Cleaning the oven.

I'm with goldengirl on this one but I must confess to being attracted to cosafina's paralytic cleaning - assuming G&T is involved.

Brillo does scratch glass oven doors, my mother has ruined hers. I use sugar soap, I bought it from pound land just because I had never tried it, now i use it on anything that involves grease.

We moved to the Granny Flat in November , I think I used the ovens a few times and carefully wiped it out . This thread reminded me that I hadn't actually used it since Christmas , just inspected it and it is a bit dusty , but there are my casserole dishes that I thought were lost ! I wanted one to serve a salad last week........

Update: last September I found a flyer for a professional oven cleaner and he did a superb job. I hadn't given it much attention in its ten years of operation, apart from putting the shelves in the dishwasher. I don't cook spattery food like roasts as I am a veggie, but the door was decidedly messy. Since its clean-up, it has remained pristine. I will be using the same firm again - in ten years?

Would I have to pay their travel expenses?

Every month???

A combination of baking soda and vinegar is a good way to clean the oven. However, for best results, this method requires more time. The paste of baking soda and water needs to be left for at least a couple of hours before applying the vinegar. A multipurpose cleaner also does a good job and for the glass door, too. Even so, every month I prefer to hire a professional cleaner from Fantastic Cleaners Brisbane to deep clean the whole thing.

Can a mere male take part here?
Oven cleaning is not my special subject, but having been on my own for over 2 years, I've found it doesn't need it 'cos I don't use it.
It's the Rolls-Royce equivalent of electric ovens, pyrolytic cleaning etc. etc., but I've read somewhere that ovens can be hot-beds of carcinogens in meat. True or False? Not to mention the ghastly chemical cleaning process.!
I get by quite nicely with a microwave, a gas stove top,
and frying pans. Plus fish and chips from the corner shop now and again, of course.
I can give you further details if you wish.

Ta-Ra and Bon-Appetit

Um, I bought an oven with a pyrolitic coating and just turn a dial whenever it's too grubby and it cleans itself

Lakeland have an oven cleaning kit for £7.99.

Can anyone advise on how to clean the black cast iron thingies on my gas hob? I tried so hard today but no luck. Do you think I could use Oven Pride in the bag? Many thanks.

try a mix of concentrated washingup liquid and bicarb. Stir well (should be dense). Apply to oven window, Leave half an hour, Remove with damp sponge dipped into coarse cooking salt. This is abrasive but will not scratch glass.

Thanks for the reassurances GrumpyOldBat and Witzend. Phew!

Had my oven got 7 years and apart from mopping up spills as they happen I just don't clean it,the sides look ok and I can't see the top. I do the hob regularly though.

If I am honest the inside of the oven was a bit of a forgotten world for me in the past just soo busy with other stuff

However I have recently bought a new oven and am adamant that this oven will stay spotless for ever, I am really doing well and clean the inside regularly, its so much nicer when it clean ..obviously!

I was recommended Astonish Oven clear paste in a blue square tub. Its fab and works on cleaning PVC windows and doors too, I got it from The Range

Goldengirl, you should see mine!
Still, as I tell myself, however manky it looks, there can't possibly be any germs lurking, given that I cook at high temperatures quite a lot.

My mother had a neighbour (also elderly) who had a new kitchen fitted. A year or so later, the oven still looked like new, and my mother remarked on it. Neighbour explained that she never actually used it - dear me no! it had to be kept 'nice'! She had some sort of cooking apparatus in a garden shed instead!!

I don't know anyone who enjoys cleaning the oven so why do manufacturers always use materials which are difficult to clean (glass doors for instance). I did have a "self cleaning" oven when they first came out (it didn't). As I said I am even worse off now as I can't use products such as Oven Pride. Time to swallow my pride and get someone in to do it! We can send a man into space but we can't develop an oven which doesn't need cleaning.

Goldengirl, don't feel guilty. There is always something better to do than clean one's oven.

Crumbs! I'm feeling guilty! I can't remember the last time I did a good clean of the oven. If it looks OK then I leave it - life's too short and no-one's caught a disease as yet from my oven - we don't eat off the shelves. Am I lucky or is there a disaster waiting to happen just around the corner?

A colleague's sister couldn't face cleaning hers, so she just bought a new one.
I used an oven cleaning service once, years ago, and it was brilliant. However I think I'd be embarrassed to let even an oven cleaner see the state of mine now.
Maybe I'll try the Oven Pride method, see how it copes with hard core cases!

The trouble is that the racks do not fit in the sink to clean of chemical when you use the packs. My oven is supposed to clean itself and I put a heavy liner in the bottom. I get a professional in twice a year it costs me £45.

Yes I have someone in about once a year and try to keep it clean meanwhile-covering items, trays underneath to catch any spills and wipe glass door while still warm. Aren't I a good girl!

Likewise go for professional oven cleaning once a year. Costs around £45, done brilliantly in a couple of hours (including racks) and worth every penny, especially now my knees are not what they were.....

Refuse to feel guilty about this! and prefer to think I am supporting a local small business.

Once the pros have cleaned your oven you will NEVER want to diy again.