Is your Samsung oven displaying a lock icon? Or perhaps an icon with a fan in it?
Or you might be thinking how this one icon is different than the other, which looks almost exactly the same. Either way, we understand that the icons displayed by a Samsung oven can be overwhelming to try and decipher.
But we’re here to make an easy job of it for you!
In this article, you’ll learn what all the symbols on your Samsung oven mean, how to activate it, and when to use it.
What the Symbols On Your Samsung Oven Mean
Your Samsung oven has different cooking settings, not to mention other special features, that will often appear as icons on the appliance’s control panel.
Here’s a guide to what these different symbols mean:
| Symbol | Meaning | Function |
 A box with wiggly lines inside and two triangles in the corner. | Quick Preheat | This setting allows your oven to preheat to a set temperature at a faster rate than regular preheating. |
 Three wiggly lines. | Preheating | This preheats your oven under conventional conditions. |
 A box or an arch with a fan inside. | Convection | This means that the cooking operation in the process uses convection heating. |
 A box with a fan inside and the word ECO on the corner. | Eco Convection | When this cooking mode is selected, the oven uses convection heating elements with minimal energy consumption. |
 A box with a fan inside and a horizontal bar on top. | Top Heat + Convection | When this is selected, the top heating element and the convection fan of the oven are activated. This is ideal for a roast or crispy finish. |
 A box with a fan inside and a horizontal bar at the bottom. | Bottom Heat + Convection | When this is selected, the top heating element and the convection fan of the oven are activated. This is ideal for a brown bottom finish. |
 A box with a fan inside, a horizontal bar on top, and the word PRO on the bottom. | Pro-Roasting | When this is selected, the top heating element and the convection fan are activated exclusively to roast meat dishes. |
 A box with two horizontal bars, one on top and one at the bottom. | Conventional | When this is selected, the oven will make use of conventional heating elements. The convection fans will not be in use. |
 A box with a horizontal bar at the bottom. | Bottom Heat | When this cooking mode is selected, the oven will make use of its bottom heating element to conventionally cook or bake dishes that require a brown bottom finish. |
 A box with a squiggly horizontal bar on top. A box with a squiggly horizontal bar on top. | Grill | Use this cooking mode to grill your dishes. |
 A lightbulb. | Light | Indicates when the oven light is on. Alternatively, you can press this logo to manually turn on/off the interior oven light. |
 A battery icon with the recycle logo or a power cord with a plant in the corner. | Energy Saving | Indicates that your oven is in Energy Saving mode. |
 An alarm clock or an hourglass. | Kitchen Timer | Indicates that the current operation is using a timed mechanic. However, this setting cannot turn the oven on or off automatically. |
 An arrow between vertical bars. | Cooking Time | Indicates that the current operation is using a countdown mechanic. This is typically used for baking or cooking and will turn the oven off after the countdown expires. |
 A clock. | Delay Start | This indicates that the appliance is set to perform a cooking operation at a later schedule. |
 A key. | Locked Door | This signals that your oven has locked its doors automatically, either because of a risk of overheating, Child Lock, or the range needs to be power cycled. |
 A lock. | Child Lock | Indicates that the oven is currently on Child Lock. This means only the Power button can function. |
 A megaphone crossed out. | Microwave Mute | Exclusive to microwave combination ovens only, this indicates that the microwave is muted. |
 Stars or diamonds that indicate shine. | Self-clean | This indicates that the oven is currently self-cleaning. |
 Stars or diamonds with steam smoke. | Steam Clean | This indicates that the self-cleaning session is in Steam Clean mode. |
 A puff of smoke. | Steam | This indicates that the oven is currently using a steam function, but not necessarily self-cleaning. |
 A temperature probe. | Temperature Probe | This indicates that the temperature probe is in use. |
 A Wi-Fi symbol. | Wi-Fi | This indicates that the appliance is connected to a Wi-Fi network. |
 A phone or a rectangle with a Wi-Fi symbol. | Easy Connect | This indicates that the appliance is connected or is ready to connect to a nearby device. |
Quick Preheat and Preheat
You might notice that your Samsung oven, especially if it’s a newer model, has two preheat selections. They’re usually characterized by three wiggly lines, sometimes enclosed in a box, and one of them may have two small triangles below.
