how to clean oven WITHOUT using self cleaning function?

12 years ago

a while back i was reading how using the self clean function could throw off oven temps. there was a "recipe" using lemons/water in a baking pan. i had it bookmarked but the link is gone.

does anyone have the directions? and any idea how to do this in my turbo chef? i can't set time or temperature in that oven so need to figure that out.

thanks!

Featured Answer

desertsteph

12 years ago

'I put vegetable oil on them, reheat, and the stuff scrapes right off. It's amazing. '

boy, i need to remember this - I'm also one who doesn't want to use the self clean part.

tin foil on bottom? we had a thread (a yr or so ago?) on that - it ruined the bottom of someone's new oven, did't it? there were tons of ideas to help her get it cleaned off - don't remember if she ever did tho.

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Comments (10)

dianalo
12 years ago
I just bake a pan of water for a while to soften anything baked on and clean it out manually with Ajax or such if it does not wipe up easily. I usually do that after cooking something when the oven is already hot.
I put down foil in the bottom of our new oven, so have not had to do that so far... I just whisk out the dirty foil and put down new as needed. The sides rarely get anything on them.
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CEFreeman
12 years ago
Ajax got caught in the surface texture on my oven.
I followed the same steps, but use one of those mesh scrubbies on the hard stuff.

Oddly enough, on the bottom and in pans that have hard, caked on stuff? This is weird: I put vegetable oil on them, reheat, and the stuff scrapes right off. It's amazing.
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There is concern that if using self-clean AFTER having cleaned it with chemicals, toxic fumes could be generated from any chemical residue left behind. If you have already used chemical cleaners in the past, perhaps best not to run a self-clean cycle now. If you have not ever used chemicals, then your choice for now, keeping the warning in mind for later instances.
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In the old days --- uh-oh, there's the chronic old fart warning klaxon -- we used to heat the oven to warm (about 200F), shut it off, put in a bowl with a cup of ammonia, and leave it sit over-night. Then, toss the ammonia down the sink, and scrub the walls etc. with a scrubby and dish detergent. There were commercial (i.e., restaurant and institutional grade) oven cleaners but they were incredibly caustic and a big problem for anything that was not stainless steel. (Old fashioned Lutefisk might have smelled worse, but it was a pretty close call!) The instructions for my NXR say not to use "commerciaL" oven cleaners and I'm pretty sure (and have been told) that this means the actual "commercial" products not the residential grade stuff like Fume-free Easy Off, I've used the latter several times with no apparent ill effects (basically after the massive cooking marathons of Thanksgiving and Christmas). "No ill effects" means that I have not stripped the shine off the oven lining. As I understand it it, the warnings about not using "commercial" oven cleaners refer to the restaurant/insitutional grade products, not the "residential" products like Easy Off. (Do be aware, however, that some Easy-Off products are pretty d@*& strong. So, during your stove's warranty period, you want to use the "gentler" stuff like Fume Free rather than the Extra-Strength. What I do most of the time is a modified version of what Whirlpool calls "Acqua-lift."Basically, I get the oven very hot and let a bunch of water vapor in. (Typically, by putting a CI pan of water in the bottom of the oven when I'm baking bread.) Once the oven walls have cooled past the too-hot-to-touch stage, I scrub the walls using Dawn and blue scrubbie. That usually takes care of the problem. When it does not, I use the Fume Free Easy-Off. This post was edited by JWVideo on Fri, Apr 25, 14 at 23:48
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The discussion reminds me again how personal these choices are. I remember a wonderful phrase from a book (by Booth Tarkington, I think) which went something like this: a mild unpleasantness for one young man may seem the sheer brink of hell to another. That's applicable here as you can see from the posts above. For some of us, a self-cleaning oven is on the list of stove "must-haves." A stove won't even be considered without it. For others, like me, it was on my list of "wanna-haves" rather than "must-haves." (IOW, I miss having a self-cleaning oven but think I can live without it). Others, such as Nunya, are completely indifferent to self-cleaning; seemingly, he wouldn't use it if he had it. I say all of this because opinions here at GW can sometimes sound like dogma -- because I think X, you should, too, and your contrary thoughts are mere subjective preferences. It has to be said that subjective preferences are important. They are none-the-less valuable for being subjective. Your own preference absolutely must be part of the process of choosing a stove. Just because I find manual oven cleaning is "not too bad" does not mean you should find it that way, too. So, hopefully, the range of opinions is taken as helping you sort out our preferences rather than as telling you what to so. There is only way to get better informed than this exchange of opinions and that is by actually cleaning an oven in a stove you are considering. But, even if you live someplace where dealer showrooms have operating stoves you can test out, do you think they'll be demonstrating that aspect anytime soon? ;>) When I bought my NXR, I really had no idea how easy or how onerous "myself-cleaning" would be. That's one of the reasons I bought it from Costco. If "myself-cleaning" turned out to a royal PITA, I could simply return the stove for a full refund and get the self-cleaning induction range that I otherwise would have purchased. So, when you go shopping, it may be helpful to be up-front with the vendors about your uncertainty on this issue and to have a back-up candidate.
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Make a messy casserole or some standing roasted chickens first so that there's some stuck on, won't wipe off, gunk to be cleaned and run the self clean when you first get it. USE your appliances. That's what they're there for. You do have to wipe it out first and get any loose crud or any greasy spatter (the sticky kind) first. The self-clean cycle is for what's really stuck and you don't want to be heating and burning the get-up-able stuff. Maybe the time to run it is after all of your holiday cooking and baking? When there really is something in there to clean? And if you should manage to disrupt the oven, you'll be able to wait for the replacement? But you should definitely do it, and soon. Self-clean is a great feature and is meant to be used. It's a power hog so not all the time, but certainly every now and then.
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marcolo
12 years ago
I put down foil in the bottom of our new oven

