Scour Pads? Check.
Toxic Fume Oven Cleaner? Check.
Wait a minute. I am supposed to be going "greener" in this project, right? Well, how can I clean my oven in a green manner? Whenever I don't know something I ask my BFF... Google. Well, I checked it out, and here's a recipe:
5 Tablespoons of baking soda
4 tablespoons of white vinegar
3 drops of liquid soap
a squeeze of lemon.
Mix all together into thick paste and use with sponge to remove caked on stains. Ok, that seems easy, only I'm a bit worried about the next line, "Hopefully you have a self-cleaning oven". I don't. I assume that just means that I'll have to use more elbow grease and this is going to be an ordeal... I mean, here's my oven before, don't judge me. (And I think I better make a double, uh hem, triple recipe of the above).
Shameful I say, shameful!! I've been putting clean food in a dirty oven. I want to ooh and ah at my shiny oven too, Mrs. Housewife!
America's Housekeeping Book, 1945, shares this insight on oven care: "A little foresight will prevent any difficult cleaning." Um, ok... any other great tidbits? "Daily Care includes wiping down any spilled food before it dries. If the oven is used, let it cool down and clean off any splatterings with mild scouring powder and fine steel wool". Well, at least I know preventative measures now. "Charred material can be removed with a brush or spatula. The right daily care should make it unnecessary to use drastic measures for cleaning". Alrighty then.
So I opted to use the green cleaner first, and honestly, I say if you don't have a lot of baked on crap in your oven, it would work perfectly! It worked for the door of my oven as well as most of the bottom of the oven (I did add boiling water to the bottom of the oven). But those big caked on spots just didn't want to budge. I did read that you can leave the baking soda on, using a spray bottle, keep spraying it damp with vinegar throughout the day, let it sit overnight then scrub it out, but frankly, I'm impatient. I want it done sometime today! So, I'm following Mrs. Housewife's advice (as she mocks me with the steel wool that I've been using for the last two hours!) and here comes the Easy-Off.....
Ok, after choaking and gagging over the fumes, I vow I will NEVER, NEVER use Easy-Off again! Maybe that's what happened the last time I cleaned the oven.... I sware I can smell the cancer causing agents with every breath I breathe! America's Housekeeping Book, I will, I will clean out my splatterings after every baked meal..... just don't make me use that easy off ever again!!
So, finally, here is my after picture:
I know now how valuable a self-cleaning oven must be.... in fact, it must truly be a WIFE SAVER!
I love the first selling point: Every year, the chore of cleaning ovens claims the good humor of countless homemakers (uh huh! I'm proof!)... not to mention the damage to hands, knees, backs, and busy schedules! (Amen, and if your checking out the date of this post, you'll see it's taken me a couple days to get it looking spotless!) Oh how I need a self-cleaning oven... ;) I did find a pretty cool modern.... RETRO STYLED oven! How cool is this?!
Ah, I can totally picture that right beside my red Kitchen Aid mixer! How I miss those fun colored appliances from the 50s! This little beauty *ONLY* costs $4195! Ah, one can dream tho! In 1950 an oven cost $144.95 which would be $1,327.68 today.
Well, for now, I'm going to make sure to jot down on my list, "Clean oven after every use". I've been keeping an ongoing list as I continue on my journey of things I need to get, do, and what I need to incorporate into my schedule.
I also learned what a "drip pan" is. My oven came with 2 trays... one looked like a cookie sheet type pan, only deeper, and another is a "broiling pan" (Which I still haven't found what it is used for!) But apparently the drip pan does just that... collect drips. It's supposed to be in the bottom of your oven so things don't crust down by the heating element. Guess it makes cleaning a lot easier when you just have to remove the pan, wash and put it back in!
Next thing I'm working on is the refrigerator! And, just in case your wondering.... yes, they make the fridge in red too..... *drool*
Til next time~
~Angela~
No comments:
Post a Comment