And we know what you’re thinking: what’s the difference between these two?
The one with two small triangles on the corner represents the Quick Preheating option, while the one without represents regular Preheating.
If you aren’t familiar with preheating, it’s the process of letting your oven reach a set temperature before you place the food inside.
It’s a rule of thumb in every baking procedure, as it saves you more energy and cooking time than if put the dish in as the oven is only heating up.
Moreover, this also avoids the risk of your dish being undercooked, having an unwanted or unpleasant texture, or even growing bad bacteria.
Preheating avoids exposing your dish to the temperature danger zone, a certain range of temperatures — between 40-140°F (4.44-60°F) — where microbes can affect your food.
So not only will the baking environment be cleaner and safer for your food if you preheat the appliance first, but with the necessary temperature ready, you’ll even cut your cooking time significantly shorter.
Now that we’ve got the concept of preheating all covered, what’s Quick Preheating, you might wonder?
As its name suggests, Quick Preheating can preheat the appliance faster than regular preheating. But before you get excited over the possibility of saving even more time, keep in mind that quick preheating has, of course, its caveats.
For one, this setting typically uses more power to achieve a set temperature within a quicker timeframe. It also uses fewer racks to improve circulation so the environment heats up faster.
Quick Preheat also uses its convection elements, such as the fans at the back of each rack, which allow for rapid temperature acceleration.
But not every food takes well to convectional preheating, so before you consider putting your oven in this setting, double-check if the dish you’re fixing to make can cook well under convection, otherwise, you’ll be wasting energy and cooking time.
How to activate or use these buttons: Simply press your selection on the control panel, then choose a temperature setting to preheat or quickly preheat your oven into, then let your oven do its thing until it’s done!
| Quick Tip: While you might be tempted to ‘hack’ your way around preheating (those extra heating minutes can be quite tedious, we understand), remember that putting your oven on broil mode is not the same as actually preheating your oven. Broiling only uses the top heating element of the appliance, so while your oven might signal that it’s already hot enough, in reality, it’s only heated up a part of it and your food will likely have trouble meeting its set temperature.You’d even risk putting it in the temperature danger zone! |
Convection
Remember how we mentioned that convectional preheating uses the fans at the back of each rack? That’s how you identify the convection setting on your Samsung oven — with the illustration of a fan!
Convection isn’t just a preheating setting, though. You can also use it for baking, cooking, and even roasting.
The general difference between convection cooking from conventional cooking is that the former setting blows heat, by way of the convection fan, around the food instead of onto it. This way, the dish is cooked evenly on every side.
But similar to its preheating limitation, conventionally cooking or baking dishes is best done with a singular rack only. Luckily, Samsung ovens are built with convectional heating elements independent of each other.
In other words, you can choose which rack you’ll turn the fan on for, and you wouldn’t have to worry about it affecting the other racks.
Samsung Flex Duos in particular allow you to choose two different settings and set different temperatures for each rack. That’s why you’ve got all those extra convection modes!
To elaborate, they’re as follows:
- Top Heat + Convection: Turns on the oven’s top heating element and convection fan. It’s identifiable by a box with a fan inside and a horizontal bar atop the fan.
This convection mode is ideal for producing a roasted or crispy effect on top of dishes such as meat or lasagna.
- Bottom Heat + Convection: Turns on the heating element and convection fan for the bottom rack. It’s identifiable by a box with a fan inside and a horizontal bar below the fan.
This mode is ideal for cooking or baking dishes that require a roaster or crispy underside, such as pizza or cake.
Aside from these, Samsung ovens come with extra convection settings such as:
- Eco Convection: Depicted with a fan with the word ECO on the bottom corner, Eco Convection puts your oven in convection mode but allows the appliance to use limited energy.
