The holiday season is a busy cooking season. Before your guests arrive, make sure your appliances are ready to handle the holiday rush. Tessa Darlington tells us how in this Angie’s List Report.

The holidays could mean more family and food in your home, but that could also mean more laundry, dirty dishes and cooking. The last thing you need is a major appliance breaking down.

"Now is the time to pay attention to your appliances. If your fridge has been acting on the fritz or your freezer isn't keeping things frozen, it's time to get them taken care of because what you don't realize is a lot of times an appliance repair company is harder to come by right around the holidays,” Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks said.

You might think your oven gets most of the work, but your washer, dryer, dishwasher and fridge are putting in overtime as well.

"Your refrigerator does require some very simple maintenance. It's basically cleaning. What people don't realize is the refrigerator coils can collect a lot of dust and dirt, especially if you have pets. Vacuum those weekly or even monthly to make sure your refrigerator runs efficiently,” Hicks said.

If you want to have a nice, clean oven before cooking your holiday meals, there are better ways to do it than others. For example, appliance repairmen say pushing that self-clean button on your oven would do more harm than good.

"The last thing you want to do is put your oven through a self clean cycle because that is when they will break. Then you have to find someone to come out and hopefully have the part two days before Thanksgiving. If you are going to self clean your oven, do it in June so you've got plenty of time to get it fixed,” John Mathew, an appliance repairman, said.

You can check to see if your oven is cooking properly. Hicks recommends going out and buying a cheap boxed cake mix. Bake it according to the instructions. If the cake comes out dry or undercooked, that's a sign there might be something wrong with your oven.