An oven is an appliance that allows us to prepare delicious and healthy dishes. So, normally, it is present in most of our kitchens. But frequent use implies dirt since splashes and food remain to permeate its interior, dry, and are difficult to remove.
If we do not clean the oven regularly, this appliance will acquire an unpleasant and unsightly appearance. we must be aware that, food remains can become a major source of bacteria and microorganisms that are harmful to our health. We know that keeping this appliance clean is quite a difficult and cumbersome task. But the good news is that it is possible to make it look like the first day relatively easily.
To achieve this, you will only need a little perseverance through regular cleaning. The oven cleaning methods that we propose in this post will be more than enough to keep your oven spotless.
Natural products to clean the oven
Although they are very effective, it is not necessary to resort to the expensive and aggressive products on the market to clean all the components of the oven. Using natural products will provide us with the same results but with some added advantages:
- We take care of the environment
- We prevent eye or skin irritations
- We avoid strong chemical odors
To prepare an excellent natural degreaser, you will only need a few products that you almost certainly have at home, including vinegar, lemon, and baking soda.
Let’s see how you can use each of these products to clean the oven with great results.
Vinegar
Vinegar has antibacterial and disinfectant properties that make it a perfect product for cleaning the oven.
Depending on the existing dirt, you should use it in one way or another:
- Quick cleaning: If the oven is not very dirty, you just have to fill the tray with two glasses of hot water and one of vinegar and program the oven at 200º C for 30 minutes. Once the time has ended, you will have to gently rub the surface to be cleaned with a damp cloth or sponge. The steam produced will make it easier for the grease accumulated inside the oven to come off very easily.
- Deep cleaning: In this case, you must make a solution with three parts of water and one of vinegar and put it in a spray bottle. With the mixture obtained, you must spray the walls of the oven and leave it to act for about 10 or 15 minutes, then rinse with water. You may notice a persistent smell of vinegar at the end. Don’t worry, it will disappear in a few minutes.
Baking soda and vinegar
Baking soda is a very cheap product with which you can clean, disinfect and degrease your oven. If it is not very dirty, you can apply the bicarbonate directly to the base and then spray it with the mixture of water and vinegar that we have described in the previous section. Finally, you must remove the remains with a damp cloth.
For a deeper cleaning in which you need more effective results, you should make a kind of paste following the following instructions:
- Mix 10 tablespoons of baking soda, 4 of water, and 3 of vinegar in a bowl. You should be careful to add the vinegar very slowly as this will cause the bicarbonate to react, forming a large amount of foam. If you notice that the result is too liquid, add more baking soda until you get a homogeneous and consistent paste.
- Impregnate the interior of the oven with the paste obtained, thoroughly covering the dirtiest areas and avoiding fans or heaters.
- Let the product act for 2 or 3 hours. If the dirt is very embedded, let it act overnight.
- After the time has elapsed you have to remove the dry baking soda with a damp cloth. If necessary, use a plastic spatula to remove the most difficult dirt and debris.
- Once all the paste has been removed, to make sure there are no traces of baking soda, spray the inside of the oven again with a solution of water and vinegar and dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
If you don’t have much time, you can speed up the entire process described. You will only need to turn on the oven for a few minutes so that the dirt comes off more quickly.
Lemon
In addition to its antiseptic and disinfectant properties, lemon helps eliminate the bad odors that cooking food causes inside the oven.
If you only need quick clean oven methods, you will get the fat to come off easily by filling the tray with water and adding the juice of two or three lemons and their respective skins.
If you decide to use this method, to take advantage of the residual heat, the idea is that you carry out the cleaning immediately after having used the oven. To make the dirt and bad smell disappear, you just have to let the solution act for a few minutes and then rinse with a damp cloth.
With this method, you can also perform a more thorough cleaning, but you will have to turn on the oven for 30 minutes at a temperature of 250ºC. Once the time is up, clean the inside of the oven with a clean cloth, the steam produced will help to eliminate the odor and the most embedded dirt.
How to clean the different components of the oven
No matter how dirty it is, with any of the three methods described you will be able to carry out deep and effective cleaning of the interior of the oven. However, to guarantee the complete hygiene of this appliance, it is also necessary to regularly clean the different elements that make up its design.
So, so that you can carry out a complete, easy, fast, and efficient cleaning. We invite you to discover how you can clean each of its components.
How to clean the oven glass
To keep your oven glass clean, getting into the habit of doing a quick wipe-down after use is the best way to prevent grease from building up on its surface.
For this type of cleaning, you only have to let the oven door cool completely and wipe with a damp cloth to soften the grease and dirt, if necessary use a plastic or silicone spatula to help you remove the most difficult remains. To finish, rinse the glass with water and dry it with circular movements.
If the glass already has a lot of grease and accumulated dirt, cleaning it will not be very difficult either. Follow the next steps:
- Soften dirt with a solution of water and dishwashing liquid and scratch the surface if necessary.
- Make a paste with baking soda and water, apply it to the glass, and leave it to act for 20 minutes. At the end of the time, rub with a sponge making circular movements.
- Rinse with water until all the remains of the paste are removed. Use a microfiber cloth for the best results.
- To finish cleaning with excellent results, you should dry the glass with kitchen paper or lint-free cloth, always trying to make the movements in the same direction. If the glass is a mirror, to make it look new, apply a little alcohol on its surface.
How to clean the oven tray and racks
An efficient, easy, and inexpensive way to clean oven trays and racks is to soak them in boiling water.