The downside to this is that it slightly increases cooking time, but otherwise it still functions just as regular convection cooking does.
Moreover, Eco Convection does not require preheating.
- Pro-Roasting: Pro-Roasting, also known as Convection Roast, is depicted by a fan with a horizontal on top and the word PRO on the bottom.
Pro-Roasting, as you might have surmised from the name and its pattern, uses convection methods to roast your dishes. This is ideal for large, tender cuts of meat like beef, as well as for poultry and fish.
The catch to this mode is that, as indicated by the horizontal bar on top of the fan, it makes exclusive use of the top heating element of your oven.
Moreover, this mode runs an automatic pre-heating cycle that stops at 428°F (220°C). Afterward, the top heating element and convection fan are activated.
Once it’s seared your food — meat, for example — the appliance will then continue to cook it at low temperatures.
How to activate or use these settings: Press your selection on the control panel, then — if the cooking mode you chose allows you to adjust temperatures — adjust the settings to your desired temperature.
Make sure to watch out for modes that do not require pre-heating (i.e. Eco Convection) and modes that have an exclusive temperature setting (i.e. Pro-Roasting).
| Quick Tip: Pro-Roasting mode is exclusively reserved for roasting only, while the rest of the convection modes can be applied to both baking and cooking. In other models, Convection modes and Pro-Roasting are labeled respectively as Convection Bake and Convection Roast. They may have a different name from the ones in this guide, but they have the same function! |
Conventional and Bottom Heat
With the concept of convection mode established, we now move on to conventional mode. That might be confusing to read at first, with how similar they sound, but fortunately, their icons are distinct, so you can differentiate them with no problem!
Conventional mode is illustrated by a box with two horizontal lines, one at the top and one at the bottom. This means that it uses both top and bottom elements to cook your food — the conventional way of baking!
This is the standard for most dishes, cookies included.
The key differentiator between conventional mode and convection mode, as previously mentioned, is that conventional mode doesn’t use convection fans to circulate heat in the oven.
For conventional modes, the bottom heating element is the primary source of heat, while the top heating element acts as a broiler.
Heat goes directly onto the food instead of around it, which creates hotspots in your batches. You’ll notice that dishes placed closer to the heating element cook faster than the rest.
Now, if you’re thinking how inconvenient that is compared to convection mode, and that you probably won’t use it as much — hold that thought for a while!
The conventional cooking mode has the advantage of moisture, which means the food you cook will in this mode will be less dry and crispy. As we’ve mentioned, it’s perfect for cookies and other confectionaries!
Moreover, similar to the convection mode, you can choose to only activate the bottom heating element when you’re baking dishes that require browner bottoms, like pizza or quiche.
If you’re fixing to make a dish like that, you activate the Bottom Heat mode, represented by a box with a horizontal bar at the bottom.
There’s no top heating equivalent of this, however. As previously established, the conventional mode exclusively makes use of the lower heating element, while the top heating element will act as a broiler during the cooking session.
How to activate or use these settings: Select your desired mode from the control panel and adjust the temperature accordingly.
Remember that conventional mode commonly has longer cooking times than convection mode.
Grill
Aside from baking and roasting, Samsung ovens also allow you to grill dishes via its grill settings. You can identify its icon by a box with a jagged horizontal bar on the top.
Grill mode allows you to cook and fry your dishes at a maximum temperature of 464°F (240°C). Similar to roasting your food with Pro-Roasting mode, you can use this setting to brown the top of certain meat dishes.
On grill mode, you can choose to select the size of the area you want to heat. This can be relative to the amount of heat emitted as well.
Samsung ovens typically default to Large Grill when on grill mode, which, as you might have guessed from the name, activates the large-area grill.
The Small Grill (or Eco Grill in some models), meanwhile, activates the small area grill, which is ideal for smaller dishes that require less heat, such as fish or filled baguettes.
How to activate or use these settings: You can activate your desired setting via the control panel. Small Grill or Eco Grill are sometimes spelled out, rather than represented as an icon.
