Cleaning Oven Tips

Cleaning your oven, it may be an electric oven, GE oven, gas oven, microwave oven or any brand of oven, could be a tough job especially for those busy people who doesn't have the time for this chore. Others may call an oven cleaning company which offers oven cleaning services for a pay. But calling these oven cleaning companies for their services will just be an additional burden to your budget when there are ways you can clean oven by yourself easily and economically, which I am going to give the step by step instructions or tips afterwards.

The way you care your kitchen equipment determines its life and one way to maintain it is to keep it clean. So cleaning your oven regulary is a must to prolong its usability. Another reason to keep your oven clean is to avoid your food being contaminated. Imagine those foul odors that gets into your food - the food that you feed to your family, that comes from your dirty oven? Its really a no no.

There are natural ways and also commercial products that can be used in cleaning your oven. But beware of most commercial oven cleaners. They might be tough on dirt but they are also tough to rinse. Some toxic residue will be left if you can't rinse it properly and imagine what will happen if the toxic materials will get contact with your food.

Here are the tips on how to clean your oven or range:

1. Let the range/oven cool before cleaning it.

2. Remove burned particles by scraping it with a blunt scraper.

3. Wash the oven daily. Do not allow grease to collect on the oven.

4. Soak (cooled) top grids in water to which a detergent has been added. Use a stiff bristle brush to remove food particles which adhere to the surface.

5. Clogged burners of gas ranges should be opened with a stiff wire.

6. Clean top plates of gas ranges (cooled) by scouring in water with an alkaline type of detergent.

7. For electrical ranges/ovens, remove grease film with the use of alkaline detergent and warm water. Be sure water does not get into electrical elements.

8. Rinse with clean water and dry with clean cloth.

9. Wipe surface made of iron with cloth treated with cooking oil to prevent rusting.

10. Leave the oven door after baking to prevent rusting.

There's also a natural way of cleaning your oven just by using baking soda and water. I call it natural since this doesn't have to use any commercial product for cleaning. To use this, sprinkle the baking soda in your oven floor (botom) until the surface if completely covered. Leave it overnight for the baking soda to do the "cleaning". Of ourse, you have to wipe it with sponge in the morning and you'll see all grease or oil are completely gone. Also, rinse it with water since there will be white particles that will be left by the baking soda. Any foul odor will also be eliminated with this technique.

There are some tips by some of my friends so that there will be minimal buildup of dirt on your oven. You are going to cover the bottom of your oven with aluminum foil so it can catch whatever spillage of food into the oven surface. Through this way, food spillage will not go to the oven floor.

By the way, when cleaning your oven, always remember to wear gloves and mask for extra precaution.

But if you don't have time to personally do the job, below is the list of the accredited oven cleaning companies that you can call:

