Nearly every oven that’s manufactured today comes with a button or knob labeled “self cleaning.” Unless someone told you otherwise, you would probably assume this button cleaned your oven for you; after all, that’s what the name implies. Well, if you’re wondering just what in the world it does, keep reading and we’ll go through the title: Oven Self Cleaning Button Explained.
Purpose of The Self Cleaning Button on an Oven
The primary purpose of the self cleaning button on an oven is to heat the inside of the oven to an usually high degree; therefore, the stubborn food particles stuck to the sides of the oven will melt off and crisp on the bottom. As stated above, however, the self cleaning function isn’t going to fully clean your oven for you. While this would certainly be a nice feature, there’s nothing that’s going to fully clean your oven without putting in a little bit of elbow grease. Once you’ve ran the self cleaning function for its entirety, you can open the oven door and wipe out the ashes and burnt debris.
Things To Remember When Using The Self Cleaning Oven Function
If you’ve never used the self cleaning function on your oven before, you might be surprised at just how much heat it produces. Even with the oven door sealed and locked, some of the heat inevitably makes its way out and into your home, causing the temperature to rise. This increased temperature in your home can effectively make your air conditioner work harder during the summer and spring months, which translates into a higher monthly power bill. Because of this, I recommend closing off the doors in your home to try and trap the heat in a certain area. Depending on how your home is set up, this may or may not be an option for you.
Also, the self cleaning function usually takes at least a couple hours to complete if not more. During this time, you won’t be able to use your oven or even open the door, as it’s dangerously hot inside. So, go do some laundry, wash the dishes or help the kids with their homework until your oven is done self cleaning. After it’s done cleaning, give it a little while to cool down some and then you can wipe out the ash and food debris. You can either use a couple paper towels or a small brush to wipe out the remaining debris.
