What causes a stove to smell like burning plastic?

Did someone put a bread wrapper in the oven ? ? ?

When mine did that, we discovered a plastic lid had fallen onto the floor of the oven.

Is there a hood above the stove. If so, was it perhaps repainted to enhance things prior to your purchasing the house? I would check out anything “new” looking that is exposed to the heat

Grilled, grilled, grilled, and grilled again, (dripped to the floor) cheese?

Since the stove is very old, have you checked the insulation on the wiring? As you turn on the oven or a stove burner, you start running electricity through the wires, causing them to heat up. Over time, the insulation breaks down, becomes embrittled, and can actually start to melt. It has a funky smell that sort of smells plastic.

Nothing repainted, no spills, no drips. Opened everything up and can’t find even a crumb that might be burning.

@seawulf575 That’s something I haven’t checked but would make sense. I’ll check that next. Would that mean time for a replacement stove? Is it dangerous to use if that’s the case?

@ItalianPrincess1217 it would most definitely mean that it is time for a new stove and yes, it is dangerous to use in that case. Things to look for if you are inspecting the wiring…is the insulation on the wiring cracked or brittle? Are there any areas that look discolored (read as burned or almost so)? Look especially where the wiring makes bends or goes around an edge somewhere. UNPLUG the stove first!!! And the worst case scenario if you continue to use it and it does have bad wiring…I can see two. The first is that it would catch fire and would fill your kitchen (and possibly your house) with noxious smoke. The second is that a piece of wiring insulation breaks and the bare wire touches a metal surface (such as the stove top). In this situation you could inadvertently shock yourself when you touch it.
And as a fire-fighting tip…the best way to stop an electrical fire is to start with de-energizing the circuit. In this case you would probably be best off flipping the breaker in your panel.

It could be a bad electrical connection with the plug going into the wall. It could also be a loose connection on the back of the stove. I suggest you get an electrician/appliance repairman to take a look at it PRONTO!

The stove may have been too hot for too long, causing a wire to melt.

It’s also common for people to set a plastic bag or cooking utensil on a hot stove and melt it, while the stove is cooling off. Once the stove it used again, the plastic will burn and smell bad.