Or is a dirty oven really that unusual??

[SandysMam]

I am currently having my oven cleaned by a professional oven cleaner. That is his main job...to clean the ovens of those who cannot be bothered. I will admit my oven is disgusting, I mean really gross, but probably no worse than anyone else who cooks but doesn't have time to clean it. However, upon inspection the man appeared shocked and disgusted!! Not even an act to justify his existence, genuinely shocked. I mean seriously, if your oven is bad enough to call in a pro cleaner, what does he expect? Or do people pay £40 to get thier already clean ovens cleaned? Am IBU or is he??

I hate cleaning the oven. I always manage to cut my hand on the pilot light for the gas grill.

I decided to do it yesterday and instantly regretted it, I used a bottle of oven pride and an hour and it almost looks new. There's a little bit on the curved corner that get splattered when I use the grill that needs another go.

I didn't know you weren't supposed to use oven pride on the glass I shoved the removable inner glass bits of the oven doors in the bag overnight yesterday, they look new so I just hope they don't explode when I use the oven tonight.

I bought a new cooker recently, I had the old one about 10 years and I don't think I ever cleaned the oven . I don't actually cook much in the way of roast meat etc. though, it's mainly baking (I am trying to justify myslef here )

I hate to think what the people thought when they took it away.

If it wasn't dirty enough to need professional cleaning; he'd be out of a job.

Bit of a tosser; showing his "disgust" . I wonder if all the other ovens he's asked to clean are already clean?

I've got one of those self cleaning ovens but I'm not convinced it does much other than heat it up so high stuff burns off. Will I wreck it if I use oven pride. If anyone else with one of these can advise I'd be most grateful!

I cleaned my oven when I moved into our previous house and then cleaned it again 8 years later before I moved out... I might have done the shelves a couple of times and I use the Lakeland oven liner which is great, but its a job I hate enough to avoid, so I say who cares what he thinks? You don't have to do it, thats the main thing!

Well I'd merrily clean my oven every single month without fail whilst whistling a merry tune. However I feel it's my civic duty to keep the Oven Cleaners in paid work I'm selfless like that.

This sort of thing really annoys me. Reminds me of the time I took my car to ASDA carwash and asked for a valet. The boy opened the boot/hatch and looked aghast at the dog hair (large German Shepherd, best dog in the World!). He said it would take too long to do it. I replied that I didn't mind paying more for extra time but he just didn't want to do it! Do people only bring immaculate cars for cleaning then?! And surely, if that is the case, then there will be a swings and roundabouts effect meaning they get away with a quick easy job sometimes?

Another thing - checkout staff in smaller Tesco or similar - sighing and eye rolling at people who wait to be served rather than use a self service checkout. As with oven cleaner man and idle car valeter, if people did these jobs themselves they would soon find themselves relieved of their employment.

I clean my own oven I'm afraid. I use it a lot, almost every day, and if something spills and burns it starts to smell. I clean it every few months, or sooner if there is a spillage. By cleaning it regularly the job in never too bad, actual hands on time is 20 minutes or so. I use a heavy duty cleaner, paint on, pop the shelves in the bags provided with the kit, and the dirt dissolves away easily.

The kit costs £1.

Where do you buy the £1 kit? Sounds good. My oven looks amazing however, well worth the scorn!!

I thought all ovens cleaned themselves, given enough time...

I've never cleaned an oven and rarely wondered/worried about cleaning one. Life's too short.

He sounds a bit rude, OP. Or he's pretending it's the worst oven he's ever seen so he can bump the price up.

£1 kit from Poundland.
I don't imaging it is as powerful as the stuff that professionals use, but I never let my oven get into a bad enough state that it becomes a huge job.

For those that never clean ovens- don't they smell a bit when you use them?
I find bits of food or dripped grease give off a very acrid smell, especially if you are using the oven at high temperatures.

I can always tell by the smell when I need to clean my oven.

Can you use those Lakeland liners if you have a fan oven as my manual says "don't put anything on the floor of the oven"?
I have a chest height oven in my utility room that I use, when I have too much for the oven in the kitchen (which is free standing) I can keep the chest height one clean but am unable to get down to clean the floor of the free standing one.

This thread is just like those blinking "Hoarder" programmes. I have had to clean my oven. Thanks all!

Don't use oven pride / the cleaning kits in a self clean oven, jerseygal dunno why but the manual says no.

I put the grill pan and the bits and bobs in the dishwasher- why would you scrub them????

When I had a problem with my fan the man who repaired it said Oven Pride was really bad stuff, especially I think when they get open the element. I find it leaves a white residue, I don't mind cleaning off the gunk but then it can take ages to clean the white bit off.
I had mine done this week. They quoted £45 and I said I would have it done if they did it for £35. I posted earlier in the week about it - he called me to see it and I didn't think it was good enough so I asked him to try harder on a few areas. It honestly wasn't that dirty in the first place. I asked how much to do the hob and he said 10. I didn't bother. I am in East Midlands.

He used a spray he said they mix up at work and Pink Stuff, like Astonish I think. Which costs a quid from the pound shop.

We had ours cleaned recently and I thought it was incredibly good value considering the oven part was only £40 and he left it really clean afterwards. We hadn't really cleaned it well in the ten years we have had it so it was probably very hard work. I gave him a big tip.

The man who cleaned your oven was pretty stupid to act disgusted but to be fair perhaps it was so dirty he really couldn't do a good job in the allocated time. I think how dirty it is depends on the type of cooking you do not just how often you clean it.

My oven was so filthy that my MIL badmouthed me to the entire of Gransnet!

For those that never clean ovens- don't they smell a bit when you use them?
I find bits of food or dripped grease give off a very acrid smell, especially if you are using the oven at high temperatures.

I don't cook anything that drips grease.

I used to have my oven cleaned when we lived in Wiltshire but sadly the company doesn't operate down here in Cornwall, the stuff he used was from Sweden I think, all natural and didn't use to smell at all.
Since we bought the Rangermaster I only use hot water and soap to clean it. I usually turn the oven to max for 20 minutes after I finished cooking the meal, then turn it off and wipe it with wet cloth. I bought Ecover spray to use on the glass door and the hob. I only use the ovenpride for the racks.

I don't cook anything that drips grease.

So you never cook a roast, or yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, a vegetable tray bake, or even lasagne which may bubble up and spill cheese or olive oil?

A roast or similar oil should drop into an oven dish though not actual oven surely

you mucky fuckers.

I can say that because I had to spend 3 hours cleaning it last Sunday as dh cooked a duck and the dog refused to come into the house until the smell had gone.

it was dark before he came in, and I had a clean oven. I spent all day Monday opening the door to look at it

In an ideal world yes.

In an ideal world no food would drop onto the kitchen floor, jam wouldn't dribble down our cupboard doors, pots would never boil over and make a mess of the hob, grease would never pop and splatter. But life isn't like that. Cooking food can be lively, thinks bubble, boil and pop, we sometimes make mistakes, we overestimate the weight of something as we take it from a hot oven, we overfill, foil doesn't cover properly.

If you are able to cook and are careful enough never have to clean then I take my hat off to you. Even professional chefs need to have their ovens cleaned.

My kitchen and oven work very hard and do need a lot of cleaning.