Best way to clean baked-on gunk from oven pan?

[skywolf]

Hoping someone can help me. My range cooker came with a large rectangular metal pan that sits on a rack fitted to the inside of the door. I usually cook oven chips and roasties in there, and occasionally a meat joint.

Over time this pan has become completely manky with baked-on gunk. I've tried everything to loosen the gunk even enough for me to scrub the pan but nothing seems to be working:
I've let it sit with boiling water in it
I've let it sit with bicarb and white vinegar in it
I've let it sit with bicarb, white vinegar and boiling water in it
I've tried a couple of proprietary oven cleaners
Nothing's worked.

A visit to the manufacturer's website today showed a replacement pan to be quite expensive so that's a final option. Not a cheapskate or anything and will replace the pan if I have to, but some part of me wants victory over the gunk!

Anyone any tips on how to remove it? Or should I just give in gracefully, chuck the pan and get a new one?

Just use bicarb alone, with hot water. If you add vinegar, it neutralises the bicarb and makes it useless.

Or just get some oven mate.

Bio washing powder?

I rate The Pink Stuff cleaner.

Try submerging in water with a good scoop of bio washing powder (this is what I do to clean the oven shelves)

Fairy Power Spray is quite good - you’d have to do it a few times though

Or you could try Oven Pride, where you put the thing (oven shelves usually but tray should be ok) in a giant plastic bag with the chemical stuff. It does an amazing job on filthy shelves

Thanks for responses. I shall check my washing powder and see if it's bio and if not will buy a box locally tomorrow. I didn't realise that WV neutralises bicarb! I see so much online about using both together...

I'd never heard of The Pink Stuff cleaner but just googled it and it's 69p in Poundstretcher and £6.75 on amazonuk for same size tub!!!!! Good grief. Does this Pink Stuff actually work though?

GiantKitten crossed post then. Thanks for the OP recommendation too. I'll try all of these in turn and hopefully one will work

looks like Wilko is cheapest

Found it on poundstretcher for £2.49 :-)

Even better

Aldi have it sometimes too but I don’t think it’s that cheap even there!

It does an amazing job on even really badly burnt on stuff - it is messy but incredibly effective

The Pink Stuff works for me. Can use it on loads of things as well. I got it for a quid in B&M the other after hunting high and low when last pot ran out.

...other day...

Oven Pride is amazing stuff, agree.

If you leave Oven Pride overnight on things like that it has fantastic results.

Use steel wool on it.

Rub it directly with a dish washing tablet. I’ve read it on here in the past and it’s been pretty successful for me.

Oh gosh I just washed “how clean is your home”. I think they used tons of salt and a grapefruit to rub on, but I could be wrong that might be for tiles but the non-biological (?) I think powder goes straight on it with hot water and you have to keep it hot so the chemical reaction works. Then wipe off. You might need to google it. Sorry my memory is trash here.

PS that programme is great for ideas around this sort of thing. Look up on YouTube.

Oh and to NOT ruin your surfaces I learnt use a nylon scrub cloth not steel wool. Steel wool will damage the surface.

Buy a bottle of ammonia. Put the oven tray into a bin bag tie up and leave outside overnight. The burnt on gunk will then just wipe off in hot water.

This was told to me by someone in charge of military housing where the ovens have to left pristine. I have done this for years and it always works.