How do you clean oven racks?

[Anne_in_VA]

I usually soak them in the tub and clean with a steel wool pad, but it's a lot of work and I have to put down towels so the tub doesn't get scratched.  

Do do you have another way of cleaning them that's easier?  I thought about leaving them in the oven during the clean cycle but don't think that's a good idea.  What about using the dishwasher?

Any help would be appreciated.

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Warning....if you leave them in the oven during the cleaning cycle you will ruin their shinny finish permanently. They tell you to take them out.

[Anne_in_VA]

That's what I thought Ken, but thanks for the reminder.  I just want to find an easier way to clean them than soaking in the tub.

[mroped]

This is a 3 step process:
-1) remove racks from inside oven
- 2) through the use of a 3#hammer, beat the crap out of them until they are unrecognizable.
-3) buy new oven racks! You will need the make and model of the oven for that and of course, available credit on your CC.
....or you just wash the ones you have the best you can. Trust me that if there's was an easier way, someone would make a lot of money on the idea!

[Deleted]

I just leave mine in for the clean cycle.  The oven is 17 years old now and while the are discolored they're clean and they still slide in and out fine. 

[ken a.k.a OMK]

Good point. We did leave ours in once and just lived with clean dull racks from then on.


 mroped the man with money. I wonder how oped feels about that?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Place in big plastic bag.  Saturate with ammonia (usually with a wet rag laying over the top of them) and seal the bag shut.  Incubate a few days.  You should be able to easily scrub them down after this.

[hoops902]

Sometimes my wife puts her head inside the over and scrubs them with some form of pad (brillo, steel brush, I dunno). All the junk falls to the bottom, then the cleans the bottom. Most of the time we just leave them inside when we run the self-cleaning. If the only thing people can find to complain about at our house with a baby and a dog is that the oven racks look dull...we'll live with that.  It doesn't bother us.

[chiver78]

lay down newspaper outside. spray the racks with easy off and let them sit for a half hour or so. rinse with the hose. done.

[Anne_in_VA]

Wait... I have to go a few days without racks?  I cook or bake every day!  What will I ever do while they soak?  

[mroped]

Mar 20, 2017 12:12:04 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Good point. We did leave ours in once and just lived with clean dull racks from then on.


 mroped the man with money. I wonder how oped feels about that?

Money? What money? I could use some money!
Credit Card man, that's the thing today! You know that you don't have to pay on the spot when you use CC? You just need that little plastic square with drