Do you know how to clean a burnt caramel mess?

[maslex]

I made brownies on Saturday and at the last minute I decided to drizzle some caramel sauce over the top of the brownine mix before baking them. I'm thinking I might have put way too much caramel sauce on it though.

At the time that I took the brownies out of the oven, I didn't realize that the caramel must have bubbled over the pan and onto the bottom of my oven. Then for the next two days I didn't use my oven at all. So last night, my son turns the oven on to preheat it and after about 5 minutes or so, he says, "What's the candle you're burning, it stinks" LOL I then realize that something must be burning inside the oven. When I opened the oven door, the smoke rolled out of it like crazy and I noticed that there was burnt caramel all over the bottom of the oven.

I scraped most of it up with a spatula (which took quite a bit of work) then I vacuumed up all the burnt pieces that I could. We turned the oven back on and it still smoked up a bit but I'm wondering how I'm going to get the rest of this caramel up. Should I use the self clean on the oven? Are there any good products out there that'll work?

I just want to be able to use my oven again without all the smoke and burnt caramel smell.

 

[cabanafrau]

What I do is turn on the oven as low as I can set it. Only let it get slightly warm and then turn off and put damp paper towels over the residue, leave them sit and then go back w/ the scraper once the mess is soft.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I've heard that salt can help. You dampen the stain with a paper towel, then sprinkle the salt on and let it sit for a few minutes. It's supposed to loosen it up so you can scrape more off.

 

[bjscheel]

I made the mistake of making monkey bread in an angel food cake pan. Most of the carmel leaked out the bottom. As I recall, the most burned parts were the easiest- they would scrape off. I scraped, soaked with wet paper towels, and scrubbed with an SOS pad.

 

[sbell111]

Am I the only person who would set the oven to 'clean', turn on the ventilation fan, and go do something else?

 

[happygirl]

Am I the only person who would set the oven to 'clean', turn on the ventilation fan, and go do something else?

LOL that what I would do as well

 

[usnuzuloose]

Use some oven cleaner.

 

[kwelch10377]

Am I the only person who would set the oven to 'clean', turn on the ventilation fan, and go do something else?

The heat from turning the oven to "clean" will most likely make the caramel harden even more, making it even more difficult to clean up. The sugar won't burn off like most foods do in a self cleaning oven.


To the OP try baking soda and cold water. The cold water should help soften the caramel, making it easier to scrap up.

 

[cabanafrau]

I can't use oven cleaner and get a nasty headache every time I've tried the self-clean, even w/ windows open. That's how I came up w/ my method of getting rid of the mess. The moist heat has cleaned up everything pretty easily w/ very little odor & not a lot of effort.

 

[sbell111]

The heat from turning the oven to "clean" will most likely make the caramel harden even more, making it even more difficult to clean up. The sugar won't burn off like most foods do in a self cleaning oven.

Self-cleaning ovens heat up to between 900 and 1000 degrees. Sugar is no match for those temperatures. Once the cycle finishes and the oven cools, wipe up the ash with a damp paper towel.

 

[kwelch10377]

Self-cleaning ovens heat up to between 900 and 1000 degrees. Sugar is no match for those temperatures. Once the cycle finishes and the oven cools, wipe up the ash with a damp paper towel.

I do a lot of baking and have tried cleaning caramel in more than one oven and self cleaning it hasn't worked for me.

 

[Kaspar Houser]

Buy a bottle of "Spray Freezer" and freez the caramel. Just use a flat iron spatula to remove the caramel.
I have a spray called " Rust Off" and also use it to remove chewing gum out of clothes.

 

[sbell111]

I do a lot of baking and have tried cleaning caramel in more than one oven and self cleaning it hasn't worked for me.

I'm no caramel expert, but the oven's 'clean' cycle worked to take care of overflowed apple pie mess. I doubt that caramel is much different once it's burned onto the bottom of an oven.

 

[lillygator]

I read this too quickly - I thought it said a burnt camel mess!!

oh my!