The reason I asked, some earlier Elux ovens/ranges, had a problem with the thermal circuit breaker tripping during a self cleaning. That was fixed by adding a washer around the sensor, (as I recall)~~~probably a couple years ago. Myself, and I have an Elux Icon oven, (about 7 years old now), I never self clean it. At the present time, and even back in 2006, when I bought my oven, NONE of the manufacturers know how to "Properly design" a self cleaning oven. For those of you that have gas direct vent fireplaces, this is how the self cleaning ovens should have been designed, ~~~~~with the electronics at the bottom of the oven and out of the heat, and the actual oven cavity well insulated. I can run my gas fireplace all day long, yet the area below the firepit, (where the electronics are for the remote control and the gas valves, remains "Cool as a cucumber", that's how they should have designed the self cleaning ovens, but instead they just took the older designs, that did not have delicate electronics and added the electronics to those. So until I see a "Redesign" that makes sense, and protects the delicate electronics, I will clean mine, myself, which has NOT been a problem in the 7+ years we've had the Elux oven. We also see posts that "supposedly" have come from appliance service people that caution against self cleaning as they say it can damage the porcelain. HTH's Gary

Clean them before the first use to remove manufacturing oil and an rust preventive oil applied to protect them during storage and shipping. Dish-washing liquid and hot water is all you need. Dry them off, then put them back on the stove and turn the burners on high till they heat up and dry completely. Wipe up spills, but you are not going to be able to keep them like new. A few thousand degrees of gas flame tends to cook things on pretty well. Once a week they all get a trip through the sink with hot water and dish-washing liquid. Sooner if a large spill occurs.

I realize this is VERY old thread. However some things need to be corrected. Just because people do it, doesn't make it safe. So here goes: A. NEVER use soap on cast iron, seasoned or otherwise. Best rule of thumb for cast iron: If you wouldn't put it directly into your mouth, it shouldn't go on your cast iron. Just because folks aren't concerned about ingesting SOAP themselves doesn't mean it's healthy. And since there are so many different soaps, one can't count that any product is OK. So, NEVER EVER EVER use soap on seasoned cast iron unless you're planning on stripping it down to iron and then starting the seasoning process from scratch. Otherwise that soap gets caught in your oil finish and sooner or later you ingest it. B. Clean your rusty cast iron this way: Wash it down to remove all food particles with a scrubber and NO SOAP! Then rinse well and place on a burner. Heat it until all the water disappears - add some oil (I use Canola) then use tongs to rub salt (I prefer pickling salt which is very fine while others go as far as coarse) around with a paper towel until the rust is gone. This works well and doesn't take long. Shut the heat off when you're done and let the pan cool down some before rinsing it out with hot water. Dry out the pan and put a light film of oil on with a new paper towel. You can heat it again and let it cool or not. But, you'll see a beautiful and fine non-stick finish build up if you do this consistently. And it WILL hold up to acid foods such as chili with little or no problem. If it doesn't you're one seasoning away from making it right. C. If it sounds like too much work, understand this: I'm cooking with my mother's 60 plus year old cast iron skillet. No other pan has ever measured up for certain foods such as fried potatoes. As mentioned above, it's browning properties are unique. And I've tried many s different cookware including Le Creuset cast iron non-stick. Once used to the process of creating and protecting the non-stick finish on your cast iron pans, you may never go back. (I know I won't). D. Not only does cast iron add iron to your diet, the non stick finish IT has is SAFE - no more worries about ingesting flaking Teflon or non-stick fumes. If you have children under three you want to be careful about how much food they eat cooked in cast iron so iron won't build up to toxic levels for the little folks.

Well worth it! Its a great thing to do a a chilly rainy day. I self cleaned mine today (no rain but it needed it) and then put one of those silicone oven liners on the bottom under the heating element. It should make any spills easy to wipe away! It does have to be removed before self cleaning. I just tried the tip mentioned about oiling the edges of the oven racks. It made a HUGE difference!! I don't mind that the racks aren't shiny due to being left in the oven during the clean cycle (the book warns you about that). Its way better than washing them when you don't have to. Besides no one sees the racks but me! To season a cast iron pan, t should be put in the oven upside down so any excess oil can drip out. The book I read on cast iron cooking said to wash in soap and water to remove the seasoning. Use just water and a soft scrub brush for cleaning, but not re-seasoning.