Just about everybody has an oven or stove top these days. They're essential components of the modern kitchen. But how many know the safest ways to clean and maintain these every day appliances? In this weeks blog we'll go over the best ways to clean and maintain your oven and stove tops.
1. Don't use the Self Clean option!!!
We cannot stress this enough, don't use the Self Clean! Self Clean options on ovens can be dangerous for yourself and your oven. When you use this function the oven will lock the door and turn the heat up incredibly high (on average around 800 degrees fahrenheit!) to burn off any residue in your oven. While convenient for cleaning, the heat can cause damage to the ovens elements if it's electric or more likely the high limit thermostats in gas and electric ovens. For a much safer way of cleaning your oven we recommend filling a baking dish half way with water, then juicing a whole lemon into the water. Turn your oven up to 400 degrees and place the dish in for about an hour. The citric acid in the lemon will cling to the residue in your oven and the steam from the water will help loosen it making it easy to wipe off with a cloth afterwards.
2. Clean your stove tops
In the previous posts you may have noticed we usually recommend more household remedies for cleaning your appliances, but when it comes to stove tops the store bought solution is actually the best. We recommend Weiman's Cooktop Cleaning Kit. The solution they have has the right balance of chemical agents to clean your surfaces but also to keep them from being damaged. For example using a basic window cleaner on a glass top can leave streaking and discoloration. This kit also comes with a scrubbing pad with just the right amount of abrasiveness to clean without scratching the sensitive glass. We recommend cleaning glass tops frequently. The down side to glass is that food particles and grease can create hot spots on the glass which can lead to cracks and even shatter the whole top. While ceramic tops aren't as important to clean as glass tops, its still recommended every month or so, as that same debris can still cause fires.
3. Clean behind your oven
While we understand this isn't always an easy task, we do recommend cleaning behind your oven. Food stuffs can, and will, fall behind and in between any cracks and accumulate in the spaces behind and beside your oven. The biggest safety issue with this is pests. Mice and bugs love crawling inside the spaces behind your oven and up into the cavities for warmth and more potential food. As you can imagine this can cause damage to your oven if they were to chew on the wires, but even worse is if they get stuck between terminals near the board or at the base of you oven where the main power comes in, causing a short, arcing, and in some cases fire damage.
4. Verify the condition of your power cord and gas line
While cleaning behind the oven, its a good idea to check out the connections to your unit. For electric ovens, that means checking the power cable for any breaks or cracks along its length and making sure that the cord is plugged in nice and solid. In gas ovens, the power cord should be checked for the same conditions and the gas line should be checked for any major kinks or discoloration in spots. If you notice any damage to either of these, unplug the unit, turn off the gas if applicable, and please call us for service. Of course if you smell gas and suspect a leak, please call 911 and report it immediately.
5. When in doubt call a professional
With all these tips you can keep your oven healthy and safe for much longer. Of course as we always advise, if it seems like something may be off with your unit please give us a call at (719)546-0442 to schedule service. We are also available for maintenance checks, where we can verify proper temperature and operation of your oven. This month only we are offering 5% off any appliance work when you mention the blog and the weekly code. This week's code is OVEN24. No longer valid after close of business Friday 4/12/2024.