Get off my self-cleaning oven!

December 2, 2020 by
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While scrolling through my news feed today ogling the gorgeous baking recipes that proliferate during this time of year, I noticed a striking image of an oven on fire, and a title that warned of impending doom: ‘Resist the urge to use this oven setting‘. In case you were confused as to what they meant, the subtitle cleared it up by explaining that “The self-clean button opens a portal to hell.”

Normally when I read an opinion piece that I do not agree with I just shake my head and move on, but this screed against self-cleaning ovens rankled me. The rest of the afternoon I searched for the reason this so roused my ire. As a baker who uses her oven daily and the self-cleaning oven regularly, I wasn’t buying the author’s arguments. Her description of what happens when you use the self-clean feature is far from anything I have experienced. “Almost everyone I know has either never used it or used it once and then vowed never to use it again,” she proclaims. Huh.

What the hell are these people doing in their ovens? Scratch that, I don’t want to know. It’s not that I am a neat baker – far from it. I forget to put catch pans under my pies. I put too much batter in my cake pans. I broil fatty things. My oven gets messy and splattered. Yet all I need do is pick up the big chunks and swipe a paper towel across the floor prior to setting the self-clean function, and my oven gets remarkably clean. Yes, I need to do another swipe after the cycle is run, but it is a lot less work than scrubbing a dirty oven with rubber gloves, scrub pads, and stinky cleaner. And I have yet to experience any of the horrifying results enumerated in this article.

It’s the sense of entitlement and laziness that irk me. The author’s notion that the self-cleaning feature should be some kind of “magic” device is a tell. It sounds like she isn’t doing the most basic things you should do before hitting ‘self-clean’, which every (unread) instruction manual explains. You can’t leave huge gobs of goo on the bottom of the oven and expect them to magically disappear. It’s not the oven’s fault you can’t be bothered to read the instructions or perform a bit of tidying beforehand. And instead of running the self-clean oven frequently to keep it from becoming a disaster, she would rather spray noxious chemicals? Wait, wasn’t she complaining about the odors?

If I sound a bit curmudgeonly (hey you kids get off my lawn!), I can’t help it. This article typifies an area of food writing that annoys me greatly. Find something that you don’t like, and even (or especially) if you do not understand it, ridicule it. It’s less funny than it is lazy. No one enjoys well-executed snark more than I do, but it works best when you have mastery over the subject and can dig at the underlying ironies. If good snark is a fencer’s foil, this article was a caveman’s club. And self-cleaning ovens rock.

Category: Antipasto

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18 Comments

  • Jenny  on  December 2, 2020

    You go girl!

  • MarciK  on  December 2, 2020

    I ran the self-cleaning recently, much needed, while I was in the last hours of work for the day. My cat got very concerned and wouldn’t stop meowing. He kept coming to the office trying to get me until finally I followed him to the basement. I set up a chair in my cold cement basement with him until the cycle ended and the oven cooled down. He perceived some sort of danger with the smell and heat that he felt he needed to save me from. So sweet.

    • Darcie  on  December 3, 2020

      What a sweet boy! My cats would only be concerned if they felt like their food supply was at risk.

  • Cameronfalls  on  December 2, 2020

    I will never, no never, go back to scrubbing an oven by hand. On my knees, inhaling those noxious fumes, with buckets and rags? Nopeity nope. Self cleaning, baby!

  • bookpoet  on  December 3, 2020

    Our ovens have the self-cleaning feature, but the high heat will break the sensors in many of them if it is used (even if correctly). Happens all the time. Has happened to me and the repair guy says yup, it happens all the time. Unfortunately, at the moment it’s very difficult for the repair places to obtain parts to fix this, should it happen. My oven could use a good cleaning, but I’m not going to risk it during the holidays and before what will likely be a difficult winter.

    • Darcie  on  December 3, 2020

      Good point about parts availability right now, and replacing almost any appliance means weeks of wait too.

  • vickster  on  December 3, 2020

    I appreciated this because I read that article also. Self-cleaning isn’t magic, but I agree with you that it is very helpful and I would rather use it and do a little other cleaning than clean the whole thing with the horrible chemical cleaner!

