The electric oven is likely one of the main appliances in your kitchen, and one of your daily workhorses. But while it may be fun cooking and baking to your heart’s content, keeping the oven clean is a chore that no-one loves.
Here are some useful tips to make oven cleaning simple.
1 – Steam with lemon juice
Here’s a nifty trick to take some of the hard graft out of scrubbing the oven. Fill a heatproof bowl with water and lemon juice and gently warm it in the oven. Leave to steam overnight at a low temperature to loosen all that baked/burnt on grime. When you come to clean your oven the next day, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much easier it all comes off.
Bonus tip – a similar trick works in your microwave oven too!
2 – Wipe clean regularly
Boring but true – regular upkeep is your best policy to keep dirt at bay and germs away from the electric oven. Just like all your kitchen worktops and surfaces, you should really wipe down your oven’s exterior after every use. Depending on how much roasting or baking use your oven gets, give it a deep clean both inside and out at least once a month.
3 – Banish bad odours
If you love cooking particularly pungent or smelly foods – fish dishes are one of the worst offenders – here’s a useful tip to keep nasty smells to a minimum. Put a few drops of vanilla or orange essence in a heatproof dish and heat slowly in the oven for about an hour. Not only does this help to clean the inside of your oven, it will freshen the air throughout the kitchen and beyond.
4 – Prevent spillages
Prevention is always better than cure – so think ahead when you’re cooking. Is your dish likely to drip or overflow, causing spillages and stains that will be hard to remove later? Line your grill tray with kitchen foil to catch any drips, and throw the foil away after use. Inexpensive Teflon oven liners are another godsend. Place one on the oven floor and save yourself some serious elbow grease. Simply wash in the sink and reuse time and again.
5 – Get professional help
If oven cleaning seems like a mammoth task that you simply can’t face, help is at hand. Look out for oven cleaning companies that will come to your house and do the hard work for you. Using professional detergents and effective cleaning techniques, an operative will restore your oven to look as good as new for somewhere between £50-£100, while you wait.
6 – Show off your oven
Contemporary domestic ovens are designed for looks as well as functionality, so why not make a feature of this important kitchen appliance in your home? Rather than hanging towels and oven gloves over the oven handle, invest in a towel hook and show off your oven’s sleek design. What’s more, you’ll be keeping any germs harbouring in tea towels well away from your cooking space, so it’s a win-win situation.