"montana wildhack" wrote in message

. I realized it was coming from the broiler (of our gas stove), which I
had left on. I ran downstairs to shut the thing off & see if the kitchen
was on fire (it wasn't). Since it's below freezing, I couldn't open the
windows & doors to air out the house.

Today I'm wondering if I did some permanent damage to the stove, whether
there is something I should look at to fix or replace and I'm wondering
what the heck makes that smell. The oven & broiler are clean (no built-up
gunk).

While you think the oven was clean, there were probably hidden drops of gunk
that normal cleaning would not get to. The heating of the broiler over some
time finally got them hot enough to burn off. I doubt any damage was done,
other that a possible bruise to your ego. Just continue your life.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/