The self-cleaning feature on an oven is great. It uses high temperatures to burn off leftovers from baking, and can also make a mean pizza. But there's certain times you don't want to go near it. Like, hmmm... right now.
Although you might be in clean mode and getting ready to host and feed friends and family this Thanksgiving, resist the urge to run your oven's self-cleaning cycle. Since it makes use of seriously hot temperatures way outside of your oven's normal use, from 900°F to 1000°F, it's also the most likely time for the oven to break down.
Redditor and apparent appliance guru zjunk explains it this way:
Thanksgiving is almost here in the States. Having worked for a major appliance maker, I learned something interesting about ovens with a self cleaning feature. The self cleaning feature is the most abuse the oven goes through, with temperatures cranked up quite high to burn off the grime that accumulates inside. Because of that, it's the most frequent time for an electronic control panel or other sensitive part to fail.What happens around the country every year on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas is that millions of old folks have all of their kids and families coming home. Everybody's excited, there's going to be a big meal, etc. As part of the prep work, grandma self cleans the oven and then whole appliance dies because of a bad panel. Because a million other people in the country did the exact same thing, the parts aren't available and repair shops are all closed or over booked. Thanksgiving is ruined.
Dramatic? A little. (Thanksgiving is ruined!) But they make a great point.
While you're swiping every nook and cranny of the house with window cleaner and bleach wipes, leave the grime inside the oven alone until after the holidays, when repairmen are readily available and you're not relying on the oven to host 15 for dinner.
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"bleach swipes"? no thanks. water, vinegar and baking soda. that's it.
I've heard to NEVER use your oven's self cleaning option. It takes years off the oven's life! (from a Maytag repairman, I believe)
Better the oven than me!
This post brought to you by the state the last owners left my oven in. Never doing w/o self clean again.
You also don't want the weird smell in your house when people visit.
MANY years ago a neighbor had just finished her kitchen remodel. She was planning on a houseful for thanksgiving...all prepared in her NEW kitchen. She popped the turkey into her week old oven, turned it on and set the timer. She then went downstairs to do other holiday prep.
Yep, you got it. She had accidentally set the oven to self clean. Black smoke was billowing out the windows, bird was cremated, smoke everywhere on the whole first floor.
THAT is when you don't want to use Self-Clean on your oven!
I made the mistake of using my self-clean on a brand new oven after having a huge sugar spill bake on. Fortunately it wasn't anywhere near the holidays because my brand new appliance has a plastic latch and self-clean melted that sucker, making the oven DOA. Also fortunate because it was still under warranty. Repairman said it happens a lot and not to use self clean as everything would eventually bake off anyway (true), plus the replacement latch is also plastic. Only warranty I've ever extended, because I know I'm going to do it again, and again, and again. Just not around the holidays.
My mom used the self clean option the afternoon of a huge dinner party, not knowing that the oven locks itself until it has cooled down. Well our oven locked itself for good. My mom ended up using our next door neighbors oven to bake entire meal. Good neighbor got a nice bottle of wine as a thank you and the oven got a repair man.
Actually, this is exactly what happens when you use the self-clean setting on an oven you haven't self-cleaned before (or in a long time.)
Save yourself the hassle, get some bar keepers friend and some damp paper towels and don't risk ruining the holiday if you're thinking about using the self-cleaning setting between now and tomorrow!
My oven manual warns to move birds to another part of the house as they can be sensitive to the smoke that comes from the self cleaning oven. That should tell you something.
Right before closing on our current house the previous owners decided to use the self-clean feature on the oven - which locked it completely for days, until they paid to have it repaired. You can imagine I've never taken advantage of self-clean since.
The key information in this piece is the fact that the oven heats to 900-1000 degrees during self cleaning. Many kitchens are not equipped for such temperatures, such as my friend's...she ran the self cleaning feature which got so hot it ignited the microwave above the oven. She got out of her apartment in her nightgown with her cat in her arms, no time to get the cat carrier or get dressed. MORAL OF THE STORY: Don't use the self cleaning feature on your oven...please. Elbow grease is so much safer!
Does anyone have any product recommendations for cleaning the old-fashioned way?
Wow! I've always been skeptical of the self-cleaning feature on my oven and after reading the comments above, I'm even more dead-set against using it. Why does this feature even exist, if it's as clunky and potentially hazardous as people say? It strikes me as marketing b.s.
I've also read somewhere that you shouldn't use chemical oven cleaners in a "self-cleaning" oven. Not sure if that's true, but in any case, I avoid those and limit what I use inside my oven to one of the following, depending on the cleaning job:
--water and baking soda
--white vinegar
--water and liquid dishwashing liquid (NOT dishwasher detergent)
--water and barkeeper's friend (or similar product)
--Mr. Clean "magic" erasers
I've also gotten a lot better about cleaning the oven frequently, even when it looks clean but really isn't, mainly due to spatter from broiled hamburgers and the like. It's a revelation to wipe down the inner sides of a "clean" oven with a damp paper towel that quickly turns brown.
I have heard in the past that you were not supposed to use oven cleaning products on a self-clean oven. I believe this is out-dated information. I don't like using the self clean feature because it wastes energy, takes too long, and just seems really dangerous; so, I read all the labels on the chemical sprays (it was dirty, vinegar and baking soda wasn't gonna cut it) and bought one of the regular ones available at Canadian Tire for $8. You spray, close the door, leave it for an hour, then wipe everything down. Works perfectly, cleans effectively, and doesn't light my house on fire, bonus!
There is nothing wrong with using the self cleaning oven feature on an oven, use you're head people.
There is a lot of "I heard" on this topic here, if you're worried read the oven manual, if you've never performed a self clean, read the oven manual, and if you've got lots of cooking "goo" caked on the oven, read the oven manual on how to use your self cleaning feature effectively.
There are specific steps to take when cleaning an over (again refer to your manual) some ovens even have the steps on the oven itself. Most important is to make sure your seal around the oven door is undamaged. Also a little common sense goes a long way, like not having anything flammable near your oven, on top of the oven, etc.
If your oven has a self cleaning feature, guess what, it can handle it. Most people do idiotic things like leave items on the cook top when self cleaning (there is a vent there ya know, but again read the oven manual) or leave items IN the oven (racks are ok, but again read the oven manual)
Yes it does take a long time to self clean, and yes the fumes could harm birds (just like certain non stick can also harm bird, birds are very sensitive to fumes, ever heard of "canary in a coal mine"? ) and yes it does get hot! Open some windows take the time and do it before going to bed,right after dinner and with only a really dirty oven, you'll find that you'll have a nice grey ash once done and the oven will look like new (interior that is).
If the feature wasn't safe manufacturers would not put that on their device and i'm pretty certain all of these "hear say" and "rumors" are either human error or just that rumors.
a clean oven is a safe oven, not to mention efficient!
-david
http://www.lunchemunche.com - my food blog.
Thank you, David! Everyone. Read. Your. Manual. Every oven is different. I make it a habit to read my manual every time I use the self-clean function because I don't trust my memory since it's usually months or a year in between each self-cleaning.