How to clean a 'self-cleaning' oven?

[gate_pourri]

I apologize for this really stupid question.

I have a new stove I got last month. Today, I put in a frozen pizza, which proceeded to fold at the ends and drip cheese and sauce all over the bottom of my oven. That resulted in a ton of smoke billowing out, and 3 fire alarms going off. I live in a high rise with automatic sprinklers (which I don't think go off easily, but I am afraid to find out), so I ran around like a chicken without a head, opening every window in my condo and fanning the alarms.

So, now I sit here with half cooked frozen pizza, trying to figure out how to clean this oven. If I turn on the 'self clean' function, will it result in a tons of smoke?

Help!

 

[golfgal]

You should be ok. It sounds like the grease from the cheese hit the element. You might want to take a damp cloth and wipe that off before you clean the oven just to be safe.

 

[Poohforyou]

The oven won't smoke but it will get extremely hot and the cleaning process takes several hours. You will want to open the windows when you do it since there can be fumes. Once the oven unlocks there will be an ash like residue that you can just wipe up with a damp cloth. The plus side of the whole thing is your oven will look brand new.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I once had a catastrophic mess because of making duck. It smoked something terrible so I'd suggest putting on the self cleaning setting in the morning while it's still cool out so you can open up all the windows in your place and air out the smoke you might get.

The smoke was so bad ADT called the fire department and I had to explain my lousy cooking habits to an entire firehouse while my kids and the entire cul-de-sac showed up to see what the commotion was all about. Too funny, good thing I have no problem laughing at myself

 

[walden]

I apologize for this really stupid question.

I have a new stove I got last month. Today, I put in a frozen pizza, which proceeded to fold at the ends and drip cheese and sauce all over the bottom of my oven. That resulted in a ton of smoke billowing out, and 3 fire alarms going off. I live in a high rise with automatic sprinklers (which I don't think go off easily, but I am afraid to find out), so I ran around like a chicken without a head, opening every window in my condo and fanning the alarms.

So, now I sit here with half cooked frozen pizza, trying to figure out how to clean this oven. If I turn on the 'self clean' function, will it result in a tons of smoke?

Help!

Not a stupid question at all. That must have been some pizza!

First of all try to scrape off as much of the melted stuff as you can with a plastic spatula/scraper. Try hard. The more residue the worse the smoke, but don't scrape off the oven finish.

Second, open all windows. Now hit the self cleaning button. Wait for 3 -4hours. If the oven is truly self cleaning you will just have a little ash to wipe up. But there will be some smoke.

Been there done that and survived.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I will never use the self-cleaning option.
I had roommates use it and it set off the fire alarms.

 

[gate_pourri]

Thanks for the advice!

It looks like it is mostly ash there now. So I will try a wet cloth and then see if I need to do the self clean option.

My worry is: Are you able to stop the self clean option? I mean, if a ton of smoke comes billowing out, can I turn the cleaning off? Maybe I will turn it on to a high temperature (say 450) first for a few minutes and see if there is anything left that will smoke? I am so afraid of these sprinklers...

THANKS!

 

[Gigi22]

I have an older stove with the self-cleaning feature. At least in older stoves like mine, you can't turn off the self-cleaning feature--when I switch the self-clean function on, the oven door locks and will not unlock until the cycle is over and the oven temperature has decreased to a significantly lower temperature. It is a safety feature.
You might want to check your stove manual, or google it, if you don't have the print version any more, to find out if you have a manual override. The whole cleaning process takes the better part of a day. If I get smoke coming out, I put on my kitchen hood fan and that takes care of any problems.

 

[Poohforyou]

Do you have the owner's manual for your oven? If not you might want to try finding it online. I know I have to take the racks out of mine when I use the self cleaning option. Also I can stop the self cleaning cycle but the oven won't unlock until it has cooled.

 

[twinglesmome]

Do you have the owner's manual for your oven? If not you might want to try finding it online. I know I have to take the racks out of mine when I use the self cleaning option. Also I can stop the self cleaning cycle but the oven won't unlock until it has cooled.

I was just going to say to remember to remove the racks! I forgot once and my racks turned black. I've scrubbed and scrubbed, but can't get them silver again

 

[golfgal]

Do you have the owner's manual for your oven? If not you might want to try finding it online. I know I have to take the racks out of mine when I use the self cleaning option. Also I can stop the self cleaning cycle but the oven won't unlock until it has cooled.

This is how my oven works too.

 

[mjkacmom]

Mine is over 10 years old, and when I start to set off smoke alarms when cooking, I know it is time to do the self-cleaning cycle. It heats up the house nicely in the winter, plus I put the ceramic stove burners and covers in the oven, and a few hours later, I just wipe down with a wet paper towel, and everything is clean like brand new.

BTW, DH has NO idea how easy this is, and I always comment how I spent the whole day really cleaning the oven and stove.

 

[lizabu]

What they said and also to add my Mom didn't take her racks out and they actually bent due to the heat so don't forget to remove them

 

[SandrA9810]

The last time I did it, I was able to stop it about half way through. About 2 hours into it. But I did have to wait another hour before it cooled enough for the door to unlock.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I always leave the racks in the oven when I use the self-cleaning cycle. My owners manual says that it's okay to leave them in, it will just take the shine off the racks. I would rather have dull oven racks than have to clean them by hand. I would try to google an owners manual though. I'm sure there's different rules for each oven.

 

[MrsPete]

Two comments:

If you genuinely think you MUST stop the self-cleaning process mid-way and your oven won't allow it, just flip off the electrical circuit at the box. That'll stop the smoke in a hurry.

If you have baked-on stuff on your oven racks (or pans, for that matter), spray them well with spray-on oven cleaner,seal them in a black plastic trash bag, and set them in the sun a few hours. Works best on a hot, hot summer day. I promise, they'll they'll be clean as new. But don't do this on trash day -- that could lead to trouble.