If you are a professional baker or chef, you most likely understand the importance of working with a clean oven. Even if you are not a professional in the cooking industry, it is still necessary to keep your oven clean for the safety and health of your family. We spoke to David Mathess, Head Baker at Cookie Bouquets, about the most useful oven cleaning tips for bakers.
Your kids crave perfectly baked cookies, cakes and brownies. If you give your oven a deep clean, they may notice an improvement in taste. “Cleaning your oven is such an important aspect of baking,” David said. “It helps maximize circulation in the oven for consistent and even baking.” Check out these tips and learn how you can improve your baking skills after using a little bit of elbow grease!
- Invest In A Self Cleaning Oven
“A self cleaning oven is ideal,” David said. This feature is great for anyone who does a lot of baking in their oven. They get into those hard-to-reach areas that are not fun to dig your elbows into. However, even if you do have a self cleaning oven, you should always give the oven a wipe down by hand as well to be extra careful. - Use Easy-Off-Fume-Free Cleaner
If you do not have a self-cleaning oven, one of the next best options is to use Easy-Off-Fume-Free Cleaner. This cleaning product is great for bakers when combined with some warm water. If you follow the directions on the can, your oven will be squeaky clean and your baked goods will start to taste great as opposed to when baking in a dirty oven. “A dirty oven will negatively affect the taste of your food,” David said. “You’ll start to notice unwanted flavors of all of the previous foods you prepared.” - Use Baking Soda, Water & Vinegar
A simple solution of baking soda, vinegar, and warm water is another great way to do the trick. This solution is an easy way to get rid of any old, hardened spills in your oven without any major scrubbing. Another benefit of this solution is that it will prevent the inside of your oven from feeling sticky after being cleaned. - Open Windows While Cleaning Oven
You’ll want to open the windows in your kitchen and surrounding rooms while you clean your oven. This will ventilate the area and prevent your children and pets from inhaling dangerous fumes. If you do choose to use the self-cleaning feature in your oven, you will especially want to open your windows because this feature will heat your oven to an extremely high temperature. - Remove All Debris
Spills in the oven are inevitable, and while it can be easy to ignore them and let them sit and harden, it is actually very important to remove any debris from your oven. “If you don’t clean your oven regularly, you’re putting you and your family at risk,” David said. “Debris can cause your oven to bake unevenly, set off the smoke detector, or, even worse, catch on fire.” So, be sure to make sure your oven is free of any debris. - Soak Oven Racks
Your oven racks deserve a deep clean every now and then. An easy way to do this is by filling your kitchen sink with warm water and a few drops of dishwashing detergent. Remove the oven racks from your oven and let them soak in the warm water. Given the racks a good scrub and they will be as clean as you can remember! - Catch Oven Spills With A Baking Sheet
- Being proactive about cleaning your oven will make your life easier. If you are baking something that you anticipate will spill or drip, a great idea is to place a baking sheet on the below rack to catch any spills or messes to keep them from getting caught in your oven. Cleaning a baking sheet is most certainly easier than cleaning your entire oven.
- Clean the Oven Window With Vinegar and Water
Don’t forget about your oven window! Wipe the oven window down with some vinegar and water and it will look shiny and clean! You and your kids will be able to see right in as your famous chocolate chip cookies are baking! - Get Rid of Sticky, Hard-To-Reach Stains Overnight
If your oven has any deeply hardened spills and stains, an easy way to confront this problem is placing a towel soaked with ammonia in your oven overnight. Remove the towel and wipe down the oven the next day and these stains will most likely be gone!
Baking is a wonderful activity that makes you and your kids happy, but unfortunately it can get messy sometimes. Keeping your oven clean is a safe and healthy decision for you and your family and it will make your baked goodies taste even better than before!
Need a break from doing the baking yourself? Order a delicious batch of cookies from Cookie Bouquets and they will take care of the mess for you!
