THE BEST WAY TO CLEAN AN OVEN
An oven should always be a precious appliance in your kitchen. Keeping your oven often will not only make your oven look good but also maintain its durability and enhance its efficiency. Therefore, if you want your food to cook faster and have a pleasant smell, clean your oven before cooking. Cleaning an oven can be an overwhelming task, especially if you are a beginner at this. Most oven owners know about a self-cleaning oven function, and maybe that's what most of you have been utilizing all along. That might not be the best solution to get rid of the stuck food and odor. (Eykemans, 2020)
To clean an oven properly, you must be willing to go the extra mile. With extensive research, you will know the best way to clean an oven without too much hassle. All you need is to gather information and get the right supplies for that task. If you wonder where to start or what you need, don't worry because we have got you covered on that.
Importance of cleaning an oven
Cleaning an oven is not an obligation. However, the results will be more beneficial to the user of the stove. Therefore, oven cleaning comes with various importance, which may include; (Vapor Clean, n.d.)
- Enhances safety: Cooking in a clean oven is a lot safer than cooking in a dirty one. Cooking in a dirty oven brings smoke that may be harmful to the person utilizing it. The grease can also lead to fire hazards once you start using the stove at high temperatures.
- Enhances longevity: A dirty oven wears out quickly due to the stuck grease and food effect. Cleaning it will ensure that it lasts longer.
- Cooks food with better taste: Grease and food stuck in the oven affect newly cooked food's taste. In addition, the flavor of the smoke from the dirt contaminates food's taste and smell as you cook.
- Enhances efficiency: A clean oven heats faster than a dirty one. That implies that cooking food will be faster in a clean oven.
How Often Should You Clean an Oven?
Cleaning an oven is not the same for each oven owner. A particular oven owner is maybe cleaning it more often than another due to some reasons. How often you clean your oven depends on the extremity of using it. If you rarely use your oven, dirt will not accumulate as much as a person who uses their oven regularly. (American Home Shield, n.d.)
There are two cleaning techniques; wiping and deep cleaning. Wiping an oven should happen weekly, whether you use the stove every day or some days in a week. Wiping only eliminates dust or dirt that may be on the oven, not necessary from cooking. The difference comes in deep cleaning. If you are a regular user of the stove, then oven deep cleaning must happen several times a month. If you rarely use the stove, checking whether the oven needs cleaning once a month is essential.
ProTip Takeaway: Research techniques you can use to reduce the chances of your oven getting stuck food and grease every time you cook in it. You can use foil over the grill or a tray under the grill. In that case, you will get rid of the foil or wash just the tray after cooking.
Supplies needed
If you have never cleaned an oven before, then you need to purchase oven cleaning supplies. (McCoy, 2018)
- Oven cleaner: There are different oven cleaners, including store-bought cleaners, lemons, baking soda, and vinegar.
- Cleaning gloves: Gloves are helpful, especially if you are using store-bought oven cleaning chemicals.
- Glasses: The cleaning chemicals may splash in your eyes. Use protective glasses to be on the safe side.
- Spray bottle: You will use a spray bottle when using liquid cleaners.
- Wet Cloth
- Paper towels: You will use them to cover the floor under the oven when cleaning.
- Plastic garbage bag
- Scoring sponge or brush
Cleaning oven with store-purchased cleaners
There are ready-made oven cleaning products you can purchase in stores. That is one of the easy ways to clean the oven. Once you buy the best cleaning product, follow these steps to clean your oven. (McCoy, 2018)
- Take out the items from the oven, including the trays, rack, and others
- Spread the paper towels on the floor under the stove. In that case, you will not have a hard time cleaning the floor in case the dirt and grease drip down from the oven as you clean
- Wear your gloves and protective glasses before heading to the next step
- If the cleaning product you are using does not come in a spray bottle, transfer it to a spray bottle to minimize wastage.
- Spray the cleaner in the inside of your oven, including the knobs and the door
- In case you are using an electric oven, avoid using the cleaner on heating components. For the gas oven users, don’t use the cleaner on areas around the gas inlet.
- Leave the cleaner for half an hour for the dirt to ease. The time can change depending on the cleaning product you are using.
- As you wait, spray the cleaner on the rack and the tray and put them inside a plastic garbage bag, and let that sit for half an hour or the time indicated on the cleaning product.
- After half an hour, use a wet cloth to wipe the oven surface. For stubborn and sticky dirt, use a scouring brush.
- Take the rack and trays out of the garbage bag and rinse them with warm water.
ProTip Takeaway: Some cleaning products may contain chemicals harmful when they come into contact with your skin or eyes. Therefore, wear protective gear when using such products.
Cleaning the oven with baking soda
If using cleaning products is not your thing, you can use baking soda to clean your oven. (Eykemans, 2020)
Step 1: Oven emptying
Just as with any other cleaning technique, the first step should be taking out all the items from the oven.
Step 2: Baking soda paste
Cleaning the oven with baking soda, you need to make a paste. Add half a cup of baking soda to a bowl and pour some tablespoons of water in the same bowl. Mix them properly until they form a paste. Add water depending on how your paste feels. It should be neither too light nor too heavy.
Step 3: Coating the oven
With gloves, use the paste to coat the area inside the oven. Next, rub the paste through the surfaces inside the oven. As you do that, you will notice that the paste turns brown. That is an indication that it is effective. You can still apply the paste on the tray and rack and put them inside a plastic bag. Then let the paste sit for at least half a day or overnight.
Step 4: Wiping the oven
After half a day, the paste will have removed the dirt. Use a wet cloth to wipe out the dirt from the oven. For stuck dirt, use a scouring sponge or a brush. Take the rack and the trays out of the bag and rinse them off.
Step 5: Using vinegar to clean the oven
Use a spray bottle to pour in the vinegar and spray any remaining dirt. Then wipe down any foamy residues until the oven is clean. Finally, put back the oven trays and rack.
ProTip Takeaway: If the oven has too much sticky dirt, you can use vinegar instead of water when making the paste. The reaction between baking soda and vinegar makes the paste more effective.
Cleaning the oven using lemons
Lemons are also a game-changer in cleaning an oven. Here is what you need to do. (McCoy, 2018)
- Begin by preheating the oven at 250 degrees
- As it heats, cut two lemons into two pieces and put them in a bowl that you can use in an oven.
- Put the bowl in the heated oven for an hour.
- Turn off the oven after an hour and let the bowl cool, then remove it
- Use a damp cloth to wipe down the dirt
The cost of oven cleaning supplies
|
Minimum Cost |
$4 |
|
Median Cost |
$6 |
|
Maximum Cost |
$10 |
If you think your oven is clean, wait until you use our techniques to clean your oven. The results will be magnificent. At Smart Remodeling LLC, we remodel your home and ensure that any appliance in the house is maintained the right way. We do that by giving you information on how to clean your appliances.