Tried & True Tips: Oven Cleaning

When I tackled my spring cleaning this year, I was determined to clean my oven, a feat never before tackled on my very own.  Fortunately, this proved not to be too difficult, considering that I only had to press a self-clean button… I did learn a few things though.

Oven Cleaning

1.)    Wait for nice weather, because you’ll need to open as many doors and windows as possible.  Also, turn on your oven fan.  My oven took over four hours to self-clean, and by the end of it my eyes were watery from the heat and smell.  Recently I heard that some people like to clean their ovens overnight, which sounds like a great way to multi-task.

2.)    Remove the racks from inside the oven first, as they may warp due to the intense heat.  (Some oven racks can probably withstand the heat, but I wasn’t sure if mine could, so I figured better safe than sorry.)

3.)    Once the oven has incinerated every last piece of burnt cheese, splotch of butter, and stray crumb, it’s simplest to suck the remnants up using a vacuum hose.  Afterward, wipe down the inside with a damp cloth.

4.)    The inside of your oven window may not come clean during the incineration process (mine didn’t).  To loosen grime, spray the window with a household cleaner and let it soak for awhile—about 30 minutes.  Then wipe it clean using a plastic scraper (don’t use anything too abrasive) and a cloth.

5.)    While you’re in cleaning mode, scrub down your stove top as well.  We have a gas stove covered by wrought iron grates.  I discovered that the best way to remove all the grime is to scrub them using a green Scotch-Brite pad.  And for those who loathe trying to fit large objects into small sink basins, you might be interested in my friend Amber’s advice.  Every so often she hauls her grates out to the backyard and scrubs them down using a garden hose.  Less wrangling = more scrubbing!

I’m here to testify that cleaning one’s oven is rather easy and quite satisfying!  I encourage you to give it a try if you’re new to the oven-cleaning-club.

Has anyone else suffered from oven-cleaning-phobia?  And if you’re a veteran holding on to a great oven cleaning tidbit or two, please share your secrets!