VERIFIED
The roast that spat
A pork shoulder or a duck spits fat for hours. Droplets hit the cavity walls, the floor and the rear wall, and some of it burns into smoke. The smoke alarm sounds, the kitchen fills with haze, and sometime during or after the cook the display shows E37. The sensor in question reports cavity heat to the control, so a coating on it can make the oven misjudge how hot it is.
With no confirmed definition for E37, the grease is the lead.
Where grease causes trouble
- On the sensor, where a film changes how it reads heat.
- On the element, where drips flare and burn.
- Around the fan opening, where it coats blades and slows them.
- On the door glass and seal, where it bakes into a varnish.
- In the vents, where it can catch heat and smoke.
What owners see and smell
Blue-gray smoke from the door vent, a smell like burnt oil that lingers for days and a dark deposit on the rear wall. Occasionally there is a small flare-up from the cavity floor that dies as soon as the door is closed.
Sensible cleaning
- Let the oven cool completely.
- Wipe the cavity floor and walls with a cloth and warm soapy water, working away from the rear wall.
- Use a damp cloth, not a spray, around the sensor and fan opening.
- Run a short empty bake with the kitchen well ventilated.
If you use the self-clean mode on a heavily soiled oven, remove large deposits by hand first, otherwise the cycle produces a lot of smoke.
What a technician examines
The sensor, the fan and its opening, the element and the vents, looking for grease-coated surfaces that interfere with their job. If the cleaning done at home resolves the code, the visit may not be needed, but if E37 persists, the parts behind the rear wall have to be examined. The fan, which moves air through the cavity, is checked for blades that grease has slowed or coated.
Preventing a repeat
Roast fatty cuts in a covered pan or on a rack in a deep tray, and keep a tray on the lower rack to catch drips. Wiping the cavity soon after the oven cools makes the next deep clean much easier. If a flare-up occurs, keep the door shut and switch the oven off.
Smoke alarms and ventilation
If the alarm sounded, air the kitchen and keep the door shut until the smoke stops. Repeated smoke events dry out gaskets and stain the glass, so a tidy cavity is also a kinder environment for the door and controls.
Frequently asked questions
It can coat the sensor and fan and change what the control reads, so a greasy oven is cleaned before further testing.
Keep the door closed, switch off the oven and report it, because heat damage near the element is possible.
Hand-remove heavy deposits first, and follow the manual.
Avoid it near the sensor and back wall; use a damp cloth.
Model compatibility: Bertazzoni reuses codes across series and model years, so E37 may mean something different on another appliance or generation. Confirm this against your model’s documentation and record your full model number before acting.