• Core Oven Cleaning Co. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Oxford & London0118 986 2678
• C.L.G. Oven Cleaning Services Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxon01628 773776
• Dirty Ovens R Us Birmingham, Coventry & Leicester07837 064 383
• Oven Ready Buckinghamshire and Berkshire0845 224 2074
• The Sparkle Oven Cleaning Co. Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes, Suffolk, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, parts of Hertfordshire and parts of Essex01354 660003
• Crystal Oven Cleaning Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire01832 73407
• NorthWest Oven Clean Cheshire, Wirral, Merseyside & Greater Manchester01928 739666
• Sparkle Oven Cleaning Co. Ltd Coventry, Northants, Leicestershire, Rutland & S. Lincs.01536 760268
• Tip Top Oven Cleaning Doncaster & surrounding areas01302 531332
• Kleen Machine Dorset0800 0839363
• The Oven Wizard East London & West Essex0208 981 4678
• IncleanationEast Sussex01323 844653
• Oven Cleaning by Wash n Tumble Essex & Hertfordshire01279 419999 or 01708 762880
• Cooks Oven Cleaning Ltd Essex, London, Hertfordshire0800 234 3330
• Platinum Plus Oven Cleaning Co Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent & E. London01708 620566
• Oven Bright Harlow, Essex & surrounding areas01279 432444
• The Oven Cleaning Company Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex. S.W. London, Central London, & parts of Berkshire01428 717174 or 01428 717176
• Captain Cooker Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex and Parts of Berkshire01730 264675
• Ovenglo ampshire & E. Wiltshire01962 621579
• Oven Dazzle Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire & Buckinghamshire01923 612903
• Hobs, Knobs and Oven Cleaning Hertfordshire, London01992 582347
• Bay Oven Cleaning E. Kent - Thanet & surrounding area01843 603659
• Oven Gleam Cleaning Co. Kent & East Sussex01233 634993
• Ovens and Hobs Cleaning Company Kent (not Thanet), S.E. London0208 8198760
• Advance (UK) Cleaning Services Kent & Medway01634 571801
• Medway Oven Cleaning Kent and S.E. London01634 235682
• Oven Cleanz Lincolnshire 01507 568 580
• The Oaklands Cleaning Masters M3 corridor of Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire01256 765339
• Oasis Oven Cleaning Merseyside, Wirral, Greater Manchester & Cheshire0151 290 0497
• Olney Oven Wizards Milton Keynes, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire01234 711316
• Oven Cleaning Specialist London postcodes - N, NW, W, UB & HA0845 094 9009
• Perfecta Clean Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, Hexham, Prudhoes0845 017 5578
• North East Oven Cleaning North East England0191 389 1448
• Ramsay's Cleaner Cookers North East England07517 307 381
• The Oven Cleaners Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, & Hexham01670 519643
• OvenAce Ltd Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire0115 849 4752
• RENU Oven Cleaning Service Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire & N. Leicestershire0115 939 1555
• Cooker Cleaning Company Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Gloucestershire01295 721294
• Oven Revive Sheffield, Rotherham, Worksop, Barnsley, Chesterfield & surrounding areas0114 228 0090
• Oven Klenz Shropshire, Staffordshire & Midlands01785 841145
• Active Oven Cleaning Shropshire & Staffordshire01952 810578
• Oven Sheen South London and parts of Surrey and Kent0208 670 4946
• Oven Care Southampton & surrounding areas0800 1123055 or 07707 815588
• The Lightning Oven Cleaning CoSurrey, Hampshire & Berkshire01252 719901
• Ovens2NewSurrey, S.W. London & Kent0208 661 9671
• The Oven Gleaming CoSurrey, Sussex, London & Kent0844 561 0916
• Crystal Clean OvensSurrey, Sussex, S. London01737 850870
• Oven HeavenSussex 01903 813886
• Oven SolutionsSussex & Surrey 01903 713321
• Pristine Oven Clean Ltd. South London0754 0876 396
• Simply CleanSouth Yorkshire, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Chesterfield & Mansfield0114 2014670
• HobsnobsTees Valley01642 722666
• OvenAidTunbridge Wells, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Crowborough, Wadhurst, Paddock Wood01892 548413
• London Oven Cleaning Company W. London excl. congestion zone areas, N.W. London excl.01895 677888
• Clean Oven UK West Midlands07779 483491 or 01902 678690 (after 6pm)
• Oven GleamWiltshire, Somerset, Dorset & Devon0800 458 2357

Selection of Equipment

The following are some pointers to remember when selecting kitchen equipment:

1. Range - the range determines to a large extent satisfactory meal preparation. Modern designs for ranges stress effective insulation, efficient operation and easy cleaning. The construction, materials used, durability, size and top of oven, insulation of the oven, and efficiency of the heating elements all affect one's choice of a good range.
2. Sink - sinks are commonly made of porcelain or iron though sinks made of metal and stainless steels are available. The sink unit should be a minimum of 45 cms in width.
3. Refrigerator - the refrigerator should be purchased with such specificaitions as cooling performance, durability, ease of cleaning, and permanence of finish in mind. It should have adequate provision for storing frozen food, meat, milk, and fresh fruits
4. Small Equipment - the types of small equipments should be selected to avoid undue supply of useless, inefficient or seldom used pieces. Durability, efficiency in heat conductivity, suitability to the purpose for which each is intended and ease of cleaning and handling should be considered. Interesting and attractive utensils are now available in stainless steel, chromium and copper. Copper is the best conductor of heat. Glass absorbs heat and holds it well. Porcelain enamelware is nonporous, resists acid and does not discolor foods.

When buying kitchen equipment, one should consider their efficiency and wearing qualities. Rotary egg beeaters that do not turn, waffle irons that stick, knives that get blunt easily or toasters that do not heat well demonstrates low efficiency. A pan should cover the heating unit and should fit flat upon it. If the bottom is is rough or black, it will heat more rapidly than if it is smooth or polished. Utensils with straight sides are more efficient than those with flaring or bulging sides.

The durability of a knife and the satisfaction derived from its use depend largely on the kind of steel it is made of and the provision made for the steel of the blade. The shape of the handle should be such as to fit the hand, permitting a firm, slip-proof grip of the knife without undue pressure and tension.