When I worked on Woman and Home magazine I used to write a page about cleaning.  I was the Classy Cleaner! I loved this page! I loved testing the appliances, bottles and potions and cleaning cloths. You’d be surprised how many people would ask me how to remove this stain or which vacuum cleaner to go for. (This Miele is my fav at the moment by the way!) When it comes to cleaning products – I’ve tested most. I never put anything on the page that I wouldn’t buy myself.

So, when it was time to give my own oven a really good clean I knew exactly where to go! Amazon! The best and simplest oven cleaners are the ones with real clout and that need little elbow grease.  Well, a little is okay but who really wants to be scrubbing away burnt on food stuffs? and one that doesn’t hurt the environment.

The inbetweener

Oven Mate. This is one kick arse brand. I have been using the ‘In between – oven  spray’ since I had my new oven put in last year. Just a quick squirt once a week is all it needed!

But then Tim made an amazing Roast Chicken Dinner and I went away for a few weeks to shoot and the next time I went to bake YUCK! I won’t go into details (or show you the before and after shots I was intending on putting on here!) Let’s just say I had to give it a complete overhaul deep clean before any cake batter could go near it.

 When you mean business.

For the really deep clean I knew the In between spray wasn’t man enough for the job, so I went up a stage and bought the Oven Mate cleaning Gel  This is a serious bit of kit. It comes with disposable gloves as you shouldn’t get it on your hands as it may burn them, yet it says on the box that it’s biodegradable! Go figure! It also comes with a applicator brush.

So, I set to and laid loads of newspaper on my granite worktop (I wasn’t taking any chances there!) I glooped a load of the gel on the baking trays that slot into my oven. Then I smothered the stubborn oil/grease marks on the floor of my oven and the splatters on the glass of the door. Mind you don’t get the gel on any rubber seals though.

It says the gel takes between 3 minutes (yeah right, in my dreams) and  3 hours. I set my timer for 2 1/2 hours and left it to do its stuff. Sure enough when I returned I just used some kitchen paper to see if the trays were clean and I really did just wipe the gel up and the grease came up with it.

There were a few really stubborn marks that needed a second treatment and I did get the scourer out and give it a good rub to make the oven like new on those baked on bits, but it worked like a dream!

I’ll definitely be adding this to my ultra easy cleaning kit!

EmmaMT