Our Adventures in Oven Cleaning

Several months ago we posted a survey about how you clean your ovens. Many of you are self-cleaning oven fans, it turns out. We gave ours a whirl recently, after we got tired of the sticky roasted chicken grease splattered everywhere.

Well, it did not go as planned. Not at all. A neighbor complained, the super showed up... Read on. Maybe our pain can be your gain.

This is what our oven looked like before. Most of that gunk is chicken grease.

BEFORE:
And here's a shot of the bottom, done with a flash. That's a neglected spill that's hardened into what looks like ceramic bird poo.

We read the owners' manual for our self-cleaning oven, but we still made a few mistakes. First and foremost, we don't think we ran the cycle long enough. Our oven allows us to reduce the time of the self-cleaning cycle, and we went with 3 1/2 hours instead of the standard 4 1/2, thinking our mess wasn't that bad. Even though we got a fierce blast of heat in our kitchen and a heavy burning smell (hence our neighbor's concern that the building was on fire, which led to the super visiting), we ended up with this:

AFTER:
We thought we were supposed to open the oven and find a fine, white ash that we'd easily wipe off. Nope. We got a darker, stickier version of what was originally there.

So we got out our sponges, even resorting to steel wool at one point, and started scrubbing. After a while, we sort of gave up. The only thing that did burn to ash was the spill at the bottom of the oven. Behold:

This is what the oven looks like now, after we put some elbow grease into it with soap, water, and sponges.

WAY AFTER:
But this is still unacceptable for an oven that is less than a year old. We're wondering if we should run the cycle again, for the full 4 1/2 hours, or just go with another cleanser or maybe a paste of baking soda. Frankly, we put more work into this than we bargained for.

Another mistake: Even though we read it in the instructions, we forgot to take out the racks. And, as the manual promised, they got dull and mottled and no longer slide as smoothly as they once did. We're hoping a little vegetable oil rubbed into the sides (another tip from the manual) will help.

So, to wrap up, the lessons we learned:
• Remember to take out the racks.
• Possibly tell your neighbors (or at least the super) what you're up to, if you live in an apartment building.
• Run the full cycle.

OR, maybe our self-cleaning oven just doesn't self-clean so well? What would you suggest we do at this point?

Related: Our original survey: How Do You Clean Your Oven?

(Images: Elizabeth Passarella)

Comments (24)

There are some effective clinging degreasers out there. They are quite caustic but they get the job done.

The racks can put inside of garbage bags, sprayed with degreaser, closed up and rinsed off after a few hours or overnight.

The 4 1/2 hour cycle on our moderately priced Kenmore smooth top range (non-convection oven) does a great job. My SO doesn't believe in removing the racks,so, yes, the shine is gone. It does get hot in the kitchen - we run the exterior ducted hood on low the entire cycle. The oven ends up with ash on the bottom. The door is not sparkly clean, neither is the rim of the opening, but good enough.

I think your oven might have been greasier than the cycle was designed for. The self cleaners tend to be meant for spills of baked on stuff, not so much on the grease. Try an oven de-greaser.

I hesitate to ask, how did it get that bad? I've never seen an oven that greasy before.

Tiamat: Just a roasted chicken! I had a juicy bird that I didn't allow to dry out, then roasted it on too high a heat. But that's actually not uncommon for me and roasted chicken... Maybe I'm alone?

Oh my. That really is above and beyond the average greasy oven. I'd run the cycle again, and run it whenever it gets to about a quarter of that level of yikes. =\ It's definitely looking better now, though!

I just cleaned mine last Friday. It had been more than a year but I wanted to do it on a day when my daughter would be in daycare and wouldn't have to smell those fumes. As it was, the cycle was 3.5 hours and I left the racks in. I also had a thin layer of "ash" on the bottom of the oven but all in-I was pretty pleased as to how it turned out.

So what's the best technique for those of us with NON-self-cleaning ovens? And assuming that we, ahem, also don't clean the oven that often... (Ours doesn't look quite as bad as the one above--but close. The gunk on the glass has been particularly hard to get off.)

the self cleaning cycle of the average oven suck up a zillion watts. not very green. What I do is I warp up the oven to 130° F and then wash it while it is warm and the grease has melted, using normal dish soap and vinegar.

I'm afraid to use the self-cleaning feature. I've heard horror stories about fires, etc.

I like Sol's approach. No fumes, no caustic cleaners...

I like Sol's approach too. The self-cleaning function on our oven works fine on the floor, but it doesn't deal with the door grease at all.

If I could add one item to your advice: remember to remove your oven thermometer. Unless, of course, you like a nice fire in your oven.

I have a self cleaning oven but i don't use that feature. Just get some easy-off, spray it in there, let it sit for a couple of hours, wipe with a sponge, then rinse with wet paper towerls. seriously, it is SO EASY and you don't have to use much elbow grease at all. I cover the element with aluminum foil and spray away.

