Top Tips To keep Your Oven Clean

Tips to keep your Oven clean

Let’s agree on one thing, cleaning an oven is nothing less than a chore. Naturally, the amount of cleaning depends on how often you clean down after a major cook or bake.
Food residues left behind like fat or grease and spills from all kinds of dishes will burn even more every time the oven is used.
Next time you open the oven door, to remove your favorite signature dish observe how much smoke follows. If your dish isn’t burnt then it’s leftover food residues that is causing it. It can also be a potential fire risk?
If an oven is left too long between ‘clean downs’ (weeks/months) the more labor-intensive the clean up will be.

Here are few tips to keep your oven spick and span (and smoke-free).

You’ve spent the best part of the day preparing your dish, cutting, slicing, chopping, and when the dish is removed from the oven cooked to perfection the last thing you want to do it don your rubber gloves and start cleaning the oven, as you’ve got to dish up!

When it’s time to clean up and wash the dishes (or put them in the dishwasher) it’s a good time to give the oven a quick clean down. It also prevents confusing food smells. For example, you’ve popped your apple crumble into the oven (as you’ve done many times before) you await the divine aroma of fresh-baked apple mixed with spices to waft through the kitchen, teasing everyone’s taste buds – but wait a minute last night’s fish pie (residues) and the apple crumbles are now battling for pole position in the aroma stakes.

The result, a strange (unpleasant) smell, which instead of sending your taste buds into overdrive makes you want to reach for a peg to put on your nose!. A minor clean down before a recipe change is always good practice.

Covering the racks or trays with aluminum foil (a disposable lining) will help to catch the majority of spillages and keep them clean. Also, place a tray at the bottom of the oven to catch any molten fat and grease helps to keep the oven floor clean and stops the residues accumulating in tricky and hard to get at places making cleaning even more challenging.

Roasting bags are useful to reduce/prevent spillages and cleaning uptime. They also seal in the flavors and juices of the dish. They are effective when cooking meat, poultry, vegetables, and fish.
There are many different types of roasting bags available, so if you’ve not used them before now might be a good time to give them a try?

The benefits over the long term are far more rewarding in terms of saving time and elbow grease. As soon as you finish using the oven, a quick wipe down before any spillages have time to harden. If the oven is still hot be careful and wear oven gloves to prevent touching any hot spots!.
It’s a simple ‘mini’ oven clean minimizing the chances of excessive debris build-up on the racks and trays and the oven’s interior. Try this, put in a bowl of water inside the oven and heat it for 20 minutes. As the steam evaporate it softens any food debris. Now open the oven’s door and when it’s safe to do so, use a Scotch Brite finishing pad and scrub the affected areas thoroughly. It lessens the chances of a ‘major’ oven clean.

FAQs

What is the best way to clean an oven rack?

• There are many strong detergents on the market that do a great job of removing any stubborn carbonized food deposits from the oven or BBQ racks. Rubber gloves, face masks, and goggles are recommended before proceeding with any chemical cleaning. There are products available where the rack is inserted into a specifically designed sealable plastic bag (supplied with the detergent).
• Empty the contents of the detergent into the same bag, sealing it and leaving it flat for a period of time (as recommended). Then turn it over to clean the other side of the rack (this guarantees complete cleansing). For a thorough chemical clean it is best to leave it overnight to obtain the best results. When the time is up safely pour away the chemical contents and remove the rack, place it in a warm soapy water solution and rub down with a Scotch Brite pad to remove any leftover residues.

Are dirty ovens dangerous?

• They can be. Seriously neglected ovens that are in constant use can or may have an effect on the taste of the food? Reports suggest that appliances used in cooking particularly ovens are the prime cause of 1 – 5 house fires. If you only clean your oven twice a year you could become a statistic?

Can we use plastic utensils in an oven?

• Definitely not. Plastic and heat (for cooking) are not good bedfellows. Plastic will melt and possibly catch fire. During the melting down process, toxic fumes can be released that are hazardous to health. If you think food residues are difficult to remove, try removing hardened plastic that’s melted onto the racks and or trays in your oven. Good luck with that! Hope this has helped and don’t forget to contact serviceteam if you need your oven repaired.