What I Learned While Self Cleaning My Oven

OK, so sadly I confess, I have a very dirty oven. I also have a self cleaning oven which I have never used. My oven cleaning experiences have only ever consisted of two options:

• “Easy Off”, rubber gloves and a bucket of water
• Turning A Blind Eye (definitely the method I have been using on my oven at present)

Because I had never used the “self cleaning” option before and I am not typically one to read instructions I have just simply ignored my oven as you can clearly see.

So, with no preparation at all, (in other words, I didn’t remove any pre-burnt residue or read the instructions) I pushed the self cleaning button, shut the door (which automatically locked) and waited for the miracle to happen.

This is what I noticed:

1. After about an hour things started to really heat up in my kitchen. I am really glad I wasn’t doing this on a warm summers day.
2. I was really glad I didn’t have any pots and pans stored in the oven, they would have definitely been ruined
3. There was a definite odour that wasn’t a “you have just burnt your dinner” smell. It reminded me of the smell of bakelite (although I am sure it wasn’t) which lingered in the house until the next day ….. note to self, do not do this on the day company is coming.
4. Everything turned to white ash and wiped off extremely easy.
5. The baked on splatter marks on the oven window didn’t turn to ash. I assumed because it didn’t it would still be stuck like “white on rice” but I was wrong. I used a pot scraper and a cloth and it cleaned up nicely.
6. It worked!

My one concern was how good is this for my oven? With temperatures possibly going over 1000 degrees (not your typical 350 or 500) I fear this probably isn’t too good for my stove. I have read several complaints about self cleaning ovens and how hard it is on the stove. But, everyone loves the idea of “self-cleaning” and not of “one self”. So perhaps the solution is to not use it for the typical 4 hour cycle, only until you notice things turning to ash, which for me was about after an hour or so.

So, all in all it was a positive experience.

Positive Feedback: I will suffer no longer the terrible fumes one has to inhale when cleaning with “oven cleaners”. I will not have to deal with the slimy, brown goop the chemicals turn my burnt offerings into. And, it was super simple!

Negative Feedback: Because I didn’t read any instructions and just simply pushed a button I didn’t learn until later that I was supposed to remove my racks during the process. I have now “de-glossed” them and they don’t slide as easily…. live and learn!

Check out our blog post for the “aqualift” option to clean your oven:

http://barberandhaskill.blogspot.ca/2014/09/aqualift-versus-self-clean.html

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