Cleaning-Tips-to-Maintain-Your-Oven

It’s a hassle to pick up all of those fallen bits of food and other cooking remnants, and all of us are guilty of just shutting the oven door and saying we’ll take care of it later. None of us enjoy the chore. However, when you don’t clean your oven regularly, the food literally bakes onto the oven’s surface, making the debris harder to remove. Eventually, you can be left with an unpleasant, stubborn mess that takes hours of elbow grease to fix.

Basic cleaning maintenance can not only prevent major messes but also keep your oven in good working order. Along with regular cleaning, pay attention to your oven’s performance. If you notice anything out of the ordinary, such as it taking a long time to get up to temperature when you are preheating the oven, consider calling an appliance repair company like CS Appliance Service to see if the issue necessitates a service call.

Get in the Habit of Cleaning Your Oven Regularly

If you perform this cleaning routine every few months, you’ll avoid ever having to deal with baked-on, blackened food. You’ll also prevent any taste changes to your cooking that can occur with a build-up of old food remnants and grease in your oven.

  • You can use simple ingredients to clean your entire oven: water, baking soda, and dish soap.
  • It’s best to unplug your oven before embarking on this process, especially if it is electrical.
  • Mix the water into a bowl of baking soda until you form a thin paste. Using a sponge, lightly coat the inside of the oven with this mixture, including the inside of the door.
  • Let the paste sit for 10-15 minutes.
  • Using a microfiber cloth and a bucket of warm water with a squirt of dish soap, scrub the inside of the oven using circular motions.
  • For the stovetop, you can use either an all-purpose kitchen cleaner or hot water with dish soap. Working one section at a time, clean the top and then the front with a sponge or microfiber cloth, depending on what works best for you and how soiled the outside of the stove is.

If You’re Facing a Heavily Soiled Oven, Follow These Steps

Maybe you’ve been dreading the task of cleaning your oven, but the longer you wait, the worse the problem can get. Instead of avoiding it, tackle your oven proactively.

  • Use a commercial oven cleaner, but handle it with care and always follow the directions on the label. These cleaners contain very strong, caustic chemicals which can be dangerous.
  • Be sure to open your kitchen window or turn on the stove’s vent fan when you are using a commercial oven cleaner to dissipate potentially harmful fumes.
  • Always wear rubber gloves and long sleeves when using oven cleaner.
  • Remove the racks inside. Those can either be cleaned by hand in your sink. Or if your sink is too small, your bathtub is a good alternative.
  • Scrub the inside of your oven using a scrub brush. Start with the walls, then the top, and finally the bottom to catch anything that has fallen down.
  • Using a sponge and a bucket of hot water, wipe out all of the remaining cleaner. Dispose of the sponge after use.

Special Tips for Self-Cleaning Ovens

If you own a self-cleaning oven, the process of keeping it clean can be much easier. A self-cleaning oven is a great option if you use your oven every day, but not everyone understands how they work. A self-cleaning oven performs its cleaning by heating up to an extremely high temperature—usually 500 degrees—which burns up all of the grease and particles of food retained in your oven until only ash remains. This can then be removed by hand or using a vacuum cleaner.

For safety, the door locks automatically so you can’t open your oven until the temperature falls low enough. The exterior of the stove does get quite hot, so stay out of the kitchen (and make sure your pets and kids do, too) until the process is complete. It can often take several hours for the oven to completely cool down, so you may consider opening your windows.

If you’re doing a lot of cooking and baking, it can cause a strain on your oven over time. If you experience your oven malfunctioning, give us a call at 781-953-9600. We can send out a service technician to assess your oven and help you get back to making meals as fast as possible. Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CSApplianceService/ for more tips on maintaining your kitchen appliances.