Cleaning the Oven
I cook and bake A LOT!! So my oven gets a lot use. And….gets very dirty. ( Even though I have a pretty spotless house, my dirty oven is my dirty {pun intended!} little secret!) Of course it does have a ‘Self-Clean’ function, and could be done at any time. Yet, somehow it sits there mocking me…still dirty. The racks need to come out, and those need to be cleaned as well. It also needs to be a warmish day, so I can open the windows and get the fumes/smoke out. Blah blah blah…enough procrastinating!
Today is the day…I am cleaning the oven!
Step One: Remove the racks and soak them. I put a bath towel in the bottom of the bath tub, and ran the hottest water I could get from the tap.
I put the racks in the tub. Then I added 2 scoops of Oxi-Clean Detergent. Then I used a big wooden spoon to mix the soap and water. I left them to soak for about 4 hours, but you could probably soak them overnight.
The pre-soak worked very well! There were some baked-on areas that required steel wool (SOS) scrubbing. But it was easier with the presoak!
The oven is on self-clean and doing its thing right now. I will update on my progress tomorrow.
Day 2 of oven cleaning: I looked at the racks in the light of day, and decided to soak them again. This time I chose a Melaleuca product called ‘Tough and Tender’. I used about a cup of the cleaner in a bathtub of super hot water, and let it soak for about 4 hours.
After the ‘Tough and Tender’ soaking, the racks were much cleaner! Very little scrubbing needed to return the racks to their former glory!
I wiped out the inside of the oven. The ‘Self-Clean’ option works really well!
I also followed the manufacturer’s instructions to remove the oven door. Once I had the door off, I was able to scrub the window and edges. I put the door back on, and wiped everything one more time.
I replaced the racks, and stood back. I do love the satisfaction of cleaning!
I need to do this 4X a year. The next scheduled oven cleaning will be early February!
This is my dirty oven!
Time to get cleaning!
Racks on top of the towel
Now it soaks….for a few hours
Ready for more baking!