Yes, that's right, I have a dirty (literally) little secret. I'm so embarrassed to be admitting this, but I need some help with the matter. For those out there who know me pretty well (like my family), they can attest the fact that I don't like to clean. Don't get me wrong, it's not a disaster, but there are times when it could use a little clean-up.
So here's the secret... In the 3 years that we have now lived in our home, I have never cleaned my oven. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because the things I cook usually like to stay in their assigned backing dish. But not last week. It was a bad week for my oven. Food was trying to escape all over the place and 2 items succeeded at their escape.
The first culprit was a cake that I was asked to bake last minute for a funeral luncheon. It was a new recipe that I hadn't tried yet (mistake #1) and I put it in a pretty bunt pan (mistake #2) so I wouldn't have to frost it. Well, the pan was a little too small for the amount of batter and half way through the cooking I could smell burning coming from the oven. I quickly slipped a baking sheet under the cake to catch the constant eruption of batter pouring over the side of the pan, but it was too late. The mess was already there. The funny thing is that I've had a few people ask for the recipe because apparently it tasted really good in the end.
The second culprit was some teriyaki chicken I was cooking for Sunday night dinner. Bryan and I had a meeting to take Anna to at 6 (usually we don't eat until 6:30 or so), so I was trying to get dinner ready early. I realized that the chicken wasn't cooking fast enough so I turned the temp up (mistake #3) so that it would be finished in time. When the sauce started boiling over onto the bottom of the oven, I realized it was finished. Hey, at least we ate dinner on time!
So now when ever I turn on my oven, it fills the house with the not so lovely scent of burning food. I know my oven has a self cleaner, but for some reason I'm scared to use it. Doesn't it heat the oven to unnaturally hot temperatures to obliterate the food off the bottom? Does it fill your house with smoke or other nasty fumes? This is where I need your help! Has anyone ever used their oven's food zapping self cleaner? Was it easy? Safe? Smelly? Is there a better way? Please help out the oven cleaning impaired!
7 comments:
Jessy, Don't worry about the self cleaning oven's scaryness... It is safe to use. It does heat to a very high temp but locks to keep everything inside.
Yes, use the self cleaning option on your oven, but.... clean up any spills like the cake mess or it could be a disaster! Yes, I have been there done that, got the t-shirt. Smoke was pouring out of my windows because I didn't clean up the sugary mess first. It is normal however, for it to stink really bad. It does a good job though!! Good luck!
Denny's sister decided to use the self cleaning on her over when we were over there during Christmas. It was pretty awful. Smoke filled the house and Scout was hating life. Maybe do it but then take Kate on an outing. And leave the windows open.
All I can say is that the other option is using yucky chemicals that polute your house in a different kind of way-- I'd scrap off all you can before and leave the house for a while with the windows open. Good Luck! I too need to clean my little oven but it doen't have a self clean option.......
Use the self-cleaning cycle on a day when you can open the windows. Stay home. Do not leave your house, just to be safe. The fumes aren't chemical fumes, just burning ones. The more often you use this wonderful feature of your new oven, the more you will appreciate it. Use it Jessy, for goodness sake!!!!Love ya, Mom
Jess,
it will be fine. I used mine many times before. It was a weird smell cause it was new and I left all kinds of stuff in there. Clean out what you can first and then turn it on. Make sure that you open your windows. I usually go to the park or something while mine is cleaning. It is perfectly safe!
It is better then having to scrub it all off by hand...
This made me laugh.. don't we all have our own dirty little secrets?! Don't worry, I just cleaned my oven and we have lived here 4 years! I don't have any advice, just wanted to say hi! (I found your blog on Aubrey's.. hope it is okay that I peeked.) What a beautiful family ou have!
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