How to Clean an Oven and Keep It Clean
Take pride in your kitchen and know how to keep tricky things that we use every day – like our ovens – looking immaculate. Just because your oven door is closed, doesn’t mean you can hide food and fat that’s building up in there. Although it can seem like an arduous task that you probably don’t have the time for, we’re here to provide a step-by-step guide on how to clean your oven and how to keep it clean thereafter.
How to thoroughly clean your oven
OK, so we’ve all been guilty of leaving an oven dirty for months on end, saying ‘I’ll get to that this weekend’ and then never do. So now is the time to snap on the gloves and perform a deep, thorough oven clean. Once that’s done, if you follow our simple day-to-day oven cleaning tips, it’s likely you won’t need to do this again.
*For your oven’s interior: there are plenty of products out there – so choose one that’s compatible with your oven and follow the instructions, paying attention to areas with the most built-up grease. Always ensure the room is well ventilated and wear rubber gloves before tackling your oven with corrosive chemicals.
*Before applying chemicals, you’ll want to remove everything from the oven and place to one side. Get a wet cloth and a water basin next to your oven and gently wipe the oven down to remove any loose dirt, rinse the cloth – then it’s time to begin.
For your oven doors: if you spot food bits that have been cooked on to your oven’s window, pry this off gently with a plastic spatula. Then pop on your gloves, ventilate the room and apply your chosen spray-on cleaner or gel to the oven door/window. Leaving the cleaner on for the instructed amount of time and be careful not to touch without gloves and keep children and pets away. Once it’s ready to remove, do this gently with a cloth and squeeze out into clean water, repeating until the door is free-from grease and spray/gel.
For your oven’s shelves: check with your product instructions first but chances are, you can use the same product you used for your oven’s interior. Some products come with a large zip-lock bag that’ll allow you to leave oven shelves and trays in with the solution overnight. Otherwise, pop them into your dishwasher or soak them in the bath with a mix of washing detergent and water, after a few hours scrub, remove and dry.
How to keep your oven clean day-to-day
- Line oven trays with tin foil – no matter how hard you scrub an oven tray, it’ll never look the same as it did when you first purchased it if you freely place food directly on its surface without the use of tin foil. Tin foil is a reflective material, which will help to speed up your cooking process, it can be wrapped around food to keep it warm, whilst you wait for another element of your dish to cook, and it keeps trays stain-free.
- Embrace roasting bags – these can be used for meat and vegetables, not only does it help to retain moisture and flavour but roasting bags will keep your oven sparkling clean.
- Check your food and remove from oven – instead of using a pair of tongs and trying to turn over your chips, take the tray out to prevent oil drips, scattered seasoning or a lost part of your meal. This is safer for you and kinder to your oven.
- Loosen dirt with a bowl of water – after use, keep your oven on for another 10-20 minutes and place an oven-proof bowl half-filled with water inside and close the oven door. Turn off the oven, remove the bowl with oven mitts, wait for the oven to cool down and then wipe with a damp cloth – this will pry away stubborn grease.
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