How Often Should You Clean Your Oven?
In general, it's recommended to deep-clean your oven every three months to keep it clean and cranking out delicious dishes time after time.
If you’re cooking often, you may need to clean a bit more often, whereas an oven that’s used less often will likely do just fine with quarterly cleanings. As always, refer to your particular model’s operating manual for specific details and instructions on frequency and methods for deep cleaning your oven.
A dirty oven is more than a nuisance. It can impact the performance of your appliance. Caked-on residue can impact the flavor of foods cooked in your oven or create smoke. Save yourself the hassle of setting off the smoke detector and read on to learn how often to clean your oven.
How do I know when my oven needs cleaning?
Most people can stick to the three month rule when it comes to cleaning an oven, but spills and messes can happen at any time. Recognizing when your oven needs cleaning is more intuitive than you may think–if you see grime or smell something while cooking, it’s probably time for a cleaning. Here are a few easy indicators to know when it is time for a deep clean:
Oven doors: If the oven door has visible residue, a greasy feel or cloudy look, it’s time to clean your oven.
The smell test: Does your oven give off a burnt smell while in use? Deep cleaning will likely take care of that. Learn more about why a new oven smells and how to eliminate unwanted oven odors.
Should you clean your oven after every use?
Keeping your oven tidy after every use is a good rule of thumb, so always be sure to wipe up any spills when they happen to avoid stubborn caked-on messes that will cause problems down the line. A simple wipe-down of your cooled-down appliance anywhere you notice residue will make the time for deep cleaning shorter and will keep your oven baking at its best.
Is it safe to be in the house when cleaning your oven?
Refer to your specific appliance’s user manual for the most detailed instructions for safely cleaning your oven. Appliances with a self-cleaning function easily deep clean your oven with minimal effort. Cleaning manually takes a bit longer, but is a good option for anyone sensitive to smells that may occur during self-cleaning cycles.
IMPORTANT: The health of some birds is extremely sensitive to the fumes of empty self-cleaning cycles. Exposure may result in the death of certain birds. Always move birds to another closed and well-ventilated room.
What happens when you don't clean your oven?
When you don’t clean your oven, you run the risk of existing residue burning, which can create an unpleasant flavor in foods cooked in your oven. Not only can the bitter, burned flavor infuse into your foods, but the smell of past spills and splashes can also be accompanied by smoke. Always keep your oven ready by cleaning up any messes as they happen (once your oven has cooled down) instead of waiting until your next deep clean.
Learn more about smoke or gas-like odors coming from your oven.
What is the best way to clean the inside of an oven?
Cleaning the inside of an oven can be done two ways: using your oven’s self-cleaning feature or manually with a few household ingredients. Refer to your oven’s user manual for specific self-cleaning instructions. Learn the difference between steam-cleaning and self-cleaning ovens. For manual cleaning, just a few pantry items will do the trick: baking soda, vinegar or lemon juice, and water.
Shop Maytag® Ovens
Self-cleaning cycles on select Maytag® ovens bring the heat to help you spend less time scrubbing and more time on your next cleanup task. Explore the innovative features and capacities of dependable Maytag® ovens to help you make the most of your kitchen.
