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??

Come and do mine Mary. 20 quid and a slice of cake. I'll throw in a cup of tea if you do the grill too.

Once a year in my house - pre Christmas.

It's a horrible job though and I hate it. To do it properly you need to use really powerful and toxic chemicals and I don't like that. I tried the vinegar and bicarb method a couple of times and it was ok-ish, but I had dried clumps of bicarb falling out of my oven for months afterwards.

I do have a good way of cleaning the wire racks though. We have a butler sink and I soak them in hot water and biological washing powder for a couple of hours. A quick scrub with a wire pad and they are gleaming. It's the only bit of oven cleaning that I actually enjoy.

My old oven was so filthy we binned the whole cooker when we moved.

I had good intentions to keep my brand new one all clean and sparkly but it's looking a bit shabby already.

I may have to get these magical people you speak of in to get it sorted!

Mary...I'll give you £40.
And wine

So for those with dirty ovens, you don't even scrape away bits of meat and fish that have dried on the bottom?!

Because isn't charred meat cooked to death for months potentially dangerous?

"When meat—be it beef, pork, fish, or poultry—is cooked at high temperatures, it forms heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). According to the National Cancer Institute, HCAs and PCAs cause cancer in animal models (think: lab rats). So far it's unclear if humans sprout cancer growths after exposure to HCAs and PHAs, but we aren't volunteering for any trials to find out for sure. "

I don't get bits of fish or meat on the bottom of my oven. It's usually fat.

I have a silicone liner on the bottom of my oven, put it in after the last time I had it done professionally.
My excuse? I have rheumatoid arthritis and find sitting or crouching on the ground for more than a few minutes very painful. I am also bone idle. I have the professionals in once a year and that seems to keep it in good condition, although I had a meringue incident two weeks ago. I was making a meringue basket and a chunk fell off in the oven, splatting down right on the burner and missing the liner. I've got off what I can.

Pales into insignificance to what we had when we moved in..
Was a fitted kitchen. A bad fitted kitchen, had tiled worktop that looked like it dated from the 70s. Looked like that was when it was last cleaned too.
I cracked the oven open and nearly passed out from the smell. Dh wandered in and asked what the foul smell was.
Didn't use it until I got a professional in who took one look and visibly recoiled! It was such a relief to rip that kitchen out and fit a new one and I had my stoves cooker back!

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?

I sometimes cook roast chicken but it is covered in foil and nothing spills. I don't cook lasagne or a vegetable tray bake.

I does depend a lot on the type of cooking you do and how you cook. When I moved into my first house years ago the oven was filthy. Mine has never looked like that even though I don't really clean it myself and have only had it professionally cleaned once.

I clean the hob at least twice a week and the grill pan after use but my oven doesn't require much cleaning. I think that a professional clean once a year will be fine.

marynary- I cover my chicken too- but I take off the foil for the last half hour to crisp up the skin.
It's not always practical or desirable to cover everything in an oven. Yorkshire puddings or pork crackling can't be covered.

I am beginning to understand why some people say they don't need to clean their ovens.
They don't use it much!!

It's not always practical or desirable to cover everything in an oven. Yorkshire puddings or pork crackling can't be covered.

I don't eat the skin on chicken so I don't care if it's crisp or not . I don't cook yorkshire or eat pork crackling either. As I said, I depends on what you cook and how you cook.

OK Marynary- I thought you had some special tips or techniques.
But you just don't use your oven very much.

I expect mine would stay clean in these circumstances too.

I couldn't get away with cleaning my hob just twice week.
Mary what are these ultra clean foods you cook?

I couldn't get away with cleaning my hob just twice week.
Mary what are these ultra clean foods you cook?

I'm not trying to give tips! I am just making the point that how often an oven needs cleaning depends on what it is used for and no everyone who doesn't constantly clean it is "filthy".

I don't eat any red meat or other greasy food. I mostly use the hob, grill and microwave. If I do use the oven, the food is covered and if something did drop I would wipe it straight away.

I couldn't get away with cleaning my hob just twice week.

Seriously? Do you spill a lot of food when you cook??

I wipe my hob down every day because unless you boil everything then things do splatter.

What types of things do you cook mary? Serious question.

What types of things do you cook mary? Serious question.

I cook a lot of stir frys and curry (on the hob).

And pasta with sauce.

Most things we cook aren't that messy either tbh. In the last few days

Lamb and aubergine pilaf - all made in one deep pan with lid

Baked salmon - in foil in oven so all mess in foil

Grilled vegetables and hallomi - on grilling Machine

My oven needs to be replaced. Thankfully the necessity to do a deep clean will then be resolved.

We do baked fish too, in foil. Also use a Tefal actifry quite often to fry things rather than the hob and that goes in the dishwasher afterwards.

cake- exactly.

Today I cooked bacon and mushrooms for breakfast, minestrone soup with falafels for lunch. Dinner was chicken and vegetable madras, chapatis, basmati rice and vegetable pakora.

The hob which I have just cleaned was covered drips of sunflower oil from deep fying pakora in batches, a dusting of flour and charred pieces of chapati, splashes of curry sauce, a few pieces of stray onion, black pepper and stray basil from the soup, some dries in splashes of rice water which flew over when the rice was boiling hard.

So in all I have cooked 17 meals today 5 people for breakfast, 5 for lunch and 7 for dinner.. My hob needs cleaned at least every day, often more.

I consider myself a tidy cook, but using the cooker inevitably means some mess.