How to clean your oven?

You slide the baking dish in and immediately see it: brown splatters on the glass, a thick layer of baked-on grease on the bottom. Last week there was a pizza here. The week before, a roast. But how do you get that layer off without spending half your Saturday? In this article, you’ll read how to tell it's time, which method works for which type of dirt, and how to tackle it in six steps.

Short answer

An oven is easiest to clean if the dirt is first softened. Hot water with a degreaser, a baking soda paste, or steam loosens baked-on grease, which can then be removed with a brush. How much effort it takes depends on the thickness of the grease layer and the type of oven. If you want to work without cleaning agents, choose a steam cleaner.

What's the fastest way to clean your oven?

The fastest way to clean your oven is to let the dirt soak first.

Baked-on grease is burnt grease. So it's not dirt you can wipe away, but a hard layer stuck to the enamel. Scrubbing such a dry layer requires a lot of force and yields little result.

As soon as you soften that same layer with heat and moisture, it comes off almost by itself. Soaking can be done in three ways: with hot water and a degreaser, with a baking soda paste, or with steam. All three do the same job. They only differ in how much product you use and how long you have to wait.

How often should you clean your oven?

How often you should clean your oven depends on what you prepare in it and how greasy it is.

Two signals are more reliable than a schedule on the fridge. The first is smoke. Does your oven start to fume at a normal baking temperature? Then grease from a previous use is burning. The second is smell: if you smell your previous dish in the next one, it's time.

Furthermore, it makes a huge difference whether you wait until it bakes on. An oven you wipe lukewarm after each use rarely needs a thorough cleaning. If you skip that a few times, you'll be standing with a brush in your hand an hour later. What a waste of your Saturday.

Cleaning the oven in 6 steps

Below you'll find six steps. You start with emptying and the loose parts, then soaking, the bottom and side walls, the oven glass, and finally the sealing rubbers.

1. Empty the oven

Start by emptying it. Racks, baking sheets, removable slide rails, and any pizza stone come out, so you can reach everything. Also, unplug the oven or turn off the circuit breaker before you start working with water or steam.

2. Let the loose parts soak separately

It's easiest to clean the loose parts separately, as they fit in the sink or a basin. Fill it with hot water and a squirt of dish soap, and let the racks soak while you continue with the oven itself. Burnt grease on the grates will then come off with a brush.

3. Soak off baked-on residue

Soften the baked-on residue in the oven with moisture and heat. Place an oven-safe dish with hot water on the bottom. Let the oven run at its lowest setting for fifteen minutes, then turn it off. The steam will do the preliminary work. If you're working with steam, skip this step.

4. Scrub the bottom and side walls

You don't need a scourer for the bottom and side walls. In fact, leave it aside. Scratches in the enamel will only make grease stick faster afterwards. A brush with stiff bristles reaches into corners and along edges where a cloth might slip. Work from top to bottom, so the loosened grease drips to the bottom.

5. Clean the oven glass

The oven glass is the part by which you measure the results, and usually the last to get clean. Place a wet cloth on it while you do the rest. The grime will then be soft enough to remove in one go. Much easier. With double glazing, there's also dirt between the panes, and that's a job for a technician, not for you.

6. Don't forget the sealing rubbers

The sealing rubbers around the door keep the heat inside. They rarely get dirty from grease, but they do from crumbs. Wipe them with a damp cloth and avoid using cleaning agents. Aggressive agents harden rubber, and hard rubber no longer seals properly.

Does cleaning an oven with vinegar and baking soda work?

Yes, cleaning an oven with vinegar and baking soda works, but not if you mix them together.

Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. If you mix the two, the mixture will foam up impressively, leaving you with water and a little salt. Fun to watch. Not for degreasing.

So use them one after another. First, apply a paste of baking soda and a little water to the grease, let it soak in, and brush it off. Then, use vinegar on a cloth for the last grease film and shine on the glass.

