How to Clean your Oven

I love a sparkly clean oven.

What I don’t love is peering inside my oven and seeing bits of old food, grease and fat clinging to every surface, like something out of a gory horror movie.

I used to loathe getting on my rubber gloves and scrubbing away at my oven – until I decided that immediately after cleaning I would cook something fantastic.

That way I feel like I’ve done something incredible. But first I had to make the actual oven cleaning a bit easier on myself.

I always do the oven first thing in the morning so that it’s out of the way, and I can get on with everything else I need to do.

It’s not that bad anymore because I make a point of cleaning up spills straight after cooking. All I do is pour a liberal amount of salt over the spot, once the oven is off.

When it has cooled down – I loosen the grit with a spatula and wipe it off with a hot soapy cloth. For a really thorough oven clean, here’s what I do.

Cleaning Tools:

• Rubber gloves
• Face mask (optional) I don’t like breathing in chemicals and I can’t hold my breath for very long
• Full strength ammonia in a spray bottle
• Spatula
• Scrubbing Pad
• Paper Towels
• Baking Soda
• White Vinegar
• Sponge
• Bucket of hot soapy water/changed regularly
• Cloth

Cleaning The Inside:

You’re now ready to clean your dark and grimy oven, equipped with gloves, mask and all of your cleaning tools.

Remove all the loose, greasy and burned on blobs around the oven by prying them off with your spatula.

If the burned on spills are being stubborn, as they always are, spray them with your full strength ammonia.

Wait a few minutes then pour on some baking soda, and add a good few drops of white vinegar – the fizz monster is now hard at work.

This is a good time to have a cup of tea, dressed fashionably in your yellow gloves. Once you’ve had your tea, remove the grime with a soft clean soapy sponge.

Sparkly oven anyone? Yes, please.

Cleaning The Outside:

Ever taken a quick look through your glass oven door only to be met with smudged grease spots?

Not ideal for my signature soufflé recipe. If this happens, spray the glass with ammonia and leave it for a few minutes.

Then get to work with a non-abrasive scrubbing pad. I always find its best to do this after I’ve thrown away my deflated soufflé. Use a few heavy duty paper towels or a micro fiber cloth to polish up the glass and make it sparkle.

This is the best way to clean your oven properly, and yes I use the mask, despite my Darth Vader like appearance.

There’s nothing nicer than cooking in an oven that’s squeaky clean, so remember to clean up your spills as they happen, and give it a good once over every week.