What is the easiest way to clean an oven?

Cleaning the oven is one of those chores that always ends up last on the list. Most of us consider the oven as an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, and instead prioritise cleaning the items we can see, like the stove top, first. Most jobs which require being on your hands and knees and scrubbing away are avoided at all costs – and that is understandable. If you think back to the last time you cleaned your oven, the answer might be over a year ago, or even never. Hiring a professional cleaning crew is probably your best bet for a squeaky clean oven, but if you want to try tackling the challenge yourself, we are here to help

Cleaning your oven regularly is essential to maintain it for longer use, as well as improving its ability to do its job. In this blog you will find popular FAQs on oven cleaning, so you can take better care of your oven. Our professional oven cleaning crew are here to help; here are the easiest and best ways to clean an oven.

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1. How do I manually clean my oven?

There are a few different ways to clean your oven, and some are more effective than others. The most important thing about cleaning your oven is that you need to have ample time – around one hour to finish everything up – and to be prepared. For cleaning your oven manually you will need:

• Clothes you don’t mind getting a little mucky! When you clean lots of rust and grease out of your oven, some might get on your clothes; this is not the day to wear your best designer sweater!
• A blanket or pillow to protect your knees.If your oven is under your stove like most ovens are, kneel on something soft to protect your knees while you clean.
• Rubber gloves. Protect the skin on your hands with rubber gloves while cleaning your oven – you’ll thank yourself later.
• Baking soda.
• A coarse sponge/wire wool brush.

Now for the actual cleaning part!

• Firstly, remove the racks. Your oven racks are pesky to clean because they don’t provide a scrubbing platform for you to put all your weight on. The best way to clean your oven racks is to place them in a large tub of hot water overnight with around 1 cup of white wine vinegar OR a few tablespoons of baking soda. In the morning, you can scrub the rust off without hassle! Additionally, you could use a specialist rust-remover like Bar Keeper’s Friend to achieve the same effect.
• Next, make sure your oven is cool enough to touch. Mix around four tablespoons of baking soda with a little bit of water to make a thick, yoghurt-type consistency.Using your rubber gloves, manually spread the mixture all over the bottom and sides of the oven (do not touch the heat bars and/or the fan). Make sure it is absolutely everywhere and rub it in with your fingers. You can also apply this to the inside of the door if you wish. You can also opt for a specialised oven cleaning product, but baking soda is the cheapest and most readily available product.
• Leave this mixture for as long as you can – ideally overnight. Leave the oven open while the mixture gets to work.
• When it’s time to remove the mixture, use a damp cloth to remove the thick paste from your oven. If there is years-old grease and rust, this might not all come off in one go; you could use a cloth with white wine vinegar to remove the paste, which may assist you. In addition, before you remove the paste you could use a wire wool or coarse sponge to scrub the mixture one last time before wiping it away.
• Ensure ALL chemicals including bicarbonate of soda are completely gone before cooking in your newly cleaned oven.
• Repeat the process once more if not all the stubborn grease comes away!

2. How do you clean the inside glass of an oven door?

While cleaning your oven, as mentioned in the last section, you can apply the baking soda mixture to the inside of the oven door. The inside of the door is usually a combination of glass and metal, and provides you with a viewpoint into the oven while your food is cooking.

To clean the inside glass, you should be careful not to scrub it with a rough wire brush, as this will scratch the glass. Instead, apply a baking soda or vinegar solution to the glass door. Leave it to work for as long as possible and then wipe the brown bits away with a sponge. If you are worried about scratching the glass, you could even use your fingers to carefully peel away the brown crusty parts, being careful to wear gloves.

3. How often should you clean your oven?

This entirely depends on how often you use the oven. If you aren’t a culinary whiz and don’t use the oven every day, you can leave it longer between cleanings than if you cook multiple times per day. It is recommended that you clean your oven every three months, if it is used every day. In general, though, you should clean your oven if there are bits of burnt food stuck to the bottom, sides or door, or if there is built up rust.

If you move into a new home and the oven is rusty or clearly not recently cleaned, make this your first port of call before settling in. Although oven cleaning is time consuming, it is an important part of household maintenance.

4. What happens if you don’t clean your oven?

Not cleaning your oven is tempting – after all, who’s going to see it? – but built up rust, food bits and dirt can seriously damage your oven. A new oven costs a pretty penny and can be a nightmare to install, so you need to make sure you keep your oven going as long as possible. Here are just a few problems that arise if you don’t clean your oven.

• Fire hazard.Bits of burnt food that have fallen through the racks and onto the floor of the oven can be left there, unnoticed, for quite some time if the oven is not cleaned regularly. These pieces of burnt food are heated up to high temperatures every time you use the oven and can begin to smoke. These produce a horrible smoke smell, but even worse, they can catch fire and cause serious hazards and damage.
• Unhygienic food cooking. Of course, an unclean oven means an unclean meal. After all, the more germs that are building up inside your oven, the more they are transferring onto your food while you cook it.
• Blocked mechanisms causing damage. Remember that thing about preserving your oven’s life? This is the reason – an unclean oven covered in rust and food can have blocked mechanisms, such as the fan. Without these functions in full working order, your oven’s temperature will be unreliable as it will not be able to regulate itself. In addition, its inability to filter can affect the taste of your food. Ultimately, blocked up oven mechanisms will eventually lead to your oven dying much sooner than it needs to.

5. How do professionals clean ovens?

Professional cleaners come armed with specialist equipment that the average household doesn’t have. This includes the ‘blade and scraper’ method which professional cleaners use to remove stubborn dirt from your oven, leaving it looking brand new and sparkling clean. The blade and scraper is similar to a windscreen scraper for your car when ice seals over the glass; used in a lateral motion, the scraping mechanism undercuts the food that is baked into the surface of your oven.

In addition, professional cleaners are trained to avoid scratching or damaging your oven while they clean. They use strong products which require careful use, but are well-versed in utilising them to perfection – no damage, just squeaky clean ovens.

With top of the range products which are built to work effectively and much faster than an overnight-soak job, a professional cleaner might have your oven back to new in around two hours. This, of course, saves you time and energy on having to spend a whole day and night on your oven-clean job. A total clean from a professional cleaner will leave your oven in perfect condition which will then require you to simply top up the cleaning every few months.

Conclusion

If you are dreading the idea of cleaning your oven by hand, contact us, the professional cleaners in Brighton and Hove, to get the job done quickly and with 100% satisfaction. If you’re raring to go and up for the challenge, use this comprehensive guide to transform your oven from a dirty, rusty old machine to a shiny, new one that’s fit for use. Help your oven last longer by cleaning it often with a method recommended by professionals. Happy oven cleaning!