Light and Energy Saving
Your Samsung oven is designed to light up its interior when in use. When in Energy Saving mode, however, the interior lights automatically turn off after a few minutes to save power and energy.
While this sounds convenient for most, we understand that some people simply forget to turn off the oven itself once they see the light off.
The only way to check if your oven is still on is by switching the internal light and checking if it’ll flick on.
The Light button can be found on your Samsung oven’s control panel, typically near the keypad, represented by a light bulb.
Energy Saving mode, meanwhile, is identifiable either by a battery icon with the recycle symbol or by a power cord with a tiny plant on the corner.
Once energy saving mode is disabled, your oven light will stay on for as long as the appliance itself is powered on.
How to activate or use these settings: To turn the interior light on or off, locate the light bulb icon on your Samsung oven control panel and press it — no need to long press!
If your oven is powered on, the command will be executed immediately.
Meanwhile, entering Energy Saving mode may differ from model to model. For a more precise step-by-step, you’ll have to consult your Samsung user manual.
In general, though, here are the steps you’ll have to follow:
- Step 1: Locate the Clock button on the oven’s control panel and press and hold it for at least 3 seconds.
- Step 2: If your oven has a keypad, press the number 4 button to enter Energy Saving mode settings.
If your oven has arrows instead, use the Up and Down arrows to select Energy Saving settings on the screen, then select Start/Set.
- Step 3: Press the number 1 to turn on Energy Saving, and the number 2 to turn it off.
If you had to use the Up and Down arrows in the previous step, you’ll have to do the same in this step too.
- Step 4: Save your changes by pressing Start/Set.
| Quick Tip: Remember that the interior light will automatically turn on whenever you open the door, and turn off when you close it. Cooking operations typically use the oven light, so unless Energy Saving mode is activated, you’ll see it turn on as your food is prepared. You can turn this off manually by pressing the Light button on the control panel. |
Kitchen Timer and Cooking Time
Baking and cooking are time-reliant processes, so naturally, your Samsung oven comes with an in-built timer to monitor this. These timers come in two sets: the kitchen timer and the cooking timer.
Another pair that sounds confusing, we know — but just hang on tight, you’ll be able to differentiate between their functions soon enough!
To start, the major difference between your oven’s kitchen timer and cooking timer is that one of them has the ability to stop cooking functions once a certain amount of time has elapsed, while the other doesn’t.
The Kitchen Timer, or the Clock — commonly represented by either an hourglass or an alarm clock — is there to time your overall appliance use. In other words, no matter what function you’re using the oven for, the Kitchen Timer will run.
However, it can’t stop cooking functions even after your set time has elapsed. The Kitchen Timer typically displays time going forward.
The Cooking Time, or Cooking Timer, on the other hand, can only function along certain cooking settings (such as convection or conventional bake, pro-roasting, and the like).
Once your set time has elapsed, the Cooking Timer will then turn off the appliance automatically. In that sense, this timer displays time counting down to when it will turn the appliance off.
To summarise, you use the Kitchen Timer when preheating the oven and use the Cooking Timer when baking a cake — simple as that!
How to activate or use these settings: Remember that the Kitchen Timer works independently, while the Cooking Timer requires another cooking function to work.
Moreover, these steps can vary from model to model, so make sure to have your user manual close to you to cross-check if your oven model is compatible with these steps.
That said, to set the Kitchen Timer, here’s what you generally have to do:
- Step 1: Press the word Timer on your oven’s control panel.
- Step 2: If your oven model uses a keypad, enter the desired amount of time using this. You can set the timer to any time between 1 minute or 9 hours and 59 minutes.
If your oven uses arrows instead, use the Up and Down arrows to set your desired time.
- Step 3: Once your schedule has been set, press Start/Set to begin the timer.
- Step 4: If you wish to cancel this, press Timer again for at least 3 seconds.
