How Often Should I Clean My Oven?

By: Sara Romano

Image by: Liliana Drew/Pexels

Kitchen

Sep 24, 2024

How Often Should I Clean My Oven?

By: Sara Romano

Between the holidays, entertaining, and plain old daily cooking, our ovens get a lot of use. And though it might not be a thrilling task to clean your oven, it’s certainly an important one.

A dirty oven can cause unpleasant odours in your kitchen, create smoke, and even change the flavour of your food (and not in a yummy way!).

Here’s how to tell when and how often you should clean this highly-used kitchen appliance.

Signs it’s time to clean your oven

Obvious messes on the racks, door, or bottom of the oven
Film on the oven door glass
Strange odours
Your oven is smoking as it heats up

How often should you deep clean your oven?

In general, experts recommend deep cleaning your oven once every three months. If you’re an avid chef or baker, you might want to consider doing it more often.

It's also always a great idea to clean up messes—say, a casserole bubbling over—as soon as possible. The longer grime stays in the oven, the harder it will be to remove. Kitchen Aid suggests wiping up spills while the oven is still warm, not hot, which can make it easier to clean.

Tips for cleaning your oven

If you have a self-cleaning feature on your oven, use it! This cycle can take a few hours to run, so be sure to schedule the time into your day.
Soak your oven racks in a bubble bath overnight to make scrubbing less of a hassle.
Clean up messes as soon as they happen to avoid drastic deep cleans.

Read more about o ven cleaning tips here.