From: Natalie
For Cleaning the oven….

Jill, thank you for the simple wisdom of waiting
(unless unforgiveably filthy!) until after the
holiday to clean the oven.

Today I put mine on a
long “self clean” cycle and had a little stroke
of wisdom myself.

Now, you must be very, very careful to do this…within fifteen minutes of the oven lock releasing, while the oven is still super hot, get the thickest cotton cleaning rag(s) you have and wet with cold water (no cleaning
agents!).

Wipe up the burnt stuff and put a
little elbow grease onto the stuff that didn’t
quite get incinerated.  Of course, you must
frequently re-wet the cold rag because the water
in the cloth will vaporize (steam) once touching
the hot surface, and you must pay attention to
not accidentally steam burn your hand.

But oh the water vaporization did a dream job on my oven
and it now glistens from heat, water, and a
careful rub down!

I would also caution anyone against adding a cleaning agent to this
technique.  The steam and heat release visible
water vapor, and adding anything might create a
fume that could be problematic.  Also be sure to
use a cottom cloth, because synthetics may melt.

I have used the method myself for cleaning my oven and it works great. BUT YOU MUST BE VERY CAREFUL!!! I wait until it still hot but I make sure it’s not so hot that I will burn myself. (Since I burn myself almost everyday cooking, another burn isn’t what I need, yes, I’m a terrible clutz!)

You may want to use those oven gloves if you’re like me.

Tawra