The oven can be your best friend in the kitchen – especially with easy meal ideas such as roasted chicken or ribs with veggies, baked macaroni, and cheese, or parchment-baked fish. Not to mention if you do love baking sweets as well! If you use this kitchen appliance often then it’s only proper that you learn the best way to clean your oven.
Giving your oven a thorough cleaning once every three months sounds reasonable enough but this also depends on how often you use yours. If you can already see build-up or residue then, absolutely, do some cleaning even before the 3-month clean-up schedule.
Why Clean the Oven
You may be thinking why clean the oven when the heat can basically kill whatever bacteria is lurking in there. Sure. But you should also keep in mind that if the food residue or grease build-up burns – it can give off an unpleasant smell. Not only it will leave your kitchen smelling, but it may also even affect the taste of your delicately-flavored dish.
Grease build-up may also turn into a fire hazard because it can easily catch on fire. Not to mention that these food residues can actually attract pests in the house. So, yes, it’s not entirely a good idea to leave your oven uncleaned. It can be tempting, I know, but f you know the best way to clean your oven, you’ll find that it’s not as tricky as you would probably previously thought it would be.
How To Clean Your Oven
Before we even start on the best way to clean your oven, make sure that your oven is not hot – if you just bake something then let it cool down first completely.
- Let’s gather first what you’ll be needing:
Rubber gloves, cleaning rugs, baking soda, white vinegar, water, and a spray bottle.
- Remove the oven racks, we’ll deal with it later – let’s tackle the inside of the oven first. Remove as well any visible and quickly removable debris.
- Make a baking soda paste by mixing equal parts of baking soda and water.
- Now apply liberally all over the inside of the oven (don’t forget to wear gloves) – pay extra attention to spots where there are hardened gunk and pesky grease build-up.
- Let it sit for hours – the longer the better. I like doing mine at night so it can beautifully soak up overnight.
- Now, the oven racks – apply baking soda paste as well and spray it with white vinegar. Let it soak for a couple of hours in hot water. You may use the kitchen sink if you don’t have a big enough container or even your bathtub! If the bathtub is not an option and your sink is still not big enough – you can simply lay it down on cleaning rugs soaked in hot water and then cover it with damp cleaning rugs as well (best if you have old towels to use – they’re bigger and thicker).
Tip: While you’re waiting still for the inside of your oven and oven racks to soak further – you may also start cleaning the stove top if you’re really in the mood for sprucing the kitchen up.
- After giving your oven a good soaking in baking soda paste, it’s now time to wipe it off using a damp rug. (This is also a great time for you to tackle the oven glass, and apply baking soda paste liberally on it. Let it sit and allow it to soak while you’re dealing with the interior). You may use a scraper or spatula to get rid of hard-to-remove food residue.
- Spray the inside of the oven with white vinegar. Not only will it help in removing stains, but it also helps in naturally sanitizing and deodorizing your oven. Give it one final wipe using a damp cleaning rug followed by a dry one.
- To finish up, wipe down the baking soda paste on the oven glass using a damp rug and if you haven’t yet, give the oven racks a good scrubbing, rinse them, and let them dry completely before putting them back inside the oven.
And that’s pretty much it! That’s the best way to clean your oven! It does take time but the time is for the soaking up part – the actual cleaning isn’t that tedious, right? As I mentioned previously, I prefer cleaning my oven at night, so that it soaks while I sleep, lol! I just have to give it a good wiping down in the morning.
I’m not opposed to using cleaning products, I just find using natural ones like white vinegar or baking soda to be readily available in the kitchen all the time. These are actually good natural deodorizers as well – so yes, they will leave your oven clean sans any foul odor at the same time.
