Duh on me — Oven Cleaning

[Italiancook]

All these years I've done it the hard way. Even before self-cleaning ovens, I didn't wash the inside of my oven after each use. I waited until the condition of the oven was a necessity to clean. Or, until we were having a guest who might need the oven, such as during a pot-luck buffet.

It was always a chore to clean the oven. Even with self-cleaning, because I've never had a self-cleaning oven that didn't require some human elbow grease around the front edge. It never occurred to me to do it any other way. Nor did it ever dawn on me to wash out the inside of the oven after use, just as I always clean the stove top and counters and appliances after use.

Yesterday, my husband and I were talking about the cleaning techniques of adults from our childhood. I heard myself say, "My grandmother cleaned the inside of the oven every night." It clicked -- there was wisdom in that. The inside of her oven always looked appliance store brand new. Even though it's too early for New Year's Resolutions, I turned over a new leaf.

My range is only a month old, but we use the upper oven a lot. It required a Mr. Clean pad and effort, but I brought the inside of the window and the inside edge of the oven back to new-looking. That was more work than making the cookies. But now I can see why my grandmother wiped out the inside of her oven every night. A quick wipe, even if it needs a little elbow grease is better than a month's worth of grease build-up.

I can't imagine why I never thought of this before! I'm sure I won't be like my grandmother and wash the inside on the nights it hasn't been used, but I'll certainly view doing this after use as important as cleaning the countertop. No more out-of-sight-out-of-mind for me!

Spread the word

      

  

  

[Mike Nolan]

I tend to do a lot of my baking late in the evening and into the night, so by the time the oven is cool enough to clean, hopefully I'm asleep. But I should clean it a lot more often than I do. I never use the self-cleaning feature, my wife thinks we've used it once in 24 years, if so I don't know when that was.

Our appliance repair guy tells us that self-cleaning oven features are referred to among repairmen as 'guaranteed repair work or new appliance sales'.

[Italiancook]

In my case, the self-cleaning feature has been a boon for the appliance store. In my previous oven, I calendared to run the self-clean cycle every 4 months. Around Year 5, the oven temps went haywire. I tried adjusting them based on instructions in the owners' manual to no avail.

The range I have now, a GE Profile, doesn't have a self-clean feature. It has a steam-clean cycle. According to the instruction booklet, the steam runs for 30 minutes, then the owner has to clean the oven. Does anyone know whether the steam-clean feature will cause the oven to bite the dust?

[Mike Nolan]

I haven't heard much about steam cleaning features, but I've been told it is the very high heat (> 550 degrees) in a self-cleaning feature that is the appliance-killer.

I've heard that if you put a half cup of vinegar in the oven, set it at 300 degrees, and let it boil away (it takes about a half hour), it makes the oven easier to clean after it cools. Its one of those ideas I keep meaning to try, but usually I wind up cleaning the oven just before using it, and this require some planning ahead.

[BakerAunt]

I have not tried the self-cleaning on my Wolf oven of 1 1/2 years ownership. It has the high-heat oven self-clean, so I am wary. I will have to try that vinegar trick. I also recall using a baking soda paste (with water) to clean my Thermador after getting the control panel repaired, although I was cautious with the self-clean before that, perhaps using it once a year, and not doing it for the recommended three hours, which was not needed.

We had some turkey liquid drip off the foil onto the oven bottom, but after I later made pizza, I was able to wipe it off.

One of the busiest times of the holiday season for oven repair is the Thanksgiving-Christmas period. According to a salesperson at the appliance store, she saw many ovens, of various brands, where the locking mechanism, which kicks in when the self-clean is on, would then not unlock.

[Mike Nolan]

The little oven in our 48" dual-fuel range has a removable drip pan on the bottom, under the heating element, so it is fairly easy to keep clean.

My wife only recently figured out that it comes out, after 24 years. I take it out to clean it every few months, but I don't think she's seen me do it, I usually do it when I'm cleaning around the burners and cleaning the drip trays under them.

The bigger oven is harder to clean because I'm not sure how to unplug the bottom heating element, but it does tilt upward so I can clean under it.

[Italiancook]

I'll try the vinegar cleaning before I resort to the steam-clean feature.

[Mike Nolan]

We use white vinegar in the laundry room and for most cooking but use apple cider vinegar (the real stuff not the 'apple cider flavored' stuff) for dealing with calcium build-up.

The higher concentrate stuff is hard to find here, and trickier to use. 20% can be used (with masks and gloves) as a weed-killer spray, it'll kill the foliage but not the roots, so it can regrow.

[cwcdesign]

Food and Wine included a link to this article from a year ago in their email tonight. I thought you all might enjoy.

https://www.foodandwine.com/lifestyle/kitchen/resist-the-urge-to-use-this-oven-setting?did=710869-20211212&utm_campaign=faw-top10_newsletter&utm_source=foodandwine.com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=121221&cid=710869&mid=74270006843&lctg=71497359

[Italiancook]

cwc, thanks for sharing this hilarious article with us. Great timing!

[cwcdesign]

Frigidaire Gallery has an induction range on sale right now at my local dealer. It has a steam cleaning feature. They also have a 3 door French style refrigerator that I want to look at - it has a water feature inside which might work. I’m taking the next 4 days off to celebrate my 70th on Saturday, so I may go over tomorrow afternoon to check them out. Because I can save on those I’m thinking of a mid-level Bosch dishwasher since it’s quieter than the Frigidaire ones. I’ve decided to go ahead and get my appliances before I design my kitchen as they really need to be replaced and I like to be able to take advantage of a sale

[Mike Nolan]

I hope you can actually get reasonable delivery dates for your new appliances.

I'm curious about how well steam cleaning would work in an oven.

[cwcdesign]

I’m not actually worried about delivery dates - I just want to get the process rolling. I’m finally putting down a deposit on my new windows with my contractor tomorrow - it will be 14-16 weeks before they come in. Once we got the proposal it took us a month to get together to sign the contract. I’ve lived here for 6 1/2 years, so I’m just starting to do things so I can keep moving forward

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