Cleaning your kitchen doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Dare we say it could be fun? Welcome to BA’s Cleaning Week: Consider this your trusty guide to the nooks and crannies that you definitely are not scrubbing often enough, plus the pro-approved tools and products to get the job done.
When was the last time you took a good look inside your oven? You’re probably used to opening the door and sliding in a sheet pan without a second thought, blissfully unaware of the brownish splatters crusting the walls. Please, for the love of casserole: Ignore the grease and grime no longer. Buildup over time can tinge all your food with a burnt flavor, emit an unpleasant odor, and increase the risk of a kitchen fire.
Cleaning the oven may seem like a daunting task, especially if you’ve never tackled it before. What cleaning products are safe to use inside that hot box? Do those racks even come out? How often should I be cleaning my oven, anyways?
Don’t worry: If you’ve never cleaned an oven before—or if it’s been a while since the last good scrub-down—you’ve got options. We’re breaking down how to clean an oven three different ways, so you can bake with the confidence that no mysterious brown crispies find their way into your cheesecake. Now, onto the good stuff.
Method 1: The Easy Route
The easiest way to clean an oven is to let it clean itself. Some ovens come with a self-cleaning function, which cranks the temperature up to a high heat (upwards of 800°F) for 3–5 hours, incinerating all the grease splatters and rogue crumbs to a neat pile of white ash. Think of it like an intense steam clean for your oven.
If you’ve read horror stories about self-clean settings malfunctioning, here’s some reassurance: In a reliability survey, Consumer Reports found that self-cleaning issues are “few and far between.”
If you have a self-cleaning oven, simply switch on the self-cleaning function and let the oven do its thing. A few notes: You can leave the oven racks in, but make sure to clear anything else (pots, sheet pans, the frozen pizza you forgot about) from the inside of the oven or the range. Turn on the range hood to absorb smoke or fumes. And plan ahead: Since the self-cleaning cycle takes a few hours, don’t start it up right before dinnertime. Once the cycle ends, allow the oven to cool fully and wash the ash out with soap and warm water. Your oven will be squeaky-clean—no elbow grease required.
But if your oven doesn’t have this coveted self-cleaning feature, don’t fret. You can do a pretty bang-up job by hand—it’ll just take a little more TLC.
Method 2: Chemistry Class
Cleaning your oven by hand may not be glamorous, but it’s not as tedious as you might expect—especially if you have the right supplies. To get a deep clean on your oven, we recommend purchasing a commercial oven cleaner like Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner or Member’s Mark Oven, Grill & Fryer Cleaner. These sprays are safe to use on stainless steel and glass and specifically formatted to target tough, caked-on grease stains.
Keep in mind that most store-bought oven-cleaning products are made with harsh chemicals, so keep them away from permeable surfaces like wood or marble. Always wear rubber gloves to protect your skin; we also recommend wearing protective glasses and a mask to avoid inhaling fumes. Opening a window helps too.
To clean your oven with a commercial oven cleaning solution, start by laying out newspaper on the floor to catch any drips. Ensure the oven is turned off, then remove all the racks (keep them off to the side—you’ll clean these separately) and sweep out any large pieces of food. Following the instructions on the spray bottle, thoroughly spray the inside of the oven with the cleaning solution, avoiding any heating elements or vents. Allow the solution to sit for at least 30 minutes—this powerful cleaner breaks up and dissolves any tough stains, so you can simply wipe away the grime with a damp cloth or sponge (read: no scrubbing required). Dry the inside of the oven with a kitchen cloth or paper towel.
You can also treat the oven racks with oven-cleaning solution, just be sure to do the spraying outside. Follow the same protocol and wipe them down after 30 minutes, then slide the clean oven racks back into the scrubbed oven.
Method 3: Tough Love
No commercial oven-cleaning solution on hand? That’s okay: You can make your own from a few pantry ingredients. This method might take a little longer, but you won’t have to mess around with any harsh chemicals. A paste made from baking soda and water tackles the stubborn, baked-on bits clinging to the interior of the oven, distilled white vinegar acts as a spot-treatment, and a long soak in soapy water helps the oven racks look as good as new. This DIY cleaning solution doesn’t have the same potency as the commercial sprays, but you’ll still want to wear gloves—it might get messy.
Again, start by laying out newspaper to protect your kitchen floor; remove the oven racks and set them off to the side. Combine 1 cup baking soda with about ¼ cup water until it forms a thick paste. Using your gloved hands, a rag, or a large paintbrush, spread the baking soda paste liberally on the inside of the dirty oven, including the bottom of the oven, the sides, and the inside of the oven door (again, avoiding any heating elements or vents). Close the door and let it sit for a couple of hours, or ideally overnight.
While the baking soda works its magic, turn your attention to the oven racks. Fill the sink or bathtub with boiling water, add a squeeze of dish soap or dishwasher detergent, and let the oven racks soak for at least 2 hours. Once the racks are done soaking, scrub them with a non-abrasive or non-scratch scour pad (like Scotch-Brite or Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser) and spot-treat any stubborn burnt bits with the same baking soda paste you used inside the oven.
Once the baking soda paste has hardened over all the burnt bits of food inside your oven, use a non-abrasive scour pad to scrub it clean. Spritz any unrelenting spots with distilled white vinegar, which will cause the baking soda solution to fizz. Once you’ve scrubbed out all the grime, wipe down the entire oven (including the inside walls and the glass door) with a microfiber cloth. Let the racks dry fully before returning them to the oven.
What’s on the Outside Counts Too
Now that the inside of your oven looks shiny and new, it’s time to tackle the exterior. Luckily, cleaning the outside of the oven is quick and simple: Spray the oven’s glass door and handle with standard glass cleaner and wipe it down with a microfiber cloth. For a really shiny finish, use a powerful cleaner like Bar Keeper’s Friend.
How Often Should I Clean My Oven?
If you use the oven frequently, a gentle clean every 1 to 3 months will discourage buildup. No matter which cleaning method you choose, we recommend deep-cleaning your oven every 6 months.
Now that your oven is nice and clean, it’s time to get baking—cheesecake, perhaps?
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Zoe Denenberg