Every housewife knows that no matter how carefully you try to cook in the oven, fat splashes still fly onto the walls. And if you use a spit or grill mode during the cooking process, then cleaning the oven will be problematic. This will take a lot of time and effort, and if you don’t wash the oven regularly, the dirt turns into a dense greasy coating. To reduce oven care efforts to a minimum, modern household appliance manufacturers offer several types of oven cleaning.
“Self-cleaning” is a magic word, but it does not mean that the oven will clean itself of grease without your efforts. It sounds effective, but it still takes some work. Let’s figure out which cleaning system is better and what they generally are.
Today, there are four types of oven cleaning: traditional, hydrolysis, catalytic, pyrolytic.
Traditional cleaning
Most budget ovens have traditional cleaning. They need to be washed using household chemicals, rags and manual force. The inside of the chamber is covered with smooth, non-porous enamel and is called “Easy To Clean Enamel” or Granit. The purpose of this coating is not only to make it easy to clean, but also to protect the oven body from corrosion.
It is advisable to wash such an oven with such a coating after each use, using liquid cleaning products and a soft sponge. The walls of electric and gas ovens are covered with this enamel. The average service life of an oven is 10-15 years, depending on the quality of the device, regular use and maintenance. This cleaning option is most often ordered from a cleaning company, since not all housewives have time to clean the oven after each cooking. Over time, the cabinet does not please the eye and the smell is also so-so, but not for us, we know how to give the device its original look and smell.
Steam, hydrolysis or Aqua Smart, AquaClean
This method may be called differently by manufacturers, but the essence of the process is the same: you need to create steam in the oven at boiling temperature. The resulting “steam bath” softens fat and other contaminants, after which you need to clean the oven walls. Some models have special recesses at the bottom (instead of a baking sheet) for this procedure. But such a system cannot be called self-cleaning, since after the “steam bath” we still clean all the dirt with our hands, even if the softened ones are still removed manually. Do not use the method too often and do not leave water in the pan for a long time – this can lead to corrosion of the oven. Steam cleaning is suitable for both electronic and gas ovens. It is advisable to ignite the oven after cleaning, since modern household chemicals are very aggressive. To heat up the oven, simply leave it running for 1-3 hours at the highest possible temperature. If you use ECO products: soda, water, salt, vinegar, lemon, then this is not necessary.
Catalytic purification
If you open an oven with a catalytic cleaning system, you will see matte, rough gray panels. Most manufacturers equip their ovens with removable panels, since this coating has a certain service life of about 300 hours (4-5 years) and will require replacement. Ceramic coating provides an independent cleaning function for the oven walls, called Eco Clean. The panels are coated with a porous compound – a catalyst that absorbs and decomposes fat into water and carbon.
Despite all the advantages, such cleaning does not eliminate manual labor, since baking sheets, racks, guides, grill, oven door and bottom will have to be washed by hand. Catalytic panels require careful handling; if traces remain on them, then in isolated cases a liquid detergent and a soft sponge are used. Although according to the instructions they cannot be washed due to their special structure. But practice has shown that non-complicated moments on the panels can be removed quite easily, without causing harm to them.
If you don’t want to take risks, then you need to cook something again immediately after the first cooking, and perhaps everything will be clean on the second try. Catalytic panels lose their properties when sugar or dairy products come into contact with them. Take care of your panels and ovens by cleaning them regularly.
Pyrolytic cleaning
Another cleaning system for electric ovens is pyrolytic cleaning. Ovens with such a cleaning system are made of high-quality steel that can withstand very high temperatures. What is pyrolytic enamel? Unique ceramic enamel (active) Silver Matte is a high-strength, heat-resistant material that creates a perfectly smooth, non-porous surface. As a rule, the inner walls of the oven and the supplied baking sheets are covered with it.
Pyrolysis is the burning of all organic residues and contaminants that remain after cooking. To do this, the oven chamber is heated to a temperature of 500 degrees, the oven door is locked – you will not be able to open it until the cleaning is completed. Pyrolysis is rightfully considered the most effective way to clean an oven.
The pyrolytic cleaning process takes up to three hours. At the time of cleaning, the oven body heats up to seventy degrees and this must be taken into account when ordering kitchen furniture. Cleans all oven surfaces (not counting removable parts) and requires a minimum of manual labor. But there are also disadvantages to such cleaning – high energy consumption, an unpleasant burnt smell after the procedure, but of course such ovens cost an order of magnitude higher than usual.
Only you can decide what kind of oven you will have and how you will care for it. And we are always ready to help you keep everything in perfect condition.