Cleaning the oven

[martyna]

It's quite a time since I asked my boyfriend to clean the oven and at the time he said he had/knew a super-foam-cleaner (or something like this) and would do it in a whiz, but when I asked him a couple of days ago, he wasn't able to recall neither the promise nor the product.
We've never used the oven much and back at home mum basically kept it tidy and there wasn't such a mess as is here now, especially since we tried out some recipes recently. (And today's has really spilt over. *wince*) I've done some surface cleaning over the time, but what I'm looking is a real cleaning.
How do you do it? Is there any special product you use? (If you're in France and can name the shop, even better!) Or maybe you make a product yourself? Does heating lemon in water (as in microwaves) help at least a bit? Not at all? Help me? *feels helpless*

Comments

[littlebutfierce]

What I've done is pour in tons of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) on the floor of the oven, then spray on lots of vinegar. Then I leave it to fizz & sit there overnight, & then in the morning I just wipe it all out, which takes out all the crud. Then I spray it w/vinegar again to wipe it clean.

I've never had a huuuuuuuugely messy oven but this seems to work for regular sorts of mess/usage, including burnt bits that have dripped onto the bottom.

[boosette]

The only thing I can advise is that if you use an oven spray: USE GLOVES. the thick yellow rubberish kind.


(Not using gloves is v. unpleasant.)

[twospots]

Leave a small bowl of ammonia sitting in it overnight. Wipe crud off the next day. Stinky, but effective!

[jamethiel]

Most oven sprays are caustic. Caustic soda or the like. They do work but they're hella unpleasant to use. Wear thick rubber gloves, tie a rag over your face so you're not directly breathing the fumes (I only do this while spraying it) and use steel wool or the like to scrub. For trays, spray them w/caustic and then leave them for a couple of hours. Clean them once and if they're still dirty leave them to soak in the sink in very hot water and dishwashing detergent. Whatever the case, WASH THEM after using caustic as it's nasty stuff.

Bicarb and vinegar does work but it takes much more physical effort and isn't as effective at getting the really baked on grunge.

I used to be a kitchen hand and we cleaned our ovens once a week. Hope this helps.

[landshark]

This may be a no-brainer, but do you use an oven liner?

[recessional]

I'm assuming off the bat that your oven is NOT a self-cleaning oven?

If it is a self-cleaning oven DO NOT USE ANY KIND OF OVEN CLEANER ON IT EVER, you will destroy the self-clean coat; self-cleaning ovens have a setting where they essentially burn all of the crud off the oven-coating and then after it's cooled down you wipe up the ash. (This is what our oven does.) I have no idea how common these are in France, but if you use oven-cleaner on this kind of oven, it wrecks the self-cleaning coat and actually makes it MORE difficult to clean later. (Experience from my parents' old oven.)

Otherwise, everyone else has good ideas! I just thought it was worth mentioning.

[holyschist]

Oven cleaners are scary caustic toxic things--they're effective, but if you can clean your oven without using them, I'd recommend it. Like most cleaning supplies, it's a tradeoff between fast/easy/toxic and slower/more elbow grease/safer.

Unfortunately I don't really have any oven-cleaning tips, as we barely use ours and I haven't had occasion to clean it yet.

[ninetydegrees]

If it's a French oven, it probably has a cleaning system.
If it's catalysis, then it's self-cleaning once it's reached 200°C. You can clean it with a sponge but using a caustic product is not recommended as someone said.
If it can be cleaned by pyrolysis, you should do that before using any product. The button may be a P or something symbolizing extreme heat. If the oven's has been used regularly but hasn't been cleaned in a long time (more than a year), you may need to repeat the self-cleaning process several times. Pyrolysis works extremely well but it needs to be done often to remain efficient. Also, you must remove the grills (it could damage them and the oven) and, once it's done, you will have to remove the residues (white ashes) with a sponge.

If you're looking for a product then I think it's Décap'Four, which you should be able to find in any supermarket. The spray/foam can be used for the grills. Do it outside if you can as it's not a pleasant smell.

[medrin]

You've probably already got a sparkling clean oven, but in case someone else are looking for more oven cleaning tips, here is mine:

What I've always done is taken just plain soap and rubbed it in in the whole oven. Turned it on for a while and then it's easy to just whipe it clean when it's cold again.