I need to clean my kitchen's oven really well. It is electric, has a "grill" element on top, and a fan behind a grating which, apparently, cannot be removed. I tried with the spray products for ovens but I cannot reach every part of it, and I always have the sensation that I'm not cleaning, I'm just detaching oil but even after removing it with paper and cleaning more with alcohol, the oven stays oily anyway.
Do you have any hint on how to clean it as close as brand new, and what are the precautions to keep (if any) in order not to ruin the grill element ?
Best Answer
Don't use alcohol to clean an oven.
If your oven has a "self cleaning" mode, try that. It basically puts the oven on full blast (2-3x the normal baking temperature) and "burns" all of the crud out. Sometimes there will be some charred stuff behind that you have to wipe out after it is done (see #3). Because of the extreme temperatures involved, there is usually a safety latch on the oven door to lock out the self cleaning mode.
Use oven cleaning spray. Easy-Off is the most popular example of this. You spray it on, wait a few hours, and then wipe it out with a damp sponge (follow the instructions). All of the crud in your oven will turn into a brown sludge that just wipes away. Be warned, oven cleaners are extremely caustic. Use rubber gloves, and don't rub your eyes while you are working. The fumes are nasty too. They have newer low-odor ones, but they can still make you gag.
Option #3 will make your oven look shiny and clean. However, it takes a lot of manual labor to get it looking good. Might take more than one cleaning session.