First of all, you will have to remove the remains of food and fat with kitchen paper. Then, in a large enough container (or, failing that, the bathtub), you must submerge them in boiling water with a dishwasher for a few hours. After the time has elapsed, use neutral soap and a sponge to clean the tray and a ball of aluminum foil for the grid.
If you notice that the grid resists and is not clean enough, impregnate it (without submerging it) with a mixture of water and baking soda and leave it to act for about 20 minutes. Then rub and dry.
How to clean the ceiling of the electric oven
If your oven is electric, to clean the ceiling you can use any of the homemade grease removers that we have previously described. You just have to be careful not to cover the heaters (resistances) with the product. For this task, it is best to spread a paste of bicarbonate and vinegar with your hands covered with gloves or with a small brush, let it act, and proceed to clean it in such a way that you avoid contact with the resistances.
How to clean the oven fan
To clean the oven fan you need to access it, so you will have no choice but to remove the cover that covers it. In any case, the manufacturers contemplate cleaning this element and incorporating screws that allow the cover to be removed very easily.
For the fan to be perfect, before removing the lid, the most effective thing to do is to use an industrial degreaser and run the oven for as long as the product in question recommends. Now you can remove the cover and rub the fan with a scourer until the grease disappears. If you prefer to use some of the natural products that we have proposed, you must follow the same process. You will also achieve good results but you will have to rub more insistently.
How to clean oven rails
To clean the oven rails you must remove them. In the user manual of your oven, you will find how to do it correctly so as not to scratch the interior lining.
For cleaning, you can use the same system as for the grids: neutral soap and a ball of aluminum foil. If the dirt is very embedded, go back to baking soda with water or a specific industrial product.
How to clean the double glass of the oven without disassembling it?
Cleaning the double glass of the oven door is easier than you can imagine. Although the most effective cleaning is by disassembling the glass, you may not dare to do this little DIY task. Don’t worry, you can also get a good result by following these steps:
- Open the oven door and note that in the lower area, there is a gap between the two panes. Through this opening, you can carry out a punctual and quick cleaning of the dirt that may have accumulated on the double glass.
- Take a wooden shovel or another instrument long enough that you can insert it through the slot.
- Moisten a cloth with a solution of water and vinegar, with dishwashing liquid or grease remover.
- Place the moistened cloth around the wooden paddle. Secure it with a rubber band so it doesn’t slip out while you’re cleaning.
- Insert this makeshift tool through the bottom slot in the door. To effectively clean the entire inner surface of the double glass, move it from top to bottom and from right to left
- You will have to make several passes, rinsing the cloth well in each one of them.
- When you have finished, you will have to dry the double glass to avoid water marks. To do this, remove the damp cloth and place a clean, lint-free cloth or microfiber cloth in its place.
How to remove the oven door to clean it?
If there is a lot of dirt between the panes of the oven door, the method described above may not be enough. You will need to disassemble the door for the results to be fully satisfactory.
Do not be alarmed, it is not very complex since the manufacturers contemplate this situation and design the doors so that they can be easily disassembled. In the instruction manual, you will find how to carry out this task. But, if you do not have it at hand, we will explain how you can clean the oven door by following these simple instructions:
- Although it depends on the oven model, the most common is that the door incorporates tabs or screws on its upper part that will have to be pressed or loosened to remove the cover and be able to remove the glass.
- In this process, you will have to be very careful since, although it is tempered glass if it suffers a blow you can cause it to break.
- Rest the glass on a flat surface and soften the dirt with hot water and lemon. Perform the same action on the door glass.
- If necessary, use the ceramic hob scraper to remove the most encrusted fat and remove the remains with absorbent paper.
- Once the excess dirt has been removed, spray both panes again with hot water and lemon (you can also use a dishwasher) but now rub with a scouring pad to easily remove the dirt.
- Once both crystals are clean, use kitchen paper to dry them. Then finish off the cleaning, apply a little alcohol to the crystals, and rub them with a microfiber cloth.
- Now you only have to reassemble the glass, but first, make sure that there are no fingerprints or watermarks so that the result is satisfactory.
Common Questions People May Ask
How to clean a very dirty oven?
As we have mentioned before, if you do not want to resort to industrial degreasers, with baking soda and vinegar you can make a powerful natural degreaser that will help you thoroughly clean the inside of your oven very efficiently and almost effortlessly.
If the oven is very dirty, not everything is lost, if you clean it regularly by combining both products, you will see how the most embedded dirt progressively disappears.
How to clean a pyrolytic oven?
Pyrolytic technology is a self-cleaning function that consists of applying a temperature of 500ºC to disintegrate the remains of food and fat that remain embedded inside the oven. You will only have to press a button to activate the function and wait for the device to clean itself.
Some models incorporate up to 3 cleaning modes and the duration of the process varies depending on the chosen model.
To clean this type of oven, follow these steps:
1. Remove the trays and racks before activating the pyrolysis function, otherwise, they may lose their original shine. Choose the level of cleaning you want to perform: economy mode, standard cleaning, or deep cleaning.
2. Wait for the task to finish. The device incorporates an alarm that will notify you when the process is complete.
Remove residue (already turned to ash) with a damp cloth or ash vacuum.
3. For the outside of the oven use a non-abrasive or stainless steel cleaner. Avoid products with chlorine or chemicals that cause corrosion in the coating.
4. Lastly, pass a woolen cloth to achieve a perfect polishing of the exterior.
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