In a cook from scratch kitchen, like ours, the oven gets used multiple times a day. When an oven is in constant use there will be messes created. From grease and food splatters, to the pie bubbling over and dripping down into the bottom of the oven, along with all the accidental spills, the oven will naturally get very dirty over time.
I have been putting off cleaning our oven for a very long time, over six years to be exact. While this project did take me awhile to complete and I might have complained several times about it during the process, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have a clean almost new looking oven.
I know this project would have taken way less time if I hadn’t waited so long. But then again the before and after wouldn’t be so satisfying either I guess.
Why Use Natural Oven Cleaner
While chemical oven cleaners work very well to clean the oven, there is a reason. They are filled with harsh cleaning agents that contain chemicals like potassium hydroxide, monoethanolamine, sodium hydroxide, and butoxydiglycol. They are very irritating to the respiratory system and can burn your skin, lungs and eyes. (source)
Sometimes the smell of the oven cleaner will linger for a long time and it can become especially noticeable when the oven is turned on. Many people are wary of using such harsh chemicals around themselves and their family, especially in a place where they are going to cook their food!
Not only are chemicals bad for people, they are also bad for the environment. So of course if there is a natural alternative to the harsh chemical one, why not use that instead. Your body will thank you and so will the world around you!
What about Self-Cleaning Ovens
While many ovens are self-cleaning, using the self-cleaning feature will heat up your oven to an extremely high temperature (800-1000°F) to cook off all the grease and stuck food. This uses a lot of energy and will heat up your house. Even the outside of the oven gets really hot. It takes a while to heat up, hours to complete the cleaning cycle and a long time to cool back down.
My neighbor’s oven even caught on fire during the self-cleaning cycle. Because the oven was locked during the cleaning cycle, they weren’t able to open it to put out the fire and thus had to call in the fire department to lug the very hot fire oven out of their house.
The one and only time I used the self-cleaning feature on my oven it melted all chocolate and wax candles I had in the upper cabinets that were near by. Also, I remember how hot it got and it really made me nervous. I ran the cycle at night before but didn’t want to leave the oven unattended. So bedtime got pushed way back until I was sure that it was going to be ok.
How do you clean a really dirty oven naturally?
It is possible to clean your oven using only a few common household ingredients.
Baking soda and vinegar work together to lift off all the caked on grease and food in your oven. Soaking the oven grates in hot water and dish detergent will have them looking clean and shiny once again.
While this process is pretty straight forward, be sure to assemble all your supplies before beginning. There is nothing like starting a project only to realize you need supplies you don’t have on hand.
Q&A?
Is baking soda residue in the oven dangerous?
Baking soda is not toxic and won’t scratch your oven finish. It is particularly helpful in scrubbing off stubborn spills. It is not flammable or combustible, so there is no reason to be worried about using it in your oven.
I’ve used baking soda many times to cover a food spill in my oven that was smoking in my oven while I was still baking. This works every time to stop the burning smell and smoke. The baking soda can just be vacuumed up or wiped out later.
How often should you clean your oven?
It will depend on how much you use it and how quickly it gets messy. Once or twice is a year is usually sufficient if you are cleaning up spills as they happen. The more often you clean your oven, the less work it will be.
Definitely don’t wait 6 years to clean it though like I did! Cleaning this dirty oven ended up taking a long time for me!
How long does it take to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar?
The amount of time will vary depending on how dirty your oven is. Plan for 30 minutes if your oven isn’t too dirty.
To be completely honest, from start to finish it probably took me close to two hours of scrubbing and wiping clean my oven this time. I broke this up throughout the afternoon and evening so It wasn’t done all at once.
I have done it in much less time before. My oven was just so dirty this time since it had been six years since I had cleaned it.
Supplies Needed
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