My self-cleaning oven frightens me! Can you help me get over it?

[CTyankee]

I have always feared self cleaning ovens. I visualize the thing melting from excess heat through the kitchen floor. I know that is stupid.

How can I get myself to use the self clean function on my very nice, up to date gas stove? Are there any techniques I can use to psych myself into doing something I fear irrationally.

Any advice you can give would help me enormously!

[KitchenWitch]

1. Turn it on and leave the house for 4 hours.

:hi:

[havocmom]

2. You left out the rest of the insturctions:

'Go to church and pray you have a house to come home to.'

[CTyankee]

4. Thanks a lot.

I come here for solace and help and what do I get? A comedian!

So is that the way you feel about this self cleaning oven thing? My daughters think I am barking mad...

[havocmom]

5. I am terrified of the feature myself. But I did screw up the courage to use it... twice

Went back to scrubbing. Figured I was pushing my luck to try for three.

Actually, twice I moved into places where the oven doors had to be replaced due to blown out oven window from the self cleaning feature used without the screen up on the glass. I have fur children and would not want them at risk of a glass shard shower.

Now, a story about scrubbing the oven. My nephew was 6'5" so oven clean was a real physical challenge for him. There was a lot of nephew to fold up in a small space. He came over one day while I was doing mine.

I pulled the door off so I didn't have to reach across it to get to the inside. His jaw dropped. He thought I had busted the thing. I showed him how easily the door slid back onto the hinges. He said he had to go, and rushed out.

Five minutes later, I get a call from him, at his apartment down the block. "SONOVABITCH! why didn't you or Mom tell me about this oven door thing years ago?!?!"

Yeah, and I forgot to teach his cousin how to change a tire too. My bad.

[Tindalos]

18. My mum just figured out the door thing today

She's been complaining for years about the stupid design of ovens and the stupid "men" who designed them, and how they should be forced to clean the things themselves. She finally discovered today that the door slides off easily. So, now we know. Ahem.

[pitohui]

3. dunno i have the same thing

i think the last time a friend cleaned it for me while i was out of the house

[NMDemDist2]

6. my self clean option in broken :cry:

it's the best thing in the world for cast iron pans when they need 'work'

I miss mine, we won't even talk about the shape the bottom of my oven is at this point

the good news is if I ignore it long enough with all the baking I do the gunk turns into ash anyway......

[CTyankee]

7. when you HAD the self clean function working, were you afraid of it?

Or did you just flip the thing on?

[China_cat]

11. I'm not afraid of the self-cleaning oven

it's the wallet-cleaning price of natural gas running at that high a heat for that long that scares the shit out of me.

[NMDemDist2]

12. oh hell yes! I just tried to do it often enough that when I did get around to it

it didn't set off the smoke alarms :rofl:

[KitchenWitch]

8. What type of 'work' do you do on your cast iron with the self cleaning feature?

[DS1]

9. oil infusion

I would guess

[NMDemDist2]

13. if you get a used ugly cast iron pan that's covered with crud

if you pop it in the self cleaning cycle all the crud cooks off and then you can re-season it

[JVS]

14. Hmmm, could this be used for a sizzling fajita skillet ?

Just kidding. I know better than to fuck with self-cleaning mode

[DS1]

10. I hear you

My big thing is to stand totally still in an elevator while it's moving, in case something happens with the wheel/track.

[Justpat]

15. I've never had a self cleaning oven.

Mine usually gets cleaned when the fire department comes to put out the fire several times
a year.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

16. I used mine when I had a two year old

electric GE smooth top stove. Worked fine.
I don't know how old the gas stove is that I have now and I would not even think of using the self clean feature.

[CTyankee]

17. It's a 2003 model, so it's not that old. But still, tell me why you would not want

to use the self cleaning function of a gas oven. Is it the flame that disturbs you, more than the electric? I am not sure...