Cleaning an Oven: Which Tools and Products Should You Use?

Essential in any self-respecting kitchen, the oven is the favourite piece of equipment of bakers and cooks of small roasted dishes. To preserve its effectiveness and take care of the dishes that cook up in its den, you have to maintain it, keep it clean, and even refurbish it from time to time, because it’s a tool that gets dirty very quickly. Here are our tips for cleaning an oven.

First, clean the oven racks and grates

If – and only if – they’re cold, take the racks and grates out of your oven and put them in your kitchen sink. To clean your oven racks and grates, you can use water and dish soap or baking soda. Let your oven racks soak in soapy water, then scrub the stains lightly with a sponge and some water before rinsing them fully.

Clean the inside and outside of the oven

The outside of your oven can be cleaned very easily with mild soap, hot water, and – most importantly – a soft sponge to avoid scratching or damaging the walls of the oven, which are usually easily damaged.

As for the inside of the oven, things get complicated, since this is often the hardest part to take apart, degrease, and clean. To get rid of dirt, you can equip yourself with several effective products:

• Baking soda

An essential product in the house, baking soda is particularly useful in the kitchen, where it’s a great cleaning ally. Baking soda comes in the form of a very fine, 100% biodegradable powder that’s at once cleansing, softening, and slightly abrasive. It can be diluted in a little water or white vinegar, then applied to the racks and grates of your oven by scrubbing lightly with a dish sponge.

• Lemon

Lemon is a fruit that has many useful properties for cleaning. It’s antibacterial, eliminates odours and grease, and polishes any type of surface. When it comes to cleaning an oven, it helps remove the pieces of food stuck and encrusted on the inside of the oven and eliminates their smells. Its ease of use, in particular, makes it a product appreciated by everyone. To clean your oven with lemon, you can cut two lemons into two pieces, extract the juice from them, then put the liquid in a dish placed in the oven to cook for 30 minutes at 300℃. The lemon will act without even touching the walls of your oven, and then you’ll only have to clean with a damp cloth. This technique also has the advantage of leaving a delicious smell in your oven and eliminating noxious odours.

• Coarse salt

Because salt and coarse salt can usually be found in every kitchen, this seasoning is very useful for cleaning a very dirty oven. 250 g of coarse salt mixed well in half a litre of water helps effectively eliminate even the most encrusted stains. To do this, apply your mixture to the walls of the oven, then clean with a damp cloth, delicately scrubbing the stains.

With these three products, as well as some water and a damp cloth, you should be able to recover your oven. However, be careful not to wait too long before cleaning your oven, because debris, rust, and grease build up quickly and become increasingly difficult to remove. If you’re not capable of cleaning your overly damaged oven, you can also rely on cleaning professionals.