It's not very "green", but it certainly does the trick fairly painlessly.

Wow, Elizabeth P. I'm impressed. The worst problem I've had with roasting a chicken was dropping the guts on my foot (It was horrible in that "this is going to be hilarious later" way). Maybe try covering it with foil initially?

I've used Borax with good success when cleaning up stove/oven crud. It's more abrasive than baking soda, but not super harsh on your hands, etc.

Ammonia and elbow grease. Pour in the ammonia. Let it fester for awhile in the oven. put on your mask and get to work with some soapy water and a scrubbie. It works, I swear.

Sol should be given a medal.

Maybe the whole country could rethink how ovens are used, and how often, period. High heat for "self cleaning," caustic, toxic chemicals not necessary for cleaning--these are immediate environmental polluters and potential health hazards in the home. The times we say, "I know it's not "green," but..." really tells the story.

The self-cleaning cycle on my gas oven does a fine job. I use the default time setting. I clean it twice a year, spring and fall, when the weather is just right to leave the doors open if necessary. I also use the outside-venting range hood. My oven racks are ceramic-coated and OK to leave in the oven.

Note: the first time you clean a new oven, even if it's not dirty from cooking, get out the fans and open the windows. It will smell unbelievably awful as it burns off manufacturing residues.

I once had a continuous-cleaning electric oven. That worked fine too but the oven should be run once in a while at 400 degrees because it helps the process. And never use cleaning products on a continuous clean oven. The surface is a catalytic material and cleaning products will ruin it.

Any suggestions for those of us with old-fashioned ovens that do not have a self-cleaning feature? My oven looks like the photos, both before and after using a fume-free Easy-Off.

Oh Please! The oven is dirty, big deal. Anway....so...an oven proof container of vinegar at enough heat to cause evaporation, will get all over every surface of the oven and allow you to wipe all the surfaces clean, with a bit of effort of course. For the love of your health, don't use oven cleaner, have you ever read the ingredients?

Hmmm... we must have been on the same wavelength this weekend because I cleaned my oven (self-cleaning) for the first time in the eight years that we have lived in our condo. I had heard horror stories about how it ruined your oven so I kept putting it off.

The self-cleaner does not clean the oven glass on the door, at least according to my instructions. I cleaned it later with Soft Scrub, and it was fine.

My place didn't get all that warm, but it felt like all that white ash was circulating in the air. I have been having sinus and throat problems lately--and this didn't help.

I think next time I will go the low tech route.

Deerdominique, you put white vinegar at what temp. and leave it for how long?

Oven cleaning is something I also have been putting off for too long!

Why didn't my instructions tell me that the self-cleaning feature doesn't work on the door? That was the messiest part by far. Thanks for the great tips, everyone. Keep em coming... I think I'm off for some soft scrub.

I have done (2) things for cleaning my oven "naturally", one is ever popular high school science experiment of vinegar and baking soda. I also have done a paste of vegetable oil and kosher salt. The new oil blends with old and it comes up pretty easy but it is messy. Or a magic eraser!

I also just roasted a chicken and got chicken grease all over my oven. Any time I set the temp higher than 400 it smoked and set off my smoke detector in my smallish apartment. So a dirty oven does matter.

I used easy off fume free and let it sit overnight. I had to use scrubber sponge on some parts, but most wiped up easily with a regular sponge.

I just want to chime in on the Easy-off suggestion. I have a very old oven, I think it may be original to our 1971-built house even! It was horrible when we bought our house and I just left it for the first two years because we'd just had our first child.
I used Easy-off for the first time ever last year, I read the instructions all the way through and then again carefully as I went through the process. I wiped and wiped with a wet cloth, and changed out my bucket of water for fresh water as soon as it got gray. The oven looked clean. It smelled very lemony. Smoke came out the first time I heated it up, but soon disappeared. Just like the instructions said it would, and the lemon scent faded away.
But all week my husband said our food tasted funny and he kept getting sick to his stomach. I couldn't taste any difference and didn't seem to be having any stomach problems. But after a week of complaints and illness, I decided to make sure. I found something on the web about spraying a solution of vinegar and water and wiping. If a yellow residue showed up, I'd just created acid rain, which meant there was definitely a residue of Easy-off still on my oven. (Wear rubber gloves if you have to do this.) Sure enough, there was yellow residue. I spent another whole afternoon spraying the vinegar solution, wiping, rinsing with water, and repeating. That night dinner did not make my husband ill.
Perhaps I did somehow make a mistake with the Easy-off, even though I was careful. Perhaps the finish on my old oven was too far gone and the product was able to seep in more than it should have. But I'll never use it again. A little more elbow grease, a little more often, is a small price to pay to avoid inadvertently poisoning my family.
But, we'll remember this occurrence when it comes time to win the school science fair. :)