How do I Clean an Oven?

oven, oven cleaner, oven cleanings, paper towels, rag, water

Most people neglect to clean their oven. At Garcia Green Cleaners, we can clean ovens for you. However, we feel that we should pass the process along to you so you know what to do in case you wish to do it yourself. There are three things you should know before you clean an oven.

  • Does the oven have a self-cleaning feature?
  • Is the oven an electric range or gas range?
  • Which of the oven parts are removable?

Clean the stove top first.

Use a proper cleaning agent to clean the burners and stove top. Scrub everything down. If you have removable burner trays, put them in the sink for a little bit with some soapy water. After about twenty minutes, rinse them off and scrub them with a sponge to get all the little bits of food and other debris off of them. Place them back on your cleaned stove top and get ready for the next step.

Remove oven racks on the inside and clean them.

You will remove the oven racks and put them in a sink full of warm, soapy water. Let it sit in the soapy water for twenty minutes or longer if you can manage it. This will loosen up the grease and caked on dirt. After the twenty minutes is up, take a sponge or dish washing apparatus and scrub any remaining residue. Rinse them off with warm water and dry them with a paper towels.

Clean the inside of the oven.

Cleaning the inside of the oven is not hard. You can probably finish the bulk of it while your oven racks are soaking.

If the oven is self-cleaning, lock the oven door and select the option for “clean”. Let the oven go through the cleaning cycle. It will set itself to a very high temperature to ‘bake’ all the food and debris. When done, all you need to do is pick up the ash that’s left and wipe down with a damp cloth. Be careful not to streak the oven’s insides.

If your oven is not self-cleaning, then you’ve got yourself and a can of oven cleaner. Remove any loose crumbs using a cloth or paper towel. Wipe the crumbs into a garbage can or dust pan to save yourself extra cleaning later. Spray the oven with oven cleaner and follow the directions on the can.

If you don’t use an oven cleaner, you can use ammonia. Pour two cups in a bowl and place a rag or sponge in the bowl.  Apply the ammonia to any rough spots on the side or the bottom. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then, wipe out the rest of the oven with water. Make sure the ammonia is rinsed out thoroughly; otherwise, your oven will smell like ammonia the next time you use it.

Clean the outside of the oven.

Use an all-purpose kitchen cleaner and a rag or paper towel to clean the outside of the oven. It’s a good idea to clean the window or any glass parts with a glass cleaner. This will avoid streaks.

That’s it.  You’re done. Your oven is cleaned. If you’d prefer that we do it for you, certainly ask for the service when you set up your appointment. It costs extra, but it is well worth your time. We can be reached in Austin at 512-705-2812.

Posted on: February 24, 2015, by : Melissa