How to Clean an Oven
Cleaning an oven used to be one of the most gruelling cleaning jobs around. With no specialist cleaning agents, it was simply a matter of elbow grease and lots of time. However, cleaning an oven is now far easier as there are a great range of specially formulated products that tackle grease, burnt on food and spills to make it easy for you to maintain a healthy and safe cooking environment.

SELF CLEANING
These ovens have an inbuilt ‘self-cleaning’ cycle that turns all burnt on grease and spills to a hot ash residue which can simply be wiped away with a damp cloth. The oven gets very hot during this time – up to around 900°F – and the door automatically locks to prevent serious burns. Another advantage of a self-cleaning oven is added insulation, which will save you energy in the long run. Most new ovens sold today come with a self-cleaning feature.
A chemically-treated porcelain surface burns off food during the normal cleaning cycle to prevent spills from drying. This type of oven is especially effective at removing fat-based spills but needs very high temperatures to work on dairy spills.
NON SELF CLEANING
This is the standard oven type. The oven does not help in the cleaning process – you will need to use a CHEMICAL CLEANER.
- Wear disposable rubber gloves – oven cleaners contain very strong chemicals.
- Spray the inside of your oven with an OVEN CLEANER.
- Leave for between 30 minutes and 8 hours depending on the manufacturer’s instructions (SELDEN T004 OVEN CLEANER can be left for between 1 minute and overnight depending on the severity of the grease stain).
- Scrub the tough ingrained stains with a PLASTIC BRUSH or SCOURER (test first to make sure you don’t damage the surface).
- Wipe the OVEN CLEANER away. If any stains remain you can repeat the process.
- Rinse the inside of your oven several times – no OVEN CLEANER must remain.
- If you have a self-cleaning oven, use the self-cleaning mode right after you’ve finished cooking – this will help you save energy as the oven will already be hot.
- Wipe up all spills as soon as your oven is cool to prevent them from drying.
- When cooking a dish which is likely to overspill, place a sheet of foil at the bottom of the oven, making sure it does not cover or obstruct any vents.
- When using the self-cleaning mode, remove all pets – especially birds – from the area. Birds have exceptionally sensitive respiratory systems and self-cleaning ovens have been known to release fumes that, whilst harmless to humans, are deadly to birds.
- Remove plastic parts when using the self-cleaning mode – in some instances these can be melted by the high temperatures.
- Non-self-cleaning ovens should be cleaned at least monthly to ensure stains do not become too ingrained.
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