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.

1. Wear disposable rubber gloves – oven cleaners contain very strong chemicals.
2. Spray the inside of your oven with an OVEN CLEANER.
3.  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).
4. Scrub the tough ingrained stains with a PLASTIC BRUSH or SCOURER (test first to make sure you don’t damage the surface).
5. Wipe the OVEN CLEANER away.  If any stains remain you can repeat the process.
6. 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.