Yikes! That is an absolute no-no in new ovens.
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oceangirl67
12 years ago
our cleaning lady knows how to do this. I'll ask her and post the procedure later.
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shelayne
12 years ago
I believe it is tin foil on the bottom of convection ovens, or ovens with the hidden heating element and gas ovens. IF you can see the heating element on the bottom of the oven--i.e. you have to lift it to put the foil down, then it is probably OK. I would check the manual first.

In a convection oven, I know that is a giant no-no!
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Circus Peanut
12 years ago
Baking soda and hot water.
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CEFreeman
12 years ago
desertsteph, let me clarify a bit.

I was making BBQ sauce, simmering, and forgot about it. I went shopping.
Needless to say when I got home, I had nothing but a burned on, black crust in a spackleware pot. I almost threw it away.

A camper friend said, "No, just coat it with vegetable oil, put it on low and cover it. Every so often poke it with a wooden spoon. The crust should crack off."

Lo and behold, he was absolutely right. So I tried it with my oven. Voila!

Christine
aokat15
12 years ago
wanted to bump this up to get the lemon/water recipe!
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mydreamhome
12 years ago
aocat--it's probably similar to the lemon/water recipe for cleaning the microwave. I use 3 1/2 cups water + 1/2 cup lemon juice in a 2 cup measuring cup. Place in microwave and run it on high for 3-5 minutes. Leave door closed for another 3-5 minutes after. Then open the door and wipe everything down. The steam generated from the water & lemon juice softens any dried on debris and it wipes right off.

In the oven, I would think you'd put the water/lemon juice mixture in a glass oven-safe baking dish and turn the oven on until the water gets hot & it steams up a bit--if you have a proof setting, that may work as well. Turn the oven off and allow it to sit with the door closed for ~5-10 minutes, then wipe clean. If you have a microwave, I would think it would work just as well (and save electricity) to get the water/lemon juice mixture hot in the microwave first, then place it in the oven. While you're waiting on the oven, you could wipe the microwave down.

Hope this helps!
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how to clean oven WITHOUT using self cleaning function?

desertsteph

Comments (10)

dianalo

CEFreeman

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