Tips for cleaning the oven

September 27, 2024 8:00 AM

These days, I often cook big batches of skin-on chicken legs for soup stock. But this coats the oven with grease meaning that I have to clean it more often than I want. Tips?

I'm getting very tired of the gross smell in the oven and setting off the fire alarm because of the grease. I'm not talking about gobs of grease (ew), just that sort of thin layer that smokes nevertheless.

Easy-off isn't doing the trick. Can anyone recommend a better product or technique to get this oven clean and keep it that way? This is an electric oven, not gas if it matters.

posted by kitcat to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

How big is a big batch? Could you use an electric roaster oven, like people use for Thanksgiving turkeys, instead? That's a bit more cleaning-friendly.
posted by AzraelBrown at 8:03 AM on September 27

If I weren't too worried about crispy skin or browning, I'd probably just wrap/cover the pan in aluminum foil while cooking.
posted by General Malaise at 8:11 AM on September 27

Can you give some more info on your cooking method? You might be able to reduce the amount of grease thrown off by covering the chicken for most of its time in the oven, then finishing it uncover to get some browning.
posted by Jon_Evil at 8:14 AM on September 27

Actually, browning the skin of the chicken well is really important - sorry for not explaining that. It give the stock the best flavor and colour.
posted by kitcat at 8:18 AM on September 27

I wonder if a really deep roasting pan would contain some of the grease splatter.
posted by sesquipedalia at 8:19 AM on September 27

Get a steel mesh grease spatter screen. Remove any plastic or wood bits from the handle. Done!
posted by sixswitch at 8:21 AM on September 27

Alternately, order a piece of fine steel mesh and cut to the size you want
posted by sixswitch at 8:21 AM on September 27

I've been using a cookie sheet type of pan. It didn't occur to me that a deeper pan would be smarter!
posted by kitcat at 8:24 AM on September 27

I know exactly what you're talking about. The deeper pan does help a lot, I also put the other rack a couple inches over the roasting pan, lay down foil or parchment on that, and then hold it down with a baking sheet. If you were more dedicated you could wrap foil around the rack probably.

The other problem with doing this on a cookie sheet is that unless it is commercial grade (and sometimes then too) at some point it'll buckle or pop in the oven and fling extra grease around. A cheap roaster will do that too, but I often use a glass/ceramic roasting dish or a very cheap foil roasting pan which is too flimsy to pop.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:47 AM on September 27

We have gotten decent browning on poultry cooked in a roasting bag you vent one corner for steam.
posted by Iteki at 9:25 AM on September 27

The Scrub Mommy Power Paste cleaning paste that comes with a sponge works really well for getting the oven clean. It isn’t stinky but you do have to scrub, but way less than other options.
posted by Swisstine at 11:48 AM on September 27

TSP (trisodium phosphate) is a degreaser used to clean walls prior to re-painting them. It is really good at removing grease from stuff. You can buy either big jugs of it or spray bottles at your local hardware/paint store and it'll be fairly cheap. If I were you I'd spray that all over the oven, wait half an hour or so and then wipe off all the gunk. It should get rid of most of it.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:54 AM on September 27

Regarding cleaning the oven, did you do Easy-Off using cling film to cover? A real good spray down and then layering cling film on top so the foam/gel adheres to the surface worked pretty effectively with minimal fuss. Just spray, cling film, and walk away for a few hours, then do a wipe-down. This method works for the whole interior, including the interior glass. There are fewer fumes because you can simply close the oven door after doing the cling film. This method made cleaning the grease in the oven much easier AND laying down foil on the lowest rack to catch any drips or splatters.
posted by jadepearl at 2:36 PM on September 27

There are lots of recipes that have you render some of the fat in a cast iron skillet before moving the chicken to the oven. That might help?
posted by umwelt at 3:30 PM on September 27

Just a small tip for cleaning your oven. It's really easy to take off the door, making it much much easier to get inside. For most oven doors, just lift up on the door and then pull it out. This was a real game-changer for me.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 2:27 AM on September 28