If the control panel displays the word End, simply press the Timer button again to dismiss the message.
| Quick Tip: Once the timer starts, it will replace the time display on your oven’s display screen. You cannot view the clock again until the set time is finished or the timer function is canceled. |
Meanwhile, to set the Cooking Time, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Choose the cooking operation you want to use, then set your desired operation.
- Step 2: Locate the Cooking Time button on your Samsung oven’s control panel and press it. Enter your desired amount of time.
Similar to the Kitchen Timer, you can set the cooking time anytime between 1 minute to 9 hours and 59 minutes.
- Step 3: Press Start/Set to begin the cooking operation. The temperature display will change into the timer once the oven reaches 175°F (79°C).
- Step 4: To cancel Cooking Time, simply press the button again, set the timer to 0, then press Start/Set.
Delay Start
Delay Start is a special function in Samsung ovens (and most Samsung appliances) that allows its user to let the timer turn the appliance on or off according to a set schedule.
Say, for example, you want to step out for a quick run to the grocery store but want to make sure that your dinner is fixed by the time you get home. In this scenario, Delay Start is your best friend!
This setting is commonly depicted with a clock. Don’t confuse it for the Kitchen Timer, though — remember, the Kitchen Timer is illustrated with an alarm clock, bells in all, while Delay Start is simply a clock.
Similar to the Cooking Time function, however, Delay Start can only be used alongside certain cooking operations.
How to activate or use this setting: As mentioned above, Delay Start requires another cooking operation to work. Furthermore, your Samsung oven’s clock must be accurately set to the current time.
Afterward, set Delay Start by following these steps:
- Step 1: Set your oven racks in place and put the food inside the unit.
- Step 2: Select your desired cooking operation, then enter your temperature setting.
- Step 3: Press Cooking Time, then enter your desired amount of time. You can set it to any time between 1 minute to 9 hours and 59 minutes.
- Step 4: Press Delay Start.
- Step 5: Enter the time you want the oven to turn on in the same time format as the clock (e.g. 5:00).
- Step 6: Press Start/Set to start the operation. Once the display time on the oven reaches your Delay Start setting, a beep will sound as the appliance begins the cooking operation.
This is why it’s important to verify that the display time on the oven clock is accurate.
Locked Door
Samsung takes its customer’s safety seriously, which is why all their appliances are designed to turn themselves off or lock their doors once it detects a risk of overheating.
When you find a key icon lit up on your Samsung oven’s display panel, this means that the appliance door has been locked (how to unlock samsung oven) either due to overheating or because the unit’s range requires to be power cycled.
How to deactivate this setting: Once you receive this signal from your Samsung oven, and you find the appliance hot to the touch, the best option you can take is to let it cool down.
But if you get this icon even when your oven is cool, chances are its range has been powered off. In this case, you simply have to turn it back on again or, if that didn’t do the trick, you could try power cycling the range at its circuit break for at least 60 seconds.
| Quick Tip: If you find the range powering on but none of the buttons on your Samsung oven are working, this means you have the Child Lock on. This is usually accompanied by another icon — more on that in the next entry! If the range powers on and all the buttons work, but the oven isn’t heating up after minutes, the problem lies in the door or its lock itself. Contact customer support. |
Child Lock
Part of Samsung’s safety protocol for families is to make their appliances safe around toddlers and children — or even pets — by locking every button on the control panel except for the Power On/Off button and locking the oven door.
The Child Lock button is easily identifiable by the illustration of a lock. When this is activated, this button will light up, or the word “Loc” will be displayed on the control panel.
Moreover, Child Lock can be activated even when cooking or baking is in progress. This setting helps avoid other buttons being pressed and interrupting the cooking process.
Activating Child Lock while cooking is in progress, of course, doesn’t reset nor pause the operation.
How to activate or deactivate this setting: To activate or deactivate Child Lock, simply press its label for at least three seconds or until the lock icon on the control panel (or the word “Loc” on the display screen) lights up or disappears.
Microwave Mute
If you’re using a microwave combination oven, the sound can be overwhelming — just imagine all that beeping!
