How to Clean an Oven: 3 Easy Tips and TricksHow to Clean an Oven: 3 Easy Tips and Tricks

Is your oven smoking?

It could be that what you’re baking looks a little more like charcoal than biscuits. But, some extra smoke in the kitchen could also be the product of a dirty oven.

Apart from being a stinky, smokey annoyance, a dirty oven could become a severe health and safety hazard, if it isn’t dealt with quickly.

Need to give your oven a good deep cleaning, but aren’t sure where to start? Don’t panic! We’re here to help.

Here are a few helpful tips and tricks every chef should know about how to clean an oven.

1. Bring the Heat

Self-cleaning ovens are one of the greatest inventions since — well, ovens. And, while they were once a rare commodity, most modern versions come standard with a self-cleaning feature.

When you use self-cleaning, your oven will heat itself to somewhere around 800 degrees and burn away any stains or grime.

While this process is pretty easy on your end, it does come with a few downsides.

First off, burning away months-old, stuck-on stains can produce some pretty unusual smells. So, if you’re going to self-clean your oven, try to do it on a day when you can leave a few windows open.

Secondly, it can take a while for your oven to reach the heat it needs to clean itself, and then cool down afterward. So, make sure you give yourself plenty of time if you plan on using this feature.

All that said, once your oven cools down, all you need to do is wipe out the ash and voila! You have an oven that looks like new.

If you have a self-cleaning oven, make sure you take out any pans, trays or liners before running it. And, check your oven’s manual to make sure it’s safe to run with the racks.

2. Skip the Chemicals

While oven cleaner is a necessity, expensive store-bought oven cleaner that’s chock full of chemicals is not.

For those who don’t have self-cleaning ovens, or for regular spot cleaning, all you need is a little baking soda and vinegar.

Vinegar on its own can replace half of the cleaners in your utility closet. But, when you mix it with baking soda, you get an unstoppable force, powerful enough to break through some of your toughest messes.

Mix baking soda and vinegar into a paste and use it to coat the inside of your oven — or to cover whatever spots need cleaning. Then, wait until the paste drys and wipe it all away.

You can also use this paste to clean up hard, stuck-on messes from your electric stovetop.

3. Clean Regularly

The bigger the mess, the harder it’s going to be to clean up. So, you should try to clean your oven regularly — and long before it turns into a fire hazard.

Spot-clean small messes as they happen using an oven cleaning solution. And, try to give your oven a full deep cleaning every three months or so to prevent build up.