Tips on Cleaning a Very Dirty and Filthy Oven

If you have not been as conscientious as you might have been, or have inherited a filthy oven, here are tips on what to do:

Try to clean the oven on a day when you can open the kitchen windows, on account of fumes. Switch off the electricity, put on something to protect your clothes and wear rubber gloves.

Spread newspaper on the floor below the oven to catch any drips. If possible, remove the oven door for ease of cleaning. Remove all oven shelves and shelf runners and either put in the dishwasher on a hot cycle or put them to soak in a sink of hot water and biological detergent.

First attend to the easy-clean panels, if your oven has them. To clean the rest of the oven, use proprietary oven cleaner. These normally come in the form of a caustic cream in a sponge applicator or as an aerosol spray and are some of the nastiest chemicals you can use in the house. Opt for the sponges over the spray because at least you will not be breathing in the aerosol droplets. You may consider wearing a protective mask.

By their very nature, oven cleaners are not green. But there are a number of biodegradable products available now with no acrid fumes. You brush it on and leave it for a few minutes and then wipe off the residue.

Whichever you choose, apply the following instructions. Do not put cleaner on chrome, on the elements of electric ovens or on rubber seals, because it can damage them. Wipe off any obvious residue with paper towels, then wipe out the whole oven with a cloth wrung out in hot water. Do not use detergent. Tackle any stubborn burnt-on bits with a nylon scourer or a mark and stain eraser sponge.

If the oven has not been cleaned in a long time, one application of cleaner may not do the trick. In which case, repeat the whole operation until it is cleaned to your satisfaction.

Finally, wash the oven shelves and shelf runners, which have been soaking. Use pads to get off any stubborn marks. If the shelves have been in the dishwasher, take them out of the machine before the drying cycle and wipe off any encrusted bits that have not been removed. The drying cycle will just bake them on again.

Once the oven is clean, make a resolution to wipe it after every use. If the oven incorporates the grill, turn the grill on once a week at the highest setting, with the oven empty, and leave for about 15 minutes, to burn off any grease that has got behind the elements.