aspecreviews
New Member
Hey everyone!
I wanted to share a cleaning method I came up with for electric ovens that has worked way better for me than the built-in "Steam Clean" or full "Self Clean" modes. This method is for ovens with hidden bake elements (mine's a Samsung, but others should be similar).
After a pizza bubbled over and left a bunch of blackened cheese, oils, and grease on the bottom of my oven, I decided to experiment, and it actually worked better than I expected. The result was a clean oven without using harsh chemicals or risking damage from a 4-hour high-heat self-clean.
What You Need:
Remove oven racks and do anything else your oven's manual says to prepare for a self-cleaning cycle.
If you have pet birds, move them to a well-ventilated area while the cycle is running.
Pour ~1 cup of water into the bottom of the oven. If the oven is really dirty, you can use 2 cups.
Close the oven door and set the broiler to high. If you have a convection broil option, use it.
Run the broiler for about 1 hour.
For the first ~30 minutes, the water will boil and steam the interior.
After the water evaporates, you’ll notice steam stops venting. That’s when the broiler begins to char any leftover grease or spills. I could smell burning.
Ventilate! There may be smoke and strong odors as gunk burns off - I ran my range hood.
Let the oven cool completely. Once cool, I opened it up, and all the residue had turned to ash.
Wipe clean with a damp paper towel. That’s it!
Why This Worked Better (for Me):
A Few Notes:
I wanted to share a cleaning method I came up with for electric ovens that has worked way better for me than the built-in "Steam Clean" or full "Self Clean" modes. This method is for ovens with hidden bake elements (mine's a Samsung, but others should be similar).
After a pizza bubbled over and left a bunch of blackened cheese, oils, and grease on the bottom of my oven, I decided to experiment, and it actually worked better than I expected. The result was a clean oven without using harsh chemicals or risking damage from a 4-hour high-heat self-clean.
What You Need:
- About 1 cup of filtered or distilled water
- An electric oven with:
- A broiler/grill element within the main oven (not in a separate drawer)
- A steam clean tray in the bottom (or a depression to hold water)
- A well-ventilated space (I turned on bathroom and range hood fans)
- A couple damp paper towels for cleanup afterward
Remove oven racks and do anything else your oven's manual says to prepare for a self-cleaning cycle.
If you have pet birds, move them to a well-ventilated area while the cycle is running.
Pour ~1 cup of water into the bottom of the oven. If the oven is really dirty, you can use 2 cups.
Close the oven door and set the broiler to high. If you have a convection broil option, use it.
Run the broiler for about 1 hour.
For the first ~30 minutes, the water will boil and steam the interior.
After the water evaporates, you’ll notice steam stops venting. That’s when the broiler begins to char any leftover grease or spills. I could smell burning.
Ventilate! There may be smoke and strong odors as gunk burns off - I ran my range hood.
Let the oven cool completely. Once cool, I opened it up, and all the residue had turned to ash.
Wipe clean with a damp paper towel. That’s it!
Why This Worked Better (for Me):
- Combines steam to loosen grime and dry heat to turn it to ash.
- Avoids the 800-900°F heat of a full (pyrolytic) self-clean cycle (which can fry components - ask my old Frigidaire Professional dual-fuel that stopped heating after I ran the Self Clean once
). - No chemical sprays (even fume-free easy-off is still toxic), no hard scrubbing.
- Used my oven’s existing features - just differently.
- Worked WAY better than my oven's "steam clean" option (that did nothing)
A Few Notes:
- Only try this with ovens that have hidden lower elements. Exposed heating elements + standing water = not a good idea.
- Always supervise, and make sure your space is ventilated.
- My note about removing oven racks may not be absolutely necessary - the oven doesn't get anywhere near as hot as full self-clean.
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