  • Shelmar  on  December 3, 2020

    I wish I had a self cleaning oven. I have had one in other homes, but my current home lacks that feature. In fact, that was a downside to moving to this home from the start. I left a home that I had a double self cleaning wall oven and a great gas cooktop. I still dream about that kitchen.

  • PanNan  on  December 3, 2020

    Agree! I’ve had self-cleaning ovens for many years and have never had any problems using it as recommended in the instruction manual. I can’t imagine anyone choosing to use the old scrubbing/chemical method if they have the self-clean option.

  • Rinshin  on  December 3, 2020

    That is a a crazy article by F &W. I have used the self-clean function in my current oven for over 20 years and never had any problems and never will. OTOH, my newest air purifier senses whenever I am cooking and goes from green to orange or red signaling I am polluting my house. Irritating because it tries to get rid of great smell of food. My two other different brand purifiers are content with me cooking and stays green.

  • Shortninbread  on  December 3, 2020

    I too know folks who have experienced safety features which immediately render the oven completely inoperable from the high temps. Wall ovens must be hauled out by a repair person to access the faulty part before they can be used again, which can at times mean weeks to get an appointment, parts ordered, & installed! It really is a ridiculous manufacturer/design flaw, but it’s also very common on newer appliances. I’ve also been told by more than one appliance tech to never use a self cleaning feature due to exactly this. I currently have (& love) my 50 year+ old appliances, on which newfangled stuff like that is usually a nonissue. That said, as far as fires from old food etc, there do seem to be a lot of people nowdays who want everything to be as easy as a press of a button without the slightest hint of elbow grease, and that’s just silly on their part, lol. It shouldn’t take a genius to know those big greasy globs they left down there are probably gonna ignite at high temps. 😉

    • Darcie  on  December 3, 2020

      That is unfortunate. I have had self-cleaning ovens for about 15 years and never experienced a problem. FWIW, mine were both GE Profile ovens (one wall oven, one freestanding range). Lucky for me I am fairly handy and was able to DIY the parts that did break (including the touchpad panel on the wall oven and the range’s inner oven glass that cracked when I dripped cold water on it).

  • sir_ken_g  on  December 3, 2020

    https://www.appliancesconnection.com/blog/self-clean-vs-manual-clean-ovens
    Some newer ovens have two cleaning methods. The high temperature one that turns everything to ash. Those high temperatures can indeed shorten the life of your oven.
    The steam one. If your oven does not have that feature you can just put a pan of water on a low rack and heat to 300F for 30 minutes.
    Our oven instructions encourage the user to use the steam method.

    • Darcie  on  December 3, 2020

      Mine has both but the steam clean function does not work nearly as well.

  • Rinshin  on  December 4, 2020

    Regarding the smell during self-cleaning cycle, I always clean once a year during warmer months with all the windows and doors open. Without doing that, the odor bothers me immensely. I too have a dual fuel GE profile slide-in but my oven is older so it does not have a steam function.

  • Jenny  on  December 4, 2020

    My real estate agent told me to never use the self-cleaning oven feature because it shortens the life of your oven – I always used the self-cleaning option prior to her comments. Today, I couldn’t stand the dirty oven any longer – and I did a wipe up with a warm rag – and started it – it’s like 500 degrees in here now (the whole house), Andrew is screaming that the house is on fire – but my oven will be clean.

  • MKcooks  on  December 4, 2020

    I have double electric wall ovens. I fried the electronics of my last ovens with the self clean feature. The electronics are mainly above the top oven. With my new ovens, I cook “clean” non-spattering stuff in the top oven, and anything likely to make a mess I cook in the bottom oven. I’ve used the steam clean feature in the bottom oven, which is helpful, but not perfect.
    Hopefully my plan will prolong the life of these ovens.

  • infotrop  on  December 23, 2020

    I think this Bob Villa article has helpful guidance: https://www.bobvila.com/articles/self-cleaning-ovens/
    We shouldn’t dismiss the high energy consumption (and attendant cost) of self-cleaning ovens. I mainly use baking soda & water, letting it soak in overnight. Always amazed at how well this works!

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