The oven is great for making your favorite baked goods, roasts, and more, but all that food inside the oven splatters oil and food particles around. Sauces spill, and grease and grime can dribble down to the bottom of your oven, burning into charcoal as you continue to use the machine.
Those burnt bits aren't just difficult to remove, they're almost stuck to the oven racks! Cleaning an oven is never a glamorous job as you handle a lot of grease and muck. However, cleaning an oven is necessary if you want to prevent your oven from breaking down. Here's how to clean an oven easily:
What You'll Need
Fortunately, you may already have the best cleaning implements to clean your oven right in your pantry! You'll only need a couple of things to create a homemade cleaning paste that will loosen and remove all those dried and burnt food bits in a snap:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar or Lemon juice
- Kosher salt
- Heat-safe bowl
- Spray bottle
- Sponge
- Scrub brush
- Scouring pad
- Glass cleaner (optional)
How to Clean an Oven: A Step-by-step Guide
Step 1: Steam Your Oven, and Let Cool to Warm
To help loosen any dried and burnt bits, it is a good idea to run your oven with a bowl of water inside to steam the grime loose. Place a small, oven-safe bowl of water in the middle rack of the oven, and let the oven run for about 15 minutes.
The steam should lift the grime, making it easier for you to remove them later on. Let the oven cool until warm with the bowl of water still inside. Only start the cleaning process once your oven is warm enough for you to handle without burning yourself.
Helpful tip: Your oven may have a self-cleaning function, which you can use to steam clean your oven. Read the user's manual on how to clean an oven using your oven's self-cleaning function.
Step 2: Create a Homemade Cleaning Paste
Create a cleaning paste using baking soda and vinegar or lemon juice. Mix the two ingredients together until it forms a thick enough paste you can apply into your oven without dripping everywhere. At the same time, place some vinegar and water in an equal ratio in a spray bottle.
Step 3: Remove Racks and Other Removable Parts
Remove the racks and other parts of your oven that you can clean separately. Spray the entire oven with some vinegar to start softening the burnt food bits before applying the baking soda paste. You can also use a store-bought oven cleaner and a damp cloth to give the interior of the oven a good wipe down.
Step 4: Spread Baking Soda Paste
Spread the baking soda mixture all over the oven, including the oven door, oven racks, drip tray, sides, and corners of the oven. However, stay away from the heating elements, particularly if you have an electric oven.
Step 5: Let it Sit
Let the baking soda mixture sit anywhere for 15-30 minutes. The longer you let the oven cleaning paste spread, the less elbow grease it takes to remove the stains. If the baking soda paste dries up during the process, simply spray with more vinegar to let it continue to work!
Step 6: Wipe Clean and Rinse
You will now notice that those food bits are much easier to remove. Wipe the baking soda residue away using a sponge or soft cloth, and brush the nooks and crannies of the oven racks. Use a scouring pad for particularly stubborn marks, or add some rock salt to help scrub away the grime.
Don't forget to clean the exterior of your oven too! A glass cleaner works well as an oven cleaner for the exterior and the oven door. Rinse away any residue on the removable parts, while a cloth dampened with plain water. Your oven should now look as good as new!
Care Tips to Keep a Clean Oven
Ovens are handy when you're recreating one-pan recipes, baking cookies for your next bake sale, or simply trying out healthy recipes without the effort or the oil. They have become essential parts in the kitchen, which is why it is important to keep them clean:
- Do not clean your oven blindly. Learn how to clean an oven before you decide to start the process as you may end up scratching or improperly cleaning your oven.
- Place a removable drip tray when baking with liquids. This will make cleaning up easier, and prevent spills from burning inside your oven.
- Cover food with foil to prevent oil splatters as you bake.
- Remove extra oven racks when not in use to avoid staining them unnecessarily.
- Remove baked-on food residue as soon as they happen to prevent them from crusting over inside your oven.
Something Cooking?
Cooking can be a joy for the budding chef, but the cleanup that comes with food preparation is a hassle. Let us at Luce handle those food stains for you as our professional part time cleaners are knowledgeable in removing oils and grease from any household material!
Why not give us a call, and we'll see how we can bring your kitchen to a sparkling clean!
