Self-cleaning oven - How to use?

Question

I need details on how to use the self-cleaning feature on an oven.

Answer 1

First of all, plan what day you're going to clean the oven. A coolish day is best so you can make use of the heat the oven will generate. Avoid running the cleaning feature on warm days because it will make your home uncomfortably warm. But also avoid cleaning the oven on frigid days because you will want to be able to open your windows a bit for ventilation. If your oven is dirty enough to make it worthwhile to clean it, it's going to smoke.

To save energy, you can also turn a hot oven you've just cooked in over to the cleaning cycle (but be sure to remove the food first!).

Take out all the oven racks, and, of course, don't have any pans in there.

Wipe out any loose crumbs to minimize smoking. You don't have to "pre-clean" your oven, even if it has spills in it, but at least get the loose stuff out.

If there is a lever for locking your oven, slide it over. Some have an additional button or lever you have to push at the same time or the latch lever won't move. Some self-cleaning ovens don't have a manual latch (they lock themselves when a certain temperature is reached).

Turn the selector to "clean" and set the cooking timer to 3-5 hours, depending on how dirty the oven is. If you initially don't set it for long enough, it's no big deal. You can run another cycle some other time. With experience, you'll figure out how long you need.

When the cleaning cycle is over, it will turn itself off (check on it to make sure). Don't try to open the oven during the cleaning cycle or for an hour or so after it's done. Trying to force open a locked oven is dangerous and could break the latch.

Once the oven has cooled sufficiently, you may need to slide any manual lock back over (but some unlock themselves). There's no hurry to get in there. Just wipe out the ash and any remaining debris at your convenience. If there is a lot of burned-on food left over in the oven, you didn't set the timer for long enough. Try an extra hour or two the next time. If it's totally clean, you might try a slightly shorter cycle next time.

Between cleanings, you can wipe out your oven with a gentle scrubber, but never use oven cleaners or other harsh chemicals in a self-cleaning oven. It can destroy the special surface that lines the interior, and then the self-cleaning feature will never again work as well.

Answer 2

Self Cleaning Oven

Answer 3

The science behind this is to BURN OFF any spills or residue left from cooking/baking. There should be a lock down arm/switch and be sure to take everything out of it first, turn heat to self clean setting. Most new stove have presets for all this older ones usually have bar you have to pull from the left to the right side to lock the door. All in all it is a very easy function to use ....Best of luck and if the oven is REALLY soiled I might think about a little PRE CLEANING you do not want to set the thing on fire.

I have tried to use this funtion before and it will BURN the thing to no end but I never considered it clean. I still have to go after it with oven cleaner . I keep my oven bottom lined with foil and also I put pan under pies and such, just to be safe. The old ounce of prevention thing you know...

Answer 4

Mines not really an answer, but maybe will help; especially after reading some other answers. I decided today to clean my oven. I don t really think I spill anything but I use the oven a lot. I turned it on. It locked the door...I ALMOST left the apartment. But I didn t. When I looked inside the window, I saw FLAMES!!!!. I was terrified beyond belief. Then the flames went out. I said a little prayer. Then...the smoke. And my oven seemed to have another little feature. It was actually "puffing" smoke out! I couldn t turn it off. Finally I shut off the breaker, and came downstairs to get on the computer and find out "what the Heck!" I m glad to read other people have had scary results. I should ve wiped it out first. Next time I m trying the 550 degree thing. My main concern was setting off the fire alarm because in our building (I live in a high rise) an alarm comes on"A fire has been detected in the building. Please leave the building using the stairs!" It repeats over and over....trust me, I ve been outside @ 3:00 am a couple of times when other residents have caused an alarm. I did not want people staring me down, even though it was 10:00 am.....

Answer 5

I love self cleaners... wish my current gas stove was one.
Make sure it's empty. You might want to take the shelves out (or they will be hard to slide in/out after) Then lock (and only for this purpose {mom broke one because she locked it also for cooking}) and set the settings to self cleaning mode on one or both of the dials as required. My last one had a count down timer of about 4 hrs that automatically started. There was another dial that would let you start the timer anytime you set.. so that way you could tell it to start it when you leave so when it gets smelly from burning the dirt, you won't be around to smell it. When it's all done and all cooled off.. then get a very damp sponge and wipe off the white ash which will be very easy to do. Also, you should be able to put the stove top drip catcher rings into the oven for the cleaner to also clean that also. And the broiler that comes with it also. If you don't have the instructions. Write to the company and tell them the model and ask for or buy for a nominal fee the instructions incase you are still unsure. Best of luck.

Answer 6

The safest thing to do is instead of using the self-cleaning feature just set your oven to it's highest normal baking temperature for an hour or so ( or however long you like ). Self-cleaning temperatures can reach 1,000 degrees which can simply overwhelm certain parts or your oven. On my GE oven the highest normal temperature was 550 degrees. It worked fine on 500 degrees, as long as you can see some smoke coming from the oven indicating that gunk is being burned off then this will work.

Answer 7

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WHOA!!!!!!!!! 1. the FIRST thing you should do is take out the metal racks. 2. vacuum or clean out all the little burnt/dried pieces of stuff on the bottom 3. Using something like Easy-Off oven cleaner, spray that all over and let sit then wipe it off. Follow up with a rag and plain water until all residue is cleaned off. (I use Easy Off fume free formula.) 4. NOW you may turn the Self Cleaning function on. If you don't do the above steps, you risk fire or severe smoking of your house. Why? Because all that residue, grease, etc will burn off in the high heat of the self cleaning cycle. The oven will lock itself until the cycle is complete, so don't freak out. 5. After oven cools, you can go through with a wet rag and wipe off the remainder of residue

Answer 8

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RE:
Self-cleaning oven - How to use?
I need details on how to use the self-cleaning feature on an oven.

Answer 9

Personally, self cleaning ovens make me nervous. I was glad to hear about using it at just 500-550 and allowing the oven to run until the smoking stopped. I am trying it now.

Answer 10

when I last used my self cleaning oven, it had lots of food spills and caught on fire ( I could see a large flame burning from the oven window. It startled me and I turned the oven off) Should I just let it flame and burn itself out or pre clean? Don't want to burn the kitchen down.

Kathleen