When servicing Retro stoves at clients’ homes and educating them about their “match-lit” ovens, I will proclaim – usually dramatically - that in politics, opera, and family gatherings, drama can be an enjoyable thing.  But NOT when it comes to match-lit ovens…

So, we ALL agree:  drama is never appreciated with any gas appliance.  Yet so many people fearfully anticipate a dramatic “flash back” with match-lit ovens, believing it part-and-parcel to vintage stoves.   However, the former is unwarranted because the latter is untrue:  a match lit oven, if lit properly, should never produce a small (or large!) explosion.  So how does one find the path to peaceful en-light-enment? Replace drama with Dharma!  Light the oven correctly, with a simple two step process.

Before elaborating on those two steps, we’ll explain the difference between a modern oven and most vintage (pre-1968) ovens.  That difference is the modern oven’s automatic lighting Safety System, which provides a “pilot” ignitor - a spark or constantly burning flame – at the point where gas enters the burner.  When the oven dial is turned to “On”, that pilot immediately ignites the gas flowing to the burner, before any gas buildup can occur.  Also in that modern Safety System is a sensor:  if the sensor does not detect a pilot spark or flame, it will not allow the Safety System’s valve to open, preventing gas from flowing to the burner.

Safety Systems first became common in the late 1940’s, and have been mandatory on all gas ovens (and water heaters, furnaces, etc) since about 1968. 

So here we are in 2020, fifty years hence: We think nothing of walking up to a modern stove, turning on the oven dial, and walking away.  The oven will light itself, or not light at all.  Doing that with a match-lit oven will have serious consequences:  raw gas would quickly fill the oven cavity - dangerous enough in itself - and, left unchecked, will soon fill the entire kitchen. 

Back in the (match-lit oven) day, every stove owner’s manual was sure to explain the critical though simple two step process of oven lighting:  place a match at the burner (or burner port on the oven floor), then turn on the gas.  Every family member in homes with gas stoves knew those basics:  it was done safely millions of times each day (of course unfortunate exceptions did occur, due to the usual human frailties of distraction, laziness, drunkeness, illiteracy, …). 

Now for the specifics on that two-step lighting process. 

Hopefully it’s obvious from above that nowadays, anyone operating a vintage stove with a “match-lit” oven must learn what the original owners for over half a century took for granted:  every time one wants to use a match-lit oven, it needs to be lit by hand.  And, most importantly, that process must be done correctly, meaning in the proper order:  flame FIRST, gas SECOND.  Only AFTER one places the flame at the ignition port does one even touch the oven dial to turn on the gas.   

Everyone repeat after me:  “Flame first, gas second”. 

Very good.  Again: “Flame first,… 

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

This proper method of lighting a match-lit oven reflects exactly how the Safety System’s pilot works:  creating an ignition source BEFORE gas begins to flow avoids both the dramatic “flash back” from a small buildup of unburned gas, and the more catastrophic scenario mentioned earlier.   

Now you’ve got a clue as to why so many people understandably but unjustly fear the “flash back” phenomenon they associate with formerly ubiquitous match-lit ovens:  not having grown up in the era when knowledge of the proper procedure was common, they simply get the order of the operation wrong.  If you own a vintage gas stove, getting the order right is easy and incredibly important.

WARNING: Safety Systems provide additional safety features besides automatic lighting, and can be installed on most vintage stoves. It should be clear from all the above that match-lit ovens should not be installed in situations where proper use of the oven by a knowledgeable operator cannot be assured (as in vacation properties, rentals, homes with frequent babysitters, etc.). Contact us for details.