How to Naturally Clean the Oven with Minimal Effort

No one likes to clean the oven, but it can be done easily with this natural cleaning combination and just a bit of time.

Having to clean the oven is never top on someone’s list of exciting things to do over the weekend. But sometimes it’s necessary. Especially if you have a spill that covers the bottom of the oven and starts to smoke out the house.

Yep, been there, done that. Just a few weeks ago I posted about how it happened when I was making Salmon with a Bold Soy-Molasses Glaze over Rice and Vegetables. When I turned the oven on and went to open it to put the fish in, white smoke came billowing out. 

We had to open all of the windows (in the brutal Texas summer heat) and turn on the fans for a while to air out the house without setting off the smoke alarms. 

Needless to say, I really needed to do a deep oven cleaning. When I looked in there, the bottom wasn’t too bad, but the amount of smoke said otherwise. 

In the last couple of years, we’ve been trying to cut down on the number of chemicals we use in the house, especially in the kitchen, for cleaning and everything else. There are commercial oven cleaners on the market, but I was worried about what harsh chemicals they would leave behind that could get into our food. And even though we have a self-cleaning oven, I’ve never liked that. 

I started researching some natural cleaners for the oven while it was cooling off that evening (and while Justin was at his parent’s house using their oven to cook dinner!) and found a lot of people suggesting different ways to use baking soda and vinegar. 

Natural Cleaners

Baking Soda

Baking soda is actually a type of salt and it is a neutral compound with a high PH level, meaning it is basic (not acidic). Because of this, the basic properties of baking soda will absorb acids which is why it works so well to absorb odors rather than just mask them. 

White Vinegar

Opposite of baking soda, vinegar is very acidic. Because of its high acidity, vinegar can break up sticky messes. Vinegar is also good for getting rids of stains. 

Other Tools Suggested

• Paper towel roll
• Microfiber cloth for the glass
• Damp rag
• Rubber gloves
• Small bowl
• Spray bottle
• Old toothbrush or scrubbing brush
• Plastic scraper (a razor blade will scratch the surfaces)
• Wet-Dry vacuum
• A few drops of essential oil such as lemon, citrus, or cinnamon

Cleaner Combination

A very common cleaning combination is to use baking soda and vinegar together. Mixing the two is the best way to clean stains because the bubbles produced can lift stains and unclog drains. While the mixture is still bubbling, it is slightly alkaline and can dissolve baked-on grease

Do you remember doing a volcano in school with baking soda and vinegar? That reaction, but on a smaller scale, is why it is so good for cleaning. 

Cleaner Combination

A very common cleaning combination is to use baking soda and vinegar together. 

Do you remember doing a volcano in school with baking soda and vinegar? That reaction, but on a smaller scale, is why it is so good for cleaning. 

Cleaning the Oven

Ok, now that we have the “why” out of the way, let’s get to the “how” part of this post. When the bottom of the oven is a mess, there are a few options:

1. Use the self-cleaner
2. Use a commercial product
3. Use a natural oven cleaner

I don’t like the self-cleaning feature because all it does is turn the oven up to extremely high temperatures to burn off everything. Our oven was already smoking at 400F, I can’t imagine how bad it would have been at an even higher temperature. Plus, it was the middle of the summer and hot, I don’t want the oven to heat up the house more than necessary. And, who wants to smell burning food?

I mentioned earlier that I don’t like to use commercial chemical cleaners because I don’t know what chemicals will linger in the oven and then get infused into our food. 

Knowing these three options, I am left with finding a natural way to clean the oven, which is exactly what I did with this homemade oven cleaner method. 

Step 1

Make sure the oven is cool and remove the racks from the oven. Place these in a bathtub to soak in hot water and squirt some dish soap in there. Hint: place a towel on the bottom so they don’t scratch the surface. I also put the grates from the gas stovetop in the soapy water to clean, too. 

Step 2

Pick up any food debris at the bottom of the oven. Mix baking soda with a few drops of lemon essential oil or lemon juice until it becomes a spreadable paste. Spread the baking soda paste out on the bottom of the dirty oven floor and around the sides of the oven as needed. Make sure to concentrate on the areas that are the worst. Don’t forget the heating elements. 

Step 3

Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spray it on the baking soda until it fizzes and bubbles. 

Step 4

Let the baking soda and vinegar sit for a few hours or overnight for stubborn stains. Since this happened to me at dinner time, I let this sit overnight and cleaned it out in the morning. You can close the glass door while it soaks. 

Step 5

While the reaction is happening inside the oven, use a scrub brush or a scouring pad on the racks and grates in the tub to try to clean anything off of them. Then take them out and place them on a towel to allow them to dry.

Step 6

After the mixture in the oven has had time to set, use a scrub brush and a little elbow grease on the stubborn spots and work on the grime stuck to the bottom. For me, this didn’t take a lot of hard scrubbing, just time to get the entire thing. 

Step 7

Use a damp cloth or damp sponge with warm water, or a wet-dry vacuum to remove the baking soda and vinegar from the oven. I used a wet rag and had a large bowl right there to dump the bits in and keep going.

I had to clean the rag out a few times, but I didn’t feel like getting the vacuum from the garage and then having to clean that out later. 

Step 8

If the oven is really bad, you may have to do this once more. If not, go ahead and replace the racks and marvel at your clean oven!

Now, if only I could figure out a way to clean the oven glass. No matter what I do, that is always a mess! At this point, I think it’s either burned into it or somehow between the double panes.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_bicarbonate
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

How to Naturally Clean the Oven with Minimal Effort

No one likes to clean the oven, but it can be done easily with this natural cleaning combination and just a bit of time.

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Rest Time 6 hours hours

Total Time 6 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp dish soap
• 1 cup baking soda
• 1 cup white vinegar

Recommended Equipment

• 1 Towel
• 1 Mixing Bowls – Stainless Steel
• 1 Spray Bottle
• 1 Scrubbing Brush
• 1 Cloth
• Rubber Gloves

Instructions

• Make sure the oven is cool and remove the racks from the oven. Place these in a bathtub to soak in hot water and squirt some dish soap in there. Hint: place a towel on the bottom so they don’t scratch the surface. I also put the grates from the gas stovetop in the soapy water to clean, too.
• Pick up any food debris at the bottom of the oven. Mix baking soda with a few drops of lemon essential oil or lemon juice until it becomes a spreadable paste. Spread the baking soda paste out on the bottom of the dirty oven floor and around the sides of the oven as needed. Make sure to concentrate on the areas that are the worst. Don’t forget the heating elements.
• Fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spray it on the baking soda until it fizzes and bubbles.
• Let the baking soda and vinegar sit for a few hours or overnight for stubborn stains. Since this happened to me at dinner time, I let this sit overnight and cleaned it out in the morning. You can close the glass door while it soaks.
• While the reaction is happening inside the oven, use a scrub brush or a scouring pad on the racks and grates in the tub to try to clean anything off of them. Then take them out and place them on a towel to allow them to dry.
• After the mixture in the oven has had time to set, use a scrub brush and a little elbow grease on the stubborn spots and work on the grime stuck to the bottom. For me, this didn’t take a lot of hard scrubbing, just time to get the entire thing.
• Use a damp cloth or damp sponge with warm water, or a wet-dry vacuum to remove the baking soda and vinegar from the oven. I used a wet rag and had a large bowl right there to dump the bits in and keep going.
• I had to clean the rag out a few times, but I didn’t feel like getting the vacuum from the garage and then having to clean that out later.
• If the oven is really bad, you may have to do this once more. If not, go ahead and replace the racks and marvel at your clean oven!

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All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.

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