Cleaning the oven is often a much-hated household chore, not least because it always seems impossible to do. You scrub and scrub and the glass on the door is still black, so just how will you ever get it looking as good as new, you wonder?
However, with the right know how cleaning your oven is not as difficult as you may think. An unclean oven is very unhygienic and not safe to cook in, so you should clean your oven out at least once a month – once a week would be better. Here’s my easy guide to a gleaming, beautiful, perfectly hygienic oven:
1 – First, you should make sure you wipe your oven clean immediately after any spillages of food using water and dishwashing liquid. If you leave spillages there, they’ll burn on the next time you cook something in it and, over time, become almost impossible to remove. Use a baking tray wherever possible rather than putting foods straight onto the grill rack, to minimize how much food spills in the first place.
2 – Oven cleaning chemicals are very irritating to the skin, so put on some rubber gloves and grab a brillo pad or scrubbing brush to start. Buy a special oven-cleaning product – you can get one from your local supermarket. It contains an extra strong blend of chemicals that are needed to get rid of all that burnt-on grease and grime.
3 – Clean the inside of the oven door as bacteria can grow on this and it’s also often one of the hardest areas to get sparkling again. Use a scrubbing brush and the oven cleaner – after scrubbing, leave the cleaner on for 20 or so minutes to work and then scrub again, before rinsing clean. If you haven’t cleaned the oven in a long time, you may need to repeat this process once or twice more to get it perfect.
4 – Clean out the rest of the inside of the oven – that means the base but also the sides and back too. Remove the grill tray and clean this separately in your sink.
5 – Once the inside is clean, give the outside a quick freshen up with a normal cleaning product and a damp cloth. Use the strong oven cleaning product for any tough-to-remove stains, such as around the dials.
6 – Finally, let the oven breathe – leave it open in a well-ventilated area, with the window open, as the oven cleaner can also produce strong fumes. Give the whole oven a quick rinse with a damp cloth and clean water to remove any residue from the cleaner, so that it will not contaminate your food.
Your oven is now clean and healthy to use again! I hope you found this guide useful, leave me a comment if you have any other great tips on getting it looking as good as new.
About the author: Michelle Star writes for Bray Cleaning, a Berkshire based cleaning company who offer a range of domestic cleaning services including oven cleaning, to get your house sparkling clean even if you’re too busy to do it yourself.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Ryan.