Last week, to prepare our Sunday night dinner (frozen pizzas– who says I’m not a gourmet), I fired up our gas oven.  A few minutes later, we could smell something burning.  I opened the oven door to investigate and was slapped in the face by smoke that was pouring from beneath the bottom of the oven, where the burner is located.  At first, we thought that some food stuffs had got down there and were just burning off, but after several minutes with the kitchen filling with smoke, I turned the oven off and waited for it to cool.

My preliminary Internet research backed the food leakage theory.  I got out the owner’s manual and found out how to remove the bottom of the oven (just undo two screws and slide it out).  Inside was a small pile of insulation in one corner, and a black chunk of coal-like substance near the burner.

The small pile of insulation was clearly nesting material.  We live in the country and it isn’t the first time I uncovered a mouse nest.  And the black coal-like chunk?  Upon closer inspection, it bore an unmistakable resembance to a small rodent, though thoroughly cremated.

The lesson learned from this bizarre incident is that food spillage is not the only cause of excessive smoke coming from the oven.