A couple of years ago, one of my brothers gave me the lastest technology oven for my birthday. I was surprised when I read on the oven’s box and in the instructions that this oven was self-cleaning. This is wonderful, I thought. It normally takes so much work to keep the oven clean. I have to tell you that I was a little naive. I did not take into account or know, that a self cleaning oven, despite being so advanced, also requires cleaning. So you don’t make the same mistake. Here’s how to clean a Self Cleaning Oven.
In the investigation that I carried out, I was able to learn that there are several methods for the self-cleaning of these ovens. I also found out that the self-cleaning is not total. Each oven may use different methods for their self-cleaning. They all generate a residue. Of course, it is far easier to clean it than if the oven did not have the self cleaning function.
The different cleaning methods Self Cleaning Ovens use are called:
- Pyrolytic, the food and fat residues are submitted to a high temperature to burn them until they are converted into carbon dust that is easier to clean than the grease that adheres to the walls, this burning is done at temperatures between 480 and 500 degrees centigrade, so it is more expensive due to the high consumption of electricity.
- Catalytic, in this process the material that the walls of the oven are made of reacts with temperatures between 140 and 200 degrees centigrade, converting grease and food residues into ash, which of course has to be cleaned after the self-cleaning function.
- Hydrolytic, is based on water and temperatures of about 70 degrees centigrade, water is placed in your tray and let it run for 30 minutes so that the water vapor reacts with the self-cleaning material of the walls of the oven and the waste is trapped in the bottom tray.
With all this information I was convinced that although the oven is designed to self-clean, I had to learn how to clean a self cleaning oven. Hence I discovered that the process to use when performing a clean, was efficient and that it demanded the least effort possible.
I will comment on the process that I have implemented since then to clean the self-cleaning oven that I have in my kitchen.
Process to clean a self cleaning oven using Home Cleaners
From experience I have learned that there are no better allies in cleaning than vinegar, lemon and bicarbonate, these three ingredients among the many other advantages they provide, do not contaminate, nor are they aggressive against the skin, and they are not abrasive products that can damage the materials in the oven.
For this reason I don’t use commercial oven cleaners, what I always do is prepare my cleaner at home, to make the cleaning of the self-cleaning oven I prepare it this way:
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon bicarbonate
- 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- 1 mixing container
- 1 container with water
Preparation process
In the mixing bowl I pour the vinegar, add the bicarbonate stirring constantly and evenly to achieve a cream without lumps, then I add the lemon juice and stir to complete the mixture.
Now I will explain how to clean a self cleaning oven with this preparation, it is a very simple job, the only precaution I have when I perform this cleaning is that the oven is completely cold.
- With a soft sponge, which is not abrasive, I use the foam ones, fill it with the cleaning cream and pass it through all the walls of the oven, including the corners and the glass of the oven window.
- There is very little grease that these ovens accumulate, so there is no need to wait to remove the cleaning cream.
- I use a damp cloth to wipe all the places where I pass the cleaner.
- Then, with a dry kitchen cloth, I pass it over all the walls of the oven.
My self-cleaning oven looks great every time I do this cleaning, which is why I do it very often, almost every time I use it.