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Do or Don’t? Foil as an Electric Oven Liner

Written by

Stephanie Strickland
Stephanie Strickland
Stephanie is a designer in the Bay Area, CA. She spends her free time attempting DIY projects in her house, documenting them on her blog, and generally making a huge mess. She is currently obsessed with concrete and green chile.
updated May 4, 2019
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I’ve moved in and out of eight different rentals in the last nine years, which means I’ve done my fair share of post-move-out cleaning. The one task I always dread is cleaning the oven. I hate using toxic oven cleaner, yet it seems to be the only effective combatant against that hardened puddle of food crumbs, melted cheese, and pie juice from a year of careless cooking.

So when someone told me about this cheap and easy trick during my stay at rental #5, I never looked back…

The trick is incredibly simple: put a single layer of foil on the bottom of your oven underneath the burner element. Replace as needed.

Now, while this method has worked for me without issue for my last four electric ovens, I must warn you that there could potentially be problems. Here are some bad experiences I’ve read about online:

  • Foil melting causing it to stick to and ruin the oven surface.
  • Could potentially cause the oven to warp
  • Doesn’t work for gas ovens

I’m very curious to know what our readers have to say about this. Have you tried this trick before? Was it a life-changer or an oven-ruiner?

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Cleaning
Cleaning Tools
Kitchen