Ovens are quite literally a vessel for cooking food, meaning they’re an absolute haven for grease, sticky grime and burnt bits of food. While a number of people have self cleaning ovens these days, it’s not always the best solution for the racks in your oven. The self-cleaning function typically uses temperatures that are double or triple that seen during cooking. This means leaving them on during cleaning can discolour the metal, take the shine off its finish and damage the coating that helps the racks slide in and out of your oven easily.
So, whether your oven is self cleaning or not, it’s likely you’re going to have to clean the racks at some point.
While this may seem like an arduous and long chore, it doesn’t have to be.
Baking soda is virtually a miracle product as it works in so many effective ways, one of its most successful uses being degreasing.
Another advantage of using baking soda is that it’s cheap and natural, unlike some of the commercial oven cleaners out there which contain a whole host of harsh chemicals.
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Why is baking soda good for cleaning?
Baking soda isn’t just useful within cooking, but it’s an excellent agent to have around the house.
The white powder is edible and mild enough to be used as toothpaste, meaning it’s very safe for cleaning virtually everything.
Sodium bicarbonate, as it’s also known, works great as a cleaning agent because it’s alkaline, meaning it helps break down grease and food which are generally acidic.
Baking soda also softens water (raises the pH) for better cleaning while neutralising odour causing acids.
