Bubble, Bubble, Toil And Trouble … Cast A Cleaning Spell On That Dirty Oven!
Written: Jul 21 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Will clean anything that you can possibly get stuck on the inside of your oven
Cons: Strong fumes, can burn skin, messy clean up.
The Bottom Line: Teach that dirty oven a lesson with Easy Off Heavy Duty Over Cleaner!
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| Freak369's Full Review: Easy-Off Oven Cleaner, Heavy Duty, Original |
I knew it was only a matter of time, eventually it was going to happen – my new oven would need to be taught a lesson of who is in charge. For the past six months its been a honeymoon of sorts; I gave it a brand new home with lots of other shiny appliances, used it on a regular basis and always made sure that I took care to line the bottom of it with aluminum foil when baking or cooking anything messy. Even with all my care and anal retentive cooking habits, the inside of it looked like hell. Not just “oh, that looks like hell” but in a more grotesque sense of the term. Deep in the back of the oven I found the most disgusting thing – and solved the month long question of why my kitchen always smelling like teriyaki sauce. So what was this mystery item? A small but obviously potent and dehydrated chicken breast that must have fallen off of the baking sheet and every time I heated up the oven, the smell of that little piece of chicken would fill the house. Since it had been charred to an almost crisp, I wasn’t readily visible when I peeked inside the oven … grabbing my extra long tongs, having a zip lock baggie on hand and looking like I was doing some type of alien autopsy, I delved into the dark recesses of my oven and wonder how in the blood hell so much food managed to accumulate in just six months.
Being someone that takes cleaning seriously, I have several different version of the Easy-Off Over Cleaner under the sink but from personal experience, when you are dealing with something that is this nasty, the light duty version won’t even touch it. Sure it will help to loosen things up but you’ll still have to shove your head in there and feel like you are reenacting a scene from Hansel & Gretel. That’s where the Heavy Duty Original comes into play. This takes longer to use but the end result is a clean oven without having to scrub, scrape and swear your way through the process. I am not going to lie here, there is a definite smell to it, no, I take that back, it’s not a smell, it’s an odor – the kind that you instantly know yet can’t manage to but a label on it. If you have a nasty oven that needs a good cleaning, this is the product for you. On a personal note, this is also a great way to get some ‘mom time’ – you wouldn’t want to expose your family to these noxious fumes would you? Tell them they need to leave for a few hours … for their protection of course … heat up the oven, turn it off, spray on the gunk, close the door to the oven, relax for a half hour than come back and wipe it clean. Make sure you leave a few of the dirty paper towels around in case anyone gets suspicious … this is also a great way to get out of cooking dinner. After a long hard day of cleaning, the last thing you want is to cook right? Impress that upon the family unit and you’ll be scarfing down pizza or sucking up some Chinese food in now time.
Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner, Original Formula
One of the most important things to remember when using this product is that you need to have adequate ventilation. Aside from that, rubber gloves and eye protection are something that I strongly suggest – especially if you are dealing with something that needs to be scraped off. The last thing you want hitting your eyes or face is built up gunk – let alone built up gunk that’s been soaking in this stuff for a half hour. The directions for using this are pretty simple but it still amazes me that people don’t take three minutes to read the side panel of instructions and precautions. I often mention in my reviews that I never read the instructions for most things; this is most definitely an exception. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F then turn it off, you do not want to spray this inside an over that is still on. Repeat that until it is engraved in your mind. This is an aerosol product and we all know what happens to aerosol products when they meet a flame. After you have turned off the oven you can then spray a liberal amount of this on the walls and bottom of the oven. I take out the racks and spray them outside if they need cleaning, most of the time I toss them in the bathtub and give them a good soak.
If you are dealing with an oven that needs a lot of work, make sure that you have plenty of paper towels to clean out the gunk once it’s had a chance to work. If you are a messy person, make sure you pay attention to the small gap on the door; this is one of the places that I always end up with the gunk leaking out or dripping. If you have a light in your oven you can flip it on from time to time to see how the cleaning process is going rather than opening the door and releasing the fumes. Again, proper ventilation is a must here, if you don’t have an exhaust fan then make sure you open a window or have a fan blowing in fresh air. Never mix this with any other cleaner, to do so is truly taking your life in your hands and will almost always result in a chemical reaction that will clean your oven but might land you in the hospital. Depending on the level of dirt and build up, you can expect results from ten to thirty minutes. You will need to wash out the inside of the oven thoroughly when done, this is probably the most time consuming thing in my opinion and if you are slightly compulsive like me, you will be paranoid about residue or left over chemicals laying in wait for the next time you use the oven.
Even though this is called Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner, you can use it for other applications. I have two grills – a large metal beast that gets used when I’m cooking for more than six people and a small patio sized one [propane] that gets used for my daily grilling needs. Since I use different sauces and marinades, the grill surface gets trashed quickly and there is only so much dirt and baked on gunk that you can remove with a grill scraper. Once a week I toss down some old newspaper, prop this up against the wall and give it a good coating of Easy-Off Heavy Duty Oven Cleaner. I try to do this in the afternoon when I know the sun is going to be hitting the side of the house – really helps to kick that cleaner into overdrive. You will still need to use a grill brush or scraper to get into the corners and joints but using this spray on cleaner makes it a lot easier to get the job done. Rinsing is simple with the garden hose, if that’s not an option, a few buckets of water works just as well but you will want to make sure that you rinse this completely since you are going to be exposing it to not only a flame but food as well.
Safety Issues
While I made a joke about getting some “mom time” and using cleaning the oven as an excuse, it is a good idea to have little ones far away from this stuff, especially if they have any type of breathing issues. You will need to wear rubber gloves when working with this, not latex or thin disposable dish washing gloves – but those big smelly ones that have that scent that gets engrained in your skin. Don’t wear good clothing because no matter how careful you are, you will get some of the cleaner and gunk on you. If you do get any on your skin was it immediately with soap and water but do not use anything abrasive like a fingernail brush or scrubber. Contact with eyes can be avoided by wearing goggles – not only will this protect you from fumes and splashes but if you are a contact lens wearer, the danger of getting this on your lens then having to rip off your gloves to try to remove it. Storage is not a big issue, treat this like you would any other aerosol product – don’t use near an open flame, store in a cool place, replace the cap after use and never allow a child to play with it.
The Bottom Line
This is a great aerosol based cleaner for ovens, removable grill tops and for the bottoms of pots and pans that have burn marks. When used with care this will cut your cleaning time in half but you have to follow the instructions and read the precautions. This is a powerful product that is designed to tear through built up dirt, grime and backed on food – so image that on your skin. You might not think that you need to wear gloves or flick the exhaust fan on high, but trust me, you do. If you have a dirty oven or grill and other cleaners haven’t made a dent in it, I highly suggest checking this out and giving it a try.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2004 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
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