When was the last time you looked inside your oven? I mean really looked inside your oven?
I bet if you went to go look right now you’d see some pretty nasty stuff on the bottom and on the sides.
The humble oven isn’t something most people clean regularly because it doesn’t sit in a sink and constantly remind you to clean it when you’re done using it.
When you’re finished cooking the oven is normally too hot to handle and is left to cool whilst you get on with your meal.
If your oven has a “self-cleaning” option on your oven, yours might be slightly better-looking than most (including mine!).
Unfortunately, those options don’t always work that well and can warp your oven racks if you forget to take them out beforehand.
Properly cleaning your oven takes a little longer than washing a pan or throwing some cups in the dishwasher – but the end result is a sparkling clean appliance that won’t smoke up every time you use it.
The great news?
Getting a shiny, clean oven doesn’t take much effort at all. You just need some baking soda, vinegar, and this guide!
Read on to learn how to clean your oven with baking soda and vinegar to get great results every time.
What You’ll Need
- Washing up Gloves
- Baking Soda
- Distilled White Vinegar
- Water
- Spray Bottle
- Cleaning Cloth
- Scraper or Spatula (avoid metal utensils – they can damage your oven)
How to Clean Your Oven with Baking Soda and Vinegar
Let’s get down and dirty!
The first thing you’ll want to do is open up your oven and remove the racks.
Although you won’t be turning on the oven during this process you don’t want them in the way.
Next, combine about ½ cup of baking soda with enough water to make a paste.
Spread your baking soda paste all over the inside of your oven.
Now, you’ll need to wait around twelve hours until the paste has completely dried. Whilst waiting, this is a great time to clean the oven racks you took out earlier!
After the paste has dried, wipe it away with a wet sponge or towel.
After removing as much as you can, spray the inside of your oven with distilled white vinegar. If you don’t have a spray bottle, a damp cloth soaked in vinegar will also work.
Dab a cloth with warm water and wipe away any leftover vinegar, scraping away any hard bits that might not have come off previously.
I that you don’t use a metal utensil for this only because it can scratch the inside of your oven. This shouldn’t affect the function of the oven but it won’t look as pretty when you finish.
To finish, wipe away the residual hard pieces that you just scraped off the surface using a damp cloth and appreciate the shine of your fresh oven!
How Often Should You Clean Your Oven?
Just like your kitchen knives or mixing bowls, your oven is a tool and needs to be cleaned regularly.
Unlike other types of cookware, it doesn’t need to be cleaned after each use.
I recommend cleaning your oven about once or twice a month depending on how messy your oven gets.
Normally I’ll start the process before I go to sleep because I won’t be baking anything overnight anyway. It’s also really satisfying to scrape the paste away in the morning and start the day on a productive note with a clean oven!