Please note: vinegar is an acid and should not be used on natural stone or untreated aluminum. If you are unsure about a part? Then hot water with dish soap is always the safe choice.

What is the best oven cleaner for your oven?

There is no single "best" oven cleaner, as it depends on the type of dirt, your oven, and how many products you want to keep at home. What we can do is compare the methods based on their differences.

The table below lists the main differences.

Oven cleaners and methods compared

Which column weighs heaviest for you varies per household. If you cook daily with fat and oil, you choose based on power. If you want as few bottles under the sink as possible, you choose based on method.

Self-cleaning ovens: pyrolysis, catalysis, or hydrolysis?

A self-cleaning oven takes over the soaking and scrubbing from you, and this happens in three different systems.

With pyrolysis, the oven heats itself to a very high temperature. Grease and food residues then burn into a fine layer of ash. You can then wipe this away with a cloth. Racks, baking sheets, and removable slide rails must be removed first, and the program typically consumes more energy than the other systems. How hot your oven gets and how long the program takes is stated in the manual.

With catalysis, there's a porous layer on the oven walls that breaks down grease splatters during regular baking. You won't notice it, and you don't need to start a separate program. The bottom and door, however, remain your responsibility.

Hydrolysis comes closest to what you do yourself with a dish of water. The oven heats water to a low temperature, and the steam loosens the dirt. You then wipe it out.

Cleaning oven without cleaning agents: does steam really work?

Steam softens baked-on grease with nothing more than hot tap water, and that's precisely why it's so useful in a kitchen.

Where a degreaser chemically breaks down grease, steam brings heat and moisture right into the layer itself. The grease remains grease, but it detaches from the enamel. You then remove it with a brush or a cloth. A degreaser is faster on an old, thick layer. Steam leaves no odor and no residue in a space where you prepare food.

A handy device, such as the Achaté Handheld Steam Cleaner PRO, also reaches into corners and along the edges of the oven glass with its brush attachment. The same steam then works on your tiles and grout, and with a different attachment on your mattress.

Cleaning your oven without chemicals? Choose an Achaté steam cleaner

An oven gets clean by softening dirt, not by scrubbing harder. Heat and moisture do that work, whether it comes from a dish of water, a baking soda paste, or a steam device. Do you want to do it without bottles of degreaser? Then one device will be most beneficial. The same method also works in the bathroom, on the floor, and on the couch.

All Achaté steam cleaners work with tap water and come with attachments for smooth surfaces, corners, and textiles. For the kitchen, the Achaté Handheld Steam Cleaner is the compact choice, while the Achaté Steam Cleaner PRO V2 can also handle the floor and the couch. For the final grime on edges and grates, there's the Achaté Electric Cleaning Brush with six attachments.

Do you want to clean your oven without dedicating an afternoon to it? Then check out Achaté's steam cleaners and discover which model suits your cleaning tasks.

Frequently asked questions about oven cleaning

How do you get baked-on grease out of the oven?

You get baked-on grease out of the oven by first softening it and then brushing it away. Place a dish of hot water on the bottom, let the oven run briefly on the lowest setting, and then turn it off. Then work the loosened grease from top to bottom with a brush.

Can you clean the oven with vinegar?

You can clean the oven with vinegar, but mainly for the final grease film and the shine on the glass. For thick, baked-on layers, baking soda or a degreaser is more effective. Do not mix vinegar with baking soda: the acid and base neutralize each other, leaving water with some salt behind.

Can you use a steam cleaner in the oven?

A steam cleaner can be used in an unpowered and cooled oven to loosen grease. Keep the steam away from the heating element, fan, and other electrical components, and always unplug the oven first. Consult the manuals of your oven and the appliance for any excluded parts.

Why does my oven smoke when it turns on?

An oven that smokes at a normal baking temperature is burning grease or food residues left over from a previous use. This is not a malfunction, but a sign that a thorough cleaning is needed. In addition to the bottom, also check the heating element at the top and the fan opening at the back.