A kitchen thermostat is a temperature-control switch used in conventional ovens and other cooking devices that rely on natural gas or electricity. It uses a thermocouple to turn the oven on or off when a preset temperature is reached, and is an integral part of how an oven works.
A kitchen thermostat is a temperature-control switch built into conventional ovens and other types of cooking units that rely on natural gas or electricity for power. The purpose of a kitchen thermostat is to turn the oven on or off when a preset temperature is reached. Other types of cooking devices that use such thermostats include toaster ovens, hot plates, grills, outdoor gas barbecues, and more.
The primary method of designing the on/off mechanism of a kitchen thermostat is through the use of a thermocouple. Thermocouples are switches with two types of coil spring or straight wire metal ends that expand at different rates, depending on the ambient temperature. This involves closing a circuit to heat the unit when a temperature dial is set to a chosen point and opening it to shut down the device when that temperature is exceeded. One of the metals in a kitchen thermostat thermocouple rotates with the temperature dial and the other is stationary, resulting in efficient and accurate control of an oven based on the expansion properties of the conductive metals.
Thermocouples are commonly used in heating systems in general. The most widespread use for them is in the design of a kitchen thermostat, but they are also found in most furnace system controls and other devices designed to respond to changes in temperature. A kitchen thermostat relies on the established physical properties of the two metals it uses, so it can operate in the absence of a power source.
Conventional ovens mostly use kitchen thermostats for the interior space of the oven. The burners on the top of an oven, whether electric or gas, are typically controlled by variable wattage on/off switches that are less precise than a thermostat itself. This is why Fahrenheit and Celsius scale readings are printed on the oven’s internal control gauge, while burner controls usually only list high, medium, and low settings.
A kitchen thermostat is an integral part of how a conventional gas or electric oven works, so it is designed to be extremely reliable and built into the unit in such a way that it can only be serviced by qualified personnel. In fact, an oven cannot function without a properly calibrated and functioning thermostat. It is the default on/off switch that gives the user complete control over the internal temperature of the oven, regardless of the temperature outside the cooker or cooking zone itself.
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