Remember when you were a kid and your mum used to clean her oven every week. Well what happened? Today we never seem to find the time for tasks that are just that bit more difficult or mucky.
But cleaning your oven is a necessary task to keep your oven hygienic so it can cook at it's best and means your food is contaminated last month haggis or last weeks beef dripping. And what would your friends say if they saw the muck in your oven?
You can choose to clean it yourself instead of hiring a professional cleaning service, but it requires research to avoid wasting time or damaging the appliance. It's also a lot of hard work! You can use common household products and ingredients from your kitchen cupboards to clean your oven. However, be careful when attempting any DIY cleaning tasks and note that OvenGleamers is not responsible for potential health risks from mixing household products.
What are the reasons for cleaning your oven?
Regular cleaning of your oven helps to maintain its longevity and efficiency. Over time, grime, grease, and food residue can accumulate and cause wear and tear to the appliance. When this happens, the oven uses more energy to perform the same tasks, filters can become clogged, and it can produce harmful fumes that affect the taste of your food and can also penetrate into any nearby soft furnishings.
How Often should the oven be cleaned?
The frequency of cleaning an oven can vary of size of oven and useage of oven. My general recommendation is every two weeks. Keep on top of things. Also what you are cooking will affect how often you need to clean your oven. To reduce the need for frequent cleaning, preventative measures such as using an oven liner (ask your OvenGleamer for one) to line baking and roasting trays and also the bottom of your oven (make sure there isn't an element under the bottom of the oven - if there is put the liner on a rack just above the bottom of the oven). Also wiping the oven down after each use can be a way to keep on top of things. Don't forget that it's important to wait until the oven has cooled before cleaning.
How to clean an Electric Oven
When should you clean your oven
Should you clean it on a Sunday when your husband has taken your son to Golf. Or should you clean it on a Tuesday before you pick your Mother up from her house? Well if you are going to do it yourself getting into a regular time slot will help you to get it done.
Tell Tale Symptoms That Your Oven Needs A Clean
There are several indications that indicate that your oven needs cleaning. But the main ones are:
Loss in performance - something isn't right when cooking your food for example it's taking longer than it used to.
Smoking especially when you turn it on to pre-heat. You may smell this as a brunt smell in the air. And your eyes may start stinging.
A bad taste in your food after you have cooked it - old food is getting recycled into your food. For example grease on the top of the oven is heating up and then dripping onto the food whilst it is cooking.
The oven is greasy to the touch, the shelves are brown or black in colour.
When you look above your grill element it looks black with grease.
When you look at your oven fan it isn't shiny.
The inside of your oven looks black when it should look grey.
Your door is black and you can't see through it anymore.
