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Do you clean your oven before or after?

12 years ago

We'll be doing a 10# turkey tomorrow by high heat, and the oven needs cleaning. So, do you clean your oven before or after?

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Comments (17)

wizardnm
12 years ago
I would clean it before doing the turkey. High heat can cause a lot of smoke if the oven is dirty...ask me how I know.

Nancy
donnar57
12 years ago
Yes, I would clean the oven first. Nobody likes a smoky house, and that COULD set off your smoke alarms.

Donna
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Hi everyone, I was going to suggest turning off the smoke detector. Can you twist the body of yours and remove it? Easier than taking out the battery. Do you have a test button on your detector? Usually there's a button to push to make it beep to show that it's O.K. Or - you can set your toaster near it and turn the control to "Dark" before toasting ... anyone in your house like dark toast, like son does? He's welcome to it ... I like mine light golden. The one that my landlord installed a year or so ago has another button that you can push to make it shut up for ... something like 15 min., I think. Have you ever heard, with all of the wonderful discoveries that modern man has made, whether they've developed one of them for a kid? The electric stove here is rather old. I doubt that it may be a self-cleaner. What kind of control indicators indicate a self-cleaning oven, please? Has any of you heard of a wife with a button on her neck to push to keep her from getting hot under the collar? Have a great (short) week. ole joyful P.S. I've been around for quite a while, but ... haven't found the "self-clean" button to push on me, yet. It must be in the middle of my back, somewhere, I think. o j
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Rusty
12 years ago
Depends on the condition of the oven.

If it has spills in it,
definitely before.
Otherwise, clean it after,

Rusty
sheesh
12 years ago
You're supposed to clean the oven? Huh. Mine is nine years old, and I never found out if the self-clean function works. I can no longer see throuh the glass on the door, but I do "sweep" out the crumbs that collect on the oven floor. Clean ovens are over-rated!
John Liu
12 years ago
How bad is your oven? I never clean mine. Okay, maybe once every few years. I don't like the self-cleaning cycle, I think the heat is bad for the electronics of an appliance that is already shoddily made in China and at 12 years old is well past its designed mean time before failure. And last time the self-cleaning door lock wouldn't disengage and I had to disassemble the oven to get it open. So I wouldn't run the self-cleaning before an important dinner. Maybe I'd use elbow grease to clean up the worst of the spills. Otherwise I'd just crank the vent fan, crack the windows, close the doors, unplug the smoke detector, and roast away.
lindac
12 years ago
If a "dirty oven" has been used often enough, all the grease and spills will be burned off and there's no need to clean it before doing a high heat bird.
Someone once calculated that to run a full cycle clean it costs nearly $6.00 in power....think about it before you set the dials!
Linda C
foodonastump
12 years ago
Clean? I'm just praying the darned thing works. Bought it off Craig's List a few weeks ago and haven't installed it yet. On my to-do list for today as I'm hosting Christmas dinner. Please wish me luck. It's OLD!
mustangs81
12 years ago
YES, because my SIL might look to see if it's clean.

I did recently ruin the finish on my beautiful, much loved, Breville toaster oven by cleaning it with oven spray (I tried ammonia first).

FOAS, Good luck! The first time I cooked Christmas dinner (which was the first week in our new house), the turkey wouldn't fit! We were busy moving in and I didn't realize that the oven was an apartment size oven.
diinohio
12 years ago
Hahaha sherrman, I agree!
pris
12 years ago
I don't know about you guys, but, if it came down to me cleaning the oven the old fashioned way or spending $6.00 worth of electricity--- Well, you can guess what I would do. (That's true even if I had hands and knees capable of doing so.) I also don't let it get that bad. If I get a bad spill, it gets cleaned right away. I set it for the shortest cycle I can, 2 hrs on my oven, and have the option of canceling sooner if need be.
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
12 years ago
Just to add my 2 cents, I would have cleaned before, for no other reason than the fact it was dirty, and if necessary, after. I have a self cleaning oven that does work well.
lyndaluu2
12 years ago
I clean mine when it starts to smoke while cooking something in it. I just set it at night and in the morning it sparkly clean.

Linda
ann_t
12 years ago
Helene, I'm sure you already know this, but if you use a pan that is just big enough for your turkey, you shouldn't have smoke. Unless something spilled in your oven recently, I wouldn't bother cleaning it now.

Ann
John Liu
12 years ago
FOAS, what kind of oven did you get?
pkramer60
12 years ago
High heat roasting in a dirty oven may not smoke up your house but it sure gives off the most unpleasant odor. Ask me how I know!
Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
12 years ago
I wrongly gave the impression I am super clean which I'm not! But I do have an easy to use self cleaning oven so I use it often.
ci_lantro
12 years ago
After! I had the same experience as Johnliu. Set the oven for the clean cycle and after cleaning, the lock wouldn't unlock. Something of an ordeal to get the dang oven to open. DH had to do some disassembly and, after that, the clean cycle won't work. It's a Kenmore rebadged General Electric hunk of junk. We don't use the oven a whole lot anyway so I just keep up w/ the spills w/ Comet or an SOS pad.

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