperature. If the pad isn’t hot enough, add 15 more seconds. If you want the heating pad to smell nice, add a drop or two of essential oil to the rice/bean mix before heating.

Its about summer time, is your freezer ready?

It's going to start getting hotter and hotter, which means your freezer is going to be working into over time! If you want to protect your otterpop stash you've got to make sure its in tip top shape! If you've lost your otterpops to a faulty freezer and you need to buy another one, we can help.

Call us at

208-344-6700

Visit us at

www.expressapplianceid.com

Stop by at

609 N. Orchard, Boise

Business hours:

M-F, 8-6; Sat 8-5

5 Oven Maintenance Tips

Check the seal on your oven

If the seal on your oven isn't tight, it could leak a lot of that heat out, which means it takes more to cook your food! There should be a rubber or fiberglass gasket around the edge of the door. Touch it and seal if it feels melted, warped, or broken. If it does, replace it!

Clean those fans!

The fans over your oven are often forgotten on your cleaning list. Next time its time to wash the entire kitchen, put it on your list!

Burners and drip bowls

Lots of dust and flakes can build up in the drip bowls and on your burner. It make your oven run in tip top shape, clean them fairly regularly, especially if you drip food on them!

Self cleaning safety

Your oven's self cleaning setting can be a lifesaver, but only if you use it correctly. To prevent any accidents, make sure you stay home and check on it every 10 minutes or so.

Non-self cleaning safety

Sometimes you just gotta get in your oven and scrub it! Before you roll up your sleeves, make sure you unplug the oven or turn off the gas. You don't want it to somehow turn on and start frying you up or start suffocating you.

11 tips to efficiently use your appliances to save money (part 2)

Are your power bills higher than you'd like? There might be a couple things you can do to lower them by using your appliances properly.

7. Recycle!

By using a cool-down cycle, it uses the heat that is already present to finish drying off your clothes. Without this, you'll generate heat right up till its done, and then waste whats there!

8. Don't Wait

If your clothes aren't drying properly, it could mean one of 2 things:

• Your dryer is dying, and its time to replace or fix it
• Theres a large blockage in your vents, and is a major fire hazard.

Either way, its best you call us to come take a look!

9. The Old Fashioned Way

Time permitting, drying racks are a great alternative to a dryer. They keep your clothes lasting longer, and doesn't run up your power bill!

10. Get the Right Stuff

If you have a front-loading washer or high-efficiency top-loader, use detergent labeled for high-efficiency machines. High-efficiency detergents are low-sudsing and quick-dispersing to clean well in high-efficiency washers that use less water.

11. The Proper Equipment

Look for the ENERGY STAR® and EnergyGuide labels. ENERGY STAR clothes washers clean clothes using 35% less water and 20% less energy than standard washers.

11 tips to efficiently use your appliances to save money (part 1)

Are your power bills higher than you'd like? There might be a couple things you can do to lower them by using your appliancces properly.

1. Cool

The simplest, most cost effective way of reducing your appliance bills is using cold water for your laundry. If you don't have to heat up the water, you're using less power! 

2. Fill 'er Up!

Another no-brainer is to make sure your loads of laundry are full. You're wasting money when you only throw a couple things in!

3. Towel Dry

When drying your clothes, make sure towels are in their own load. Clothes dry a lot faster when they're not in loads with things we use to sponge up water!

4. Use Your Senses!

Your clothes may be done long before the dryer stops going, and during that time, you're wasting power! If your dryer has a moisture sensor, use it!

5. Let It Breathe

One thing that is an absolute must is cleaning out your dryer vent. This allows air to properly circulate, which dries your clothes faster. 

6. DANGER!

If you rarely clean out your dryer vents, the lint can build up and eventually become a fire hazard! Cleaning the vents could save you from a full house remodeling bill. You can buy dryer vent snakes from our store.

Signs of When to Get a New Oven

The most holiday that puts the most strain on ovens is over, but it's not out of the woods yet! Christmas is only 8 days away, and the time to make sure yours works is NOW!

There are some classic signs that your oven may need a tune up, or be put out to pasture. They include:

1. Not holding the correct temperature.
2. Not heating evenly.
3. Long preheat times.
4. Not turning on.
5. Its falling apart or noticeable wear.
6. Timers is broken.
7. You can see a spike in your power bill when you use your oven.
8. You've had trouble with it in the past
9. It would make more financial sense to get a new one.

If you're not sure about what to do, or have questions, call us at Express Appliance at (208) 371-8676.

Freezer Prep

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! Here's 3 hints to prep your freezer for all those left overs!

1. Clean it out

Take all the food out, throw the expired stuff away, and wipe everything down. Put a box of baking soda if its particularly fragrant.

2. Vacuum the back

Vacuum all the dust out of the condenser coils at least once a year. This allows the freezer to continue work at peak performance.

3. Maintain proper temperatures

Monitor the temperatures of the freezer. Ideally, it would be around 0 degrees. If the temperature is too high, the seal likely isn't tight enough.