Luckily, Samsung combination ovens give you the option to mute the microwave. Once muted, you’ll notice a crossed-out megaphone icon lighting up on the control panel — the universal symbol for mute.
How to activate or deactivate this setting: The microwave can be muted via the Sound On/Off feature found in your Samsung oven’s options menu.
Simply press the Options button, then on the keypad, press the number corresponding to the Sound On/Off function according to the display, then press Enter/Start to save the setting.
If your Samsung oven doesn’t have a keypad that makes this possible — don’t worry, you’re just using a different model! It’s still possible with the buttons you see on your control panel, but you’ll have to grab your user manual for more accurate instructions.
Self-Clean, Steam Clean, and Steam
The wonder of Samsung appliances is that they’re designed to perform autonomous functions from time to time. In the case of your Samsung oven, will you believe it can clean itself?
It sounds too good to be true, we know, but it’s real!
Here’s the catch to it, though: self-cleaning sessions are done by leaving your oven to heat the inside of its cavity to an extremely high temperature.
This way, any food residue inside will be burned away or dissolved without a trace.
It might sound like a dangerous process, but don’t worry — Samsung has safety protocols installed to avoid overheating. Just remember their auto-locking doors!
Either way, self-cleaning can produce ideal results as long as you take precautions before, while, and after activating this setting.
Furthermore, some Samsung oven models have different modes for self-cleaning — like Steam Cleaning.
When Self-Cleaning is in progress, you’ll notice a bunch of diamonds or stars — symbols for sparkling — lit up on the control panel.
When Steam Clean is activated, meanwhile, these sparkles are accompanied by the steam icon.
If only a steam icon is lit up, it means a steam function in your oven is active, but the unit is not necessarily self-cleaning.
Temperature Probe
Some Samsung models come with a temperature probe to help its user measure the internal temperature of a dish and make sure that all the meat in it is properly cooked.
Using the temperature probe doesn’t require knowledge or anything of the sort — it’s pretty easy to use!
When the probe is in use, you’ll notice a lit-up probe icon on your oven’s control panel.
How to use this setting: Not all Samsung oven models come with a temperature probe. If you want to check yours, you may refer to your user manual.
Once you’ve confirmed that your model has one, locate it, and follow these steps on how to use it:
- Step 1: Push the tip of the probe into the meat. Ideally, you want to push the tip into the center.
- Step 2: Put the meat on an oven-safe pan or dish, then put it inside the oven.
- Step 3: Secure and insert the temperature probe plug into the socket on the top side of the oven.
- Step 4: Input your desired internal temperature. You can do this either via the keypad or the arrows on your control panel, depending on the model you’re using.
The ideal temperature ranges from 100°F to 200°F.
- Step 5: Set a Cook Time or a Delay Start schedule, then press Start/Set to start the cooking operation.
Once the temperature you set is reached, your oven will make a beeping noise.
| Quick Tip: Let the temperature probes cool down for a while before pulling them out, and always remember to wear gloves when you remove them! The probes are metal and are an easy conductor of heat. You’ll find them extremely hot to the touch, especially after being exposed to the appliance’s heat. |
Wi-Fi and Easy Connect
Samsung makes it easy for users to remotely control their appliances simply by allowing the appliances to connect to a central Wi-Fi network, and then adding their model or unit number to the user’s SmartThings app.
With this, you can change your Samsung oven’s settings even from outside your home!
When you see a Wi-Fi symbol lit up on your oven’s control panel, this means that it’s successfully connected to your home Wi-Fi.
Don’t confuse this with a phone with a Wi-Fi symbol, though — that one means your Samsung oven is ready to connect or is already connected to a nearby device.
Decoding the symbols on your Samsung oven might seem overwhelming at first, with the number of icons — most of which look the same — you’ll have to memorize.
Our biggest advice for familiarizing yourself with them is to alternate between these cooking modes from time to time. You’ll find yourself reaching for this guide less the more you use them!
For now, though, while you’re trying to get a hang of them, we hope you keep this guide close for future reference.
