How to clean the oven from grease and carbon deposits at home

Over time, dirt appears in any oven. This always looks unsightly, since a layer of fat can be visible on the door. In addition to being unsightly, a very dirty oven stops functioning normally, which negatively affects the quality of the food. An unpleasant odor or, in general, breakdown may occur. The article contains on-demand tips on how to clean the oven from grease and carbon deposits at home, as well as information about the most popular brands of special cleaning agents.

Types of ovens

Before learning how to clean an oven, every owner must determine its type. It is necessary to take into account the characteristics of the material so that its quality and properties are not affected. Depending on the energy source, there are electric and gas devices. The surface of the oven itself can be bioceramic or made of one of the types of enamel:

catalytic;
easy to clean;
simple.

Many housewives are interested in how to clean grease from a stainless steel oven. Since the material is easily scratched, cleaning agents with large abrasive particles should not be used. Before applying the gel or solution, remove the utensils (baking trays, wire rack, etc.) from the oven and close the fan. After some time, according to the instructions, everything is washed off with water. Contaminants are also removed from the stove.

Ovens with easy-to-clean enamel are designed to make caring for kitchen equipment easier. It is possible to use both special products from the store and self-made solutions, pastes, etc. The material allows you to effortlessly remove greasy layers, carbon deposits and other contaminants.

Why clean the oven?

In conditions where the device is constantly in use, a layer of old fat will certainly appear on the inner shell. With each cooking, it heats up and begins to burn, which will certainly cause a specific aroma. In addition, grease and burns on the walls prevent normal heating, and the oven begins to consume more energy.

By cleaning the oven from grease, the housewife will ensure the quality of the dishes and prevent a situation where they acquire a foreign smell. It often happens that food absorbs aromas remaining inside from previous cooking. Every housewife should know how to clean the oven. This will extend the life of your kitchen appliances and allow you to get quality food. In order to clean or wash the product, it is enough to devote 5 minutes of time. Below are rules on how to care for and what oven cleaners to use.

Where does plaque come from and why remove it?

Splashes of fat during cooking in the oven lead to the formation of carbon deposits on the internal surfaces.

The situation is aggravated by high temperature, condensation and evaporation . With repeated use of the oven, dense chemical compounds are deposited on the inner walls.

When the stove heats up, they begin to emit smoke, produce an unpleasant odor and substances harmful to health.

To prevent carbon deposits from forming, regular maintenance is necessary . This allows you to maintain the hygiene of the place in which food is prepared and to avoid the release of harmful and often dangerous compounds into the air. It will be much easier to cope with the task if you do not let the situation get worse and do not allow carbon deposits to accumulate.

Cleaning Rules

To effectively remove dirt, you must adhere to the following rules:

It is best to wash an electric stove, gas stove or oven with minor dirt using traditional methods;
choose specifically the cleaning agent that is best suited for a particular type of oven;
it is necessary to ventilate the room well during the process;
When working with aggressive substances, it is important to protect the skin of your hands with gloves;
Children or animals must not be in the room while cleaning;
When working without gloves, you must remove jewelry.

Separately, it is worth mentioning aggressive products, whose manufacturers claim how quickly and easily they clean the oven from carbon deposits, grease and other contaminants. It is better to work with such substances in a respirator or mask. If they come into contact with your skin, you must wash it with soap and water.

Types of gratings

In order to clean the stove grate, you need to figure out what it is made of. So, lattices can be of three types:

Cast iron. Such products are durable and strong provided there is no contact with aggressive abrasives, metal brushes and water.
Enameled metal. Such grilles look impressive thanks to their coating with a special glossy enamel, and do not deteriorate from the effects of caustic household products, water and brushes with soft or medium-hard bristles. Despite the resistance of such products to various chemicals, it is still not worth using aggressive abrasive solutions to clean them. Undoubtedly, the effectiveness of such products is very high, however, due to the destruction of the top layer of metal and enamel, the service life of products cleaned in this way will be much shorter. This is why it is better to use less aggressive chemicals, simply increasing their exposure time.
Steel. They are perfectly cleaned and are not damaged by caustic detergents and abrasive (fine grain) agents.

Depending on the material from which the grate is made, the optimal methods for cleaning it are selected.

How often to clean

Everything is individual and it is better to give preference to the method based on how often the equipment is used. Traditional oven cleaning requires cleaning every 4 weeks. If you clean the oven after each cooking, then a layer of dirt will form more slowly. It's no secret that old fat and carbon deposits are much more difficult to get rid of.

To clean an electric oven or gas stove, a soap solution is enough.

Activated carbon will help remove chemical smell after cleaning. You need to crush one or two dozen tablets and place them inside the oven for a couple of hours.

Useful tips

Some dishes are cooked directly on the grill. Actually, it is because of this that she gets fat the most. a silicone baking mat on it . It will protect the metal and prevent food from burning, and washing it is a pleasure (even in the dishwasher). Or, as an option, place a piece of baking parchment or foil on the wire rack (but the latter may stick to the baked goods; it is better to use it only for fish or meat).

If the grates are rusty , do not put them in the bathtub, otherwise you will be tormented later with washing this container. It's better to use only a towel.

Some use an iron spring. It really removes grease better, but the metal scratches the grate, which is why the latter can subsequently begin to rust locally. And if the grille is also chrome-plated, the spring can even “kill” it. It's best to use a plastic brush, a soft sponge, or (my favorite) an old toothbrush .

If you wash the oven and grate after each use (simply wipe with a damp cloth while it has not yet cooled down completely after cooking), it will not become greasy at all, and you will not need any drastic cleaning methods.

Cleaning products

Cleaning the oven involves the use of special solutions and pastes made from natural products that can easily be bought or found at home. It is easier to remove burnt fat with special substances than to wash with plain soapy water. Chemistry helps clean a gas or electric oven with heavy dirt and old grease. Each method has its pros and cons for others and the cleaning process itself.

How to clean an oven using “grandmother’s methods”

The advantage of traditional methods is the use of safe ingredients. Cleaning the oven with household chemicals can cause allergies, irritation and other unpleasant consequences.

Housewives often type the phrase into the search: how to clean the oven with soda and vinegar? To do this, place a container with the solution in a gas oven and turn on the heat for half an hour. Using this method, it is possible to clean all surfaces, including baking sheets and wire racks. To prepare the solution you will need 1 kg of salt, a tablespoon of vinegar and 500 ml of water. All ingredients are mixed and sent to the oven. After 30 minutes, you need to wait until the surfaces have completely cooled and remove everything with a sponge.

One of the most popular methods for cleaning cabinets is using baking soda, vinegar and citric acid. To do this, you need to mix one package of powder, half a glass of vinegar and a tablespoon of soda. All surfaces except heating parts are treated with freshly prepared product and left for 20 minutes. For the best effect, it is recommended to preheat the cabinet to 110 °C. After time, everything is washed with water and well ventilated.

Many people believe that with the help of ammonia the product is cleaned much more effectively. There are two options for removing contaminants. You can simply spread the liquid over the surface and leave overnight. In the morning, the cabinet is washed with soap and water. Ammonia is good at corroding old layers of fat and soot. Therefore, sometimes it is easier to remove dirt this way than to clean it with other means.

To clean the oven with ammonia, there is a hot method. A glass with ammonia on top is placed inside the cabinet, and a container of hot water is placed below. The oven should be preheated to 60° and run in this mode for about 8 hours. Afterwards, detergent is added to the ammonia and the device is washed. During the process, the windows of the rooms should be open, and the presence of residents in the room should be kept to a minimum.

A mixture of soda and vinegar shows good results. Acetic acid is applied to the walls, and then soda. The interaction of these components causes the formation of hydrogen, which destroys fat. Then everything is removed with a simple kitchen sponge soaked in water.

If you don’t have some ingredients at home, you can replace citric acid with lemon juice, and use sea salt instead of table salt.

In addition to vinegar and soda, other ingredients are used to clean the oven using traditional methods. Using laundry soap is considered the safest method. To do this, half the bar is crushed and dissolved in hot water. The container with the prepared solution is placed in an oven heated to 180°. In this mode, the equipment should work for 40 minutes. After cooling, the surfaces are cleaned of softened fat with water. Be sure to ventilate the room well.

An abrasive sponge is also widely used by housewives. It is suitable for all surfaces except glass doors. Unlike, for example, a mixture of soda, vinegar and citric acid, a washcloth removes dirt as a result of mechanical interaction.

If old-fashioned methods such as salt cannot remove the deposit immediately, repeat the procedure.

Regular table salt can also help with care. To do this, place it on a baking sheet and turn on the oven. Operate the oven until the salt turns golden brown. Carbonic acid salts soften fat well. It must be stirred during the process. If you have rock salt at home, you need to crush it. After the surface has cooled, it must be washed with detergent and rinsed with water.

Baking powder helps clean the frying pan. It rolls up particles of fat, after which they are removed with a sponge without much effort. Baking powder is applied to the walls of the oven moistened with water and left for 2-3 hours. The device is then washed with water. Unlike ammonia, the process does not emit a rich specific odor and it is not necessary to wear gloves.

Lemon is suitable for fresh grease stains. The juice is used to treat contaminated areas, which are then washed with water.

Traditional methods are absolutely safe. The housewife does not have to worry about the accidental release of toxic substances into the dishes.

How to clean an oven using household chemicals

On store shelves you can find a large number of products in different forms: sprays, gels, creams, powders, etc. They make it easy to clean the inside of the product from fat, even old ones. Cleaning the oven usually occurs in several stages:

the internal filling of the oven is removed;
apply the product to the contaminated areas of the oven using a sprayer or brushes;
leave the product on as recommended on the label;
softened deposits are removed with a sponge and washed.

It is especially important to pay attention to hard-to-reach places and thoroughly clean them of synthetic substances. Popular preparations for cleaning ovens are described below.

Canadian Ecomax solution is available in spray form. Suitable for most materials, including mirror. Natural ingredients that work with mud deposits are soda and citric acid.

Reinex liquid is produced by a German company in a spray. Works with fresh coating.

The Frosh brand is known for using natural ingredients. Oven cleaner is available in liquid form. The main active ingredient is soda. The solution is applied using a spray bottle.

The product from Faberlic has a gel consistency. It is used for fatty deposits, plaque, rust, and burnt food particles. Can also be applied to baking trays and wire racks. Reasonable price.

Sanitar is available in gel form. Thanks to its thick consistency, it can be applied to the top of the oven. In addition to fat, it is suitable for removing plaque. Use time does not exceed 20 minutes. Afterwards it is treated with a hard sponge and washed off with cold water.

The American company produces Gel Oven Cleaner Amway in Belgium. The product belongs to the professional line. The thick consistency is applied with the included brush. The substance works with the contaminant for half an hour, and then is washed off with water. Effectively fights all types of mud deposits.

Bagi Shumanit Extra is produced by a company in Israel. Available in spray form. Works on old grease and rust. It differs in that you only need to leave the substance for 3 minutes and then wash it off. Has a pungent odor.

Ukrainian-made Milam has a gel form. Allows you to clean kitchen equipment from grease, soot, and carbon deposits. Contains synthetic substances. It is characterized by low cost.

The most unusual way to remove dirt is soaking it in Coca-Cola. Of course, this is only suitable for utensils. It is enough to place the dishes in soda for several hours or overnight.

Calcination over fire

One of the most effective ways to clean the stove grate from dirt is to roast it over a fire. To do this, place a dry grate with the contaminated area directly over high heat and hold it until large pieces begin to fall off. After this, using a brush, you can carefully scrape off the remaining dirt and wipe until the carbon deposits are completely removed.

It is worth noting! For cast iron grates, do not use water for cleaning. In addition, before starting the procedure, you should open the window or turn on the hood to maximum, since during the calcination of the grate, a strong burning smell may appear when the food is burned.

How to clean the oven from carbon deposits in 1 hour using a steam generator or steam

If a housewife is looking for how to clean the oven from grease and carbon deposits quickly and with a minimum of effort, this method is ideal. For this you need a steam generator. The device also allows you to remove dirt deposits on the gas stove and panel. After steaming, such areas are much easier to clean with a sponge.

If you don’t have such a device at home, you can create steam using improvised means. To do this, just place a container with 1 liter of liquid in the closet. The liquid used is plain water with diluted dishwashing detergent or laundry soap. Usually it is enough to heat such a solution for 45 minutes at 140 °C.

What is the difficulty of the work?

The grille suffers the most from dirt. The difficulty is that this part is not very convenient to clean, so this task is often postponed “for later.” And the dirt, without going anywhere, keeps accumulating and accumulating. In the end, it becomes almost impossible to clean the product.

Grease settles on the rods. You can clean your gas stove from grease using a degreasing detergent. And removing it from the bars of the grill is not at all so easy. When in contact with water, such fat sticks tightly. Particles of dust and pet fur settle on it. With further use of the stove, all this disgrace (grease, dust, wool) becomes carbon deposits, which over time causes corrosion and leads to final damage to the grate. It is for this reason that cleaning the gas stove grate from carbon deposits should be carried out promptly and regularly.

How to clean a baking tray

If the house loves baked dishes, then the oven utensils get dirty more often than the oven. Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to clean a baking sheet with regular washing, since heavily burnt food particles remain on the walls of the product. Therefore, housewives are looking for a simple way to wash a baking sheet.

To make washing easier, you can mix soda (100 g), hydrogen peroxide (2 tablespoons), and regular detergent (teaspoon). The finished paste is spread on a baking sheet for 15 minutes and removed with a washcloth, washed off with water. Often boiling water and soda are poured into a baking tray and left for 120 minutes or more. To care for ceramics, Teflon or glass, washing gel and soft wipes or washcloths are allowed.

Sometimes cleaning the oven also involves removing dirt from the baking sheet. Some methods, proven over the years, allow you not to remove the internal filling of the gas cabinet. Some lines of special chemicals are also designed for kitchen utensils.

Self-cleaning

With new, modern technologies, cleaning the oven at home has become even easier. Increasingly, manufacturers are equipping products with a self-cleaning function. Owners of such equipment do not need to look for the best way to clean an oven at home. This option effectively removes grease and burnt food.

The technology can use one of three self-cleaning mechanisms: hydrolysis, pyrolytic, catalytic.

The hydrolysis system allows you to wash an electric oven at a temperature of 90 °C. The design includes a compartment for detergent.
In catalytic samples, the surfaces to be cleaned are made of special enamel. When it is heated to 270 °C, the entire fat layer disintegrates.
Pyrolytic models are capable of reaching temperatures of 500 °C. Thanks to this, all deposits turn into ash. The cost of equipment directly depends on the cleaning mode it uses. For normal operation, pyrolytic options require a large amount of electricity. Therefore, such ovens are the most expensive.

What not to do

When choosing a method for cleaning the oven, you need to take into account the characteristics of the material of the inner walls. Substances that are too aggressive not only quickly combat contamination, but can also severely damage the device. It is not recommended to use household chemicals containing acids. Regardless of the cleaning method, at the end of the mode, the oven should be left open until it is completely aired out. Do not turn on the device if there are foreign odors. Thorough rinsing of special cleaners will prevent the substance from getting into food.

Life hack to eliminate unpleasant odor

An unpleasant odor in the oven can be caused not only by old carbon deposits, but also by remaining in the oven after using cleaning products. If the problem appears after using household chemicals, you must first completely remove any remaining cleaning product from the surface, and only then begin to eliminate the odor.

Even simple ventilation can help. If the problem is not solved, the oven can be treated as follows:

put water in the oven with the addition of crushed activated carbon, lemon juice (citric acid);
turn it on to heat for a few minutes;
wipe all internal surfaces with a cloth soaked in a solution of citric acid or vinegar;
leave the door ajar for ventilation.

Any unpleasant odor that appears must be eliminated immediately.

Safety precautions when cleaning the oven yourself

When working with synthetic substances and even using home methods, it is important to protect the skin and respiratory tract. It is worth taking care of gloves and a respirator in advance. It is necessary to wear a mask only when handling aggressive substances. During washing, the window or vent must be open.

To avoid breakdowns and waste of money on repairs, you must use chemicals strictly according to the instructions. When washing an electric oven or stove, the device must be unplugged. There is no need to peel off carbon deposits or chip off burnt particles of fat, as this can damage the surface.

The range of household goods is very large. Many people probably cleaned dishes with metal brushes. They cannot be used in the oven!

Oven care

In order not to wonder how to clean the oven from old grease, housewives just need to follow simple care rules. Every time you cook, the oven will inevitably become dirty. Therefore, it is better to wash the oven from burning and grease every time.

It is advisable to carry out a quick steam cleaning every 7 days. When using chemical cleaners, do not apply them to the fan and heating parts. It is not recommended to scrub off plaque with an abrasive sponge on glass. As a result, new scratches appear, into which fat gets clogged. If you use special sleeves and foil for baking in the cabinet, you will have to wash the inside of the cabinet from carbon deposits and grease much less often.