Reasons for regular oven cleaning

For most of us, cleaning the oven is right at the top of the list of household duties we most dislike. It can be a time-consuming, very often messy job that can ruin our precious weekends. On the other hand, there are lots of reasons for keeping your oven in tip top sparkling clean condition; not least, your food will taste better and your kitchen will be full of the fragrant aromas of fresh cooking!

Good for your health too…

Not only that burnt on food and a build up of fatty, greasy deposits, on the other hand, can leave your oven and kitchen smelling unpleasant, but it is unhygienic and potentially dangerous as charred or burned meat and fish can contain cancer causing compounds.

Saves you money

A clean oven is actually more energy efficient too, distributing heat more effectively than a dirty oven. A clean oven also needs less energy to heat up and maintain a constant temperature. With clean glass of your oven door you won’t need to keep opening your oven door to check progress either (every time you do this, heat escapes and the oven temperature drops, of course) – so not only will your food be cooked more evenly in a clean oven, you’ll save money on your energy bills.

When your oven is clean, you can spot more easily if there are problems brewing with your oven door seal or if your oven bulb needs replacing, so a clean oven is also easier to maintain.

…And keeps you safe

Lastly, don’t forget that accumulated grease and grime around your hob and in your oven can become a fire hazard – so stay safe and keep it clean!

Top tips

The best way to keep your oven clean is to prevent spillages in the first place, don’t overfill pie dishes and cake tins, place aluminium foil under shelves to catch deposits and make sure you wipe up any splashes straight away – if you leave them they bake on and become much harder to remove!

Many of the ‘old wives’ methods, such as using white vinegar and baking soda, or lemon juice and salt to remove deposits are certainly more environmentally friendly alternatives to the harsh chemicals in most of the oven cleaning products you can buy in the supermarkets, and in many cases do a lot less damage to your oven.

However, whichever method you choose, the only real answer to cleaning a dirty oven is the application of elbow grease and the sacrifice of several hours…unless of course, you decide that this is one job you’d rather leave to the experts!

Take the professional route!

Professional oven cleaning probably doesn’t cost as much as you think – in fact a basic clean usually starts from  £40. You can just sit back and wait to be amazed at the sparkling end results – these people really can restore your oven to pristine condition, leaving it looking as good as new in a matter of only a few hours, with minimum fuss or mess. Not only that, you’ll be left with a fresh, fragrant kitchen, all ready for creating some fabulous tasting food!