Picture this: you decided to host a gathering at your college apartment with all your best friends before break. You cooked roast chicken, pie, mac and cheese, and even string beans. The next day you leave to travel home and a week later when you get back to your apartment, you open the oven to find that there is a nightmarish combination of burnt cheese, dried pie filling, chicken juice, and fried food bits everywhere in sight.
Unfortunately for me, that story wasn’t a pretend scenario, but a harsh reality. And, like most of my friends and any typical college student, I had absolutely no idea how to deal with it. Cleaning spray and paper towel wasn’t exactly cutting it, and with finals around the corner, I didn’t have time to scrub on my hands and knees. Whether you have a passion for cooking and use your oven every single day or you’re living in an old apartment or house that has a kitchen in desperate need of a deep clean, use this as the ultimate guide to cleaning your oven because chances are it needs it.
Grime and debris left in your oven is not only a fire hazard, but it can also heavily impact the way your food cooks and tastes. Therefore, it is recommended that to keep your oven in top shape and make sure your food tastes delicious, you should deep clean your oven two to three times a year. However, if you are really on your cleaning grind, then you can even wipe it down once a month or whenever you notice it getting particularly dirty.
Remove the wire racks.
Before doing any actual cleaning, it is important to remove the wire racks inside your oven. This step is especially important for ovens that have a self-cleaning setting. This setting can sometimes put the temperature inside as high as 900 degrees Fahrenheit to burn any debris inside the oven. If the racks are left inside, the heat can create irreparable damage to the appliance.
Remove large food bits.
After your oven racks have been removed, take your sponge or a damp dish towel and wipe away any large chunks of food and grease that can easily be removed.
Run the self-cleaning cycle or apply oven cleaner.
If your oven has a self-cleaning cycle, you are in luck! All you have to do aside from running the cycle is open the windows in your kitchen and turn your kitchen exhaust fan on (if you have one). If you don’t regularly use the self-cleaning cycle, it can sometimes create smoke build up or unpleasant smells, but it is important that you don’t leave your home or apartment until the cycle is completely finished. For those who have ovens without the self-cleaning cycle, simply follow the directions on your choice of oven cleaner. Make sure that if your oven does have a self-cleaning cycle that you never use the oven cleaner while it is running.
Wash your wire racks.
While your self-cleaning cycle is on or your oven cleaner is softening up the debris left behind in your oven, hand wash the wire racks of the oven with warm and soapy water. If there is any food or grease build up left behind after your initial cleaning, try using a scrub brush or scouring pad. If there is still food debris left behind after that, soak your wire racks in the sink overnight. Once the racks are sufficiently cleaned, rinse them and allow them to fully air dry before putting them back in the oven.
Clean the debris.
Once the self-cleaning cycle is complete, give your oven one final wipe down to make sure everything was thoroughly cleaned. For those that use oven cleaner, once it has sat for a long enough period of time, take a dish towel or rag and wipe away the now softened grime and grease and rinse the oven with water.
Clean the glass.
Finally, once the wire racks have been returned to the oven, take a glass cleaner or multipurpose cleaner and a microfiber rag, and clean the interior and exterior of the glass on the oven door. If there are any food splatters stuck on the glass, try using a non-scratch scrub brush to clean it.
Don’t bother with other methods.
Other methods you may find when researching the best ways to clean your oven include using baking soda paste, vinegar, or lemons. Although these can be effective, they require more scrubbing and are usually more messy.
Take preventative measures to keep your oven clean.
Now that you have an idea of how to easily deep clean your oven, it is also important to remember some preventative measures to make your deep cleaning process even smoother. For example, try to remember to put lids or tin foil on the pans and baking dishes you are cooking with. Additionally, if you are cooking pies or casseroles, put them on the bottom oven rack so that if food drips, it minimizes the mess. Finally, if there is a food spill, put table salt on it while it’s still warm. This will absorb much of the liquid so that when it cools, you can easily wipe it away.