Who cleans your oven?

[GadgetGuy]

When we were all home, & this was before any of us left the nest, the 2 worst jobs that I hated the most were, defrosting the fridge & freezer & cleaning the oven!!!

Our mom never had a self-defrosting fridge, nor a self-cleaning oven!! You had to deal with all that water leaking onto the floor!! The oven had all that black gunk from it being used a lot!! It dirtied up your clothes & made your hands look like you worked in a coal mine!!

Today, I don't have to defrost the fridge, but I DO have to defrost the small freezer. I mostly cover everything cooked in the oven Except for pies & cakes.

 

[Timenspace]

Just yesterday I took an honest look at my oven, and, I need to clean it...by myself...will use a degreaser spray, a sponge, a wipe.

A self cleaning oven sounds like a space-station supercool invention...

I'd do the cleaning 2-3 x a year. It is not fun, but with the right music, you just drift off, and the hands and the sponge do the scrubbing

 

[PabloLerntKochen]

I started to enjoy the time cleaning my oven. Whenever I'm doing it, I take some extra time for it and I try to clean it as much as possible. While I'm cleaning the oven, I'm thinking about the dishes I'm gonna bake in the future and how nice they'll turn out, now that the oven is clean again.
Stay healthy

 

[Timenspace]

While I'm cleaning the oven, I'm thinking about the dishes I'm gonna bake in the future and how nice they'll turn out, now that the oven is clean again.
Stay healthy

That is cool. Positive visualisation.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

Over here when it comes to cleaning options, there are 3 basic types of oven:
- basic, cheap ovens which don't come with any cleaning functions
- medium range ones which come with what catalytic liners: the sides are lined with a material that absorbs fat splashes and burns them off in the course of normal cooking - these works ok, but the roof, back and bottom still get dirty and need cleaning manually
- high end ones with pyrolytic cleaning - these are the ones that heat up to very high temperatures and burn everything off. These ones do work very well, but they're pretty pricey.

My old oven was just a basic one with no cleaning functions so I used to get a company in once a year to clean it for me which cost £60 (double oven) and made it look like new again. When I recently replaced my oven I made sure to get one with pyrolytic cleaning - mine has 3 levels depending on how dirty it is. In fact it reminded me last night that it needs cleaning...though its not really that dirty so I'll try the shortest programme this time.

 

[LissaC]

I have a "classic" gas oven where the heat comes only from a resistance on the floor of the oven. It comes with a manual cleaning feature called Ms Lissa who doesn't clean it as often as she should

When I do I deep clean it with a special spray that works wonders at killing it the grease. It's some heavy stuff, I need to wear a mask and gloves when I'm applying it and I can't breath the spray, it immediately makes me gasp from breath.

 

[MrsDangermouse]

When I do I deep clean it with a special spray that works wonders at killing it the grease. It's some heavy stuff, I need to wear a mask and gloves when I'm applying it and I can't breath the spray, it immediately makes me gasp from breath.

Yes that's why I used to get someone in to clean mine....the chemicals you need to get it really properly clean are really strong I used to use Oven Pride when I cleaned mine myself...works really well but it burns if you get it on your skin, and the fumes are nasty.

 

[LissaC]

Yes that's why I used to get someone in to clean mine....the chemicals you need to get it really properly clean are really strong I used to use Oven Pride when I cleaned mine myself...works really well but it burns if you get it on your skin, and the fumes are nasty.

Yes, I use this one Oven Cleaner | Mr Muscle it's really strong.

 

[TastyReuben]

you just drift off

That's the fumes of the spray working on you.

These ones do work very well, but they're pretty pricey.

That really amazes me. My stove/cooker, maybe three years ago, was less that $600US, and it has both the steam-clean cycle (which works for crap) and the high-heat cycle (which works magnificently). It's not a fancy cooker by any means, very average. Self-clean cookers here are pretty much standard, except for the very most basic ones. It's not even a feature I particularly look for when I buy one, because I assume it'll be included.

 

[Timenspace]

That's the fumes of the spray working on you.

could well be...

 

[MrsDangermouse]

That really amazes me. My stove/cooker, maybe three years ago, was less that $600US, and it has both the steam-clean cycle (which works for crap) and the high-heat cycle (which works magnificently). It's not a fancy cooker by any means, very average. Self-clean cookers here are pretty much standard, except for the very most basic ones. It's not even a feature I particularly look for when I buy one, because I assume it'll be included.

I would say that an oven costing $600/£430 is firmly in the mid-range over here. I've recently replaced my oven so from what I've seen at that kind of price level you'll find a mixture of cheaper brands with fancier functions or better brands with fewer functions...so it really pays to check the specs

Looking at one our bigger appliance retailers, it looks like you can get a basic single oven with the pyrolytic function from some of the cheaper brands from around £250, whereas one without is only about £120. If you look at the better quality brands its the same trend.....cheapest one without pyrolytic is around £280, cheapest one with is around £550.

 

[Morning Glory]

I would say that an oven costing $600/£430 is firmly in the mid-range over here.

I get the impression that large appliances are much more expensive in the US than the UK. Not sure if I'm right but I've noticed it before - I think it was regarding fridges. My oven cost £160 ($220). Its cheap end but works perfectly well. I get it cleaned by a professional cleaner once a year.

 

[LissaC]

I get the impression that large appliances are much more expensive in the US than the UK. Not sure if I'm right but I've noticed it before - I think it was regarding fridges. My oven cost £160 ($220). Its cheap end but works perfectly well. I get it cleaned by a professional cleaner once a year.

Yes, in Portugal you can get an electrical oven for little over 100€. A great quality oven from a renowned brand (Bosch, Zanussi) starts around 230€.

 

[TastyReuben]

Just for fun, I checked by local Lowe's (big box DIY store) and found these interesting things (checking electric cookers/ranges only, as that's what I have):

Most expensive: $3,300
Least expensive: $270
Least expensive self-cleaning oven: $470
Oven closest to mine: $670

The cheapest one is a no-name "apartment-sized" range, with features such as "two racks," and "even heat distribution."

 

[medtran49]

Our oven we got last year was just under $700. It has the 2 cleaning cycles, is a convection or regular oven, has 5 burners, 1 of which is a warming burner, 1 double size power burner that uses a higher wattage or voltage (can't remember which) and heats things up super fast, a tri size burner that is 12 inches at its largest ring, then 2 burners that are 6 inches I think.

The 1 we got before this one was just over $1000 around 11 years ago. It had all the above, though had two 9 inch burners and one 6 inch plus a bridge burner that connected the two 9 inch burners so you could use a long griddle or a big oval pot. It also had a warming drawer. I think we used the bridge burner 2 or 3 times the entire 10 years we had it, and the warming drawer quickly became a storage drawer so never got used at all. Those 2 features would have jumped the price of the current oven to about $1100 and I told Craig it was foolish to spend $400 on things we very, very rarely or never used.

Oh, both are electric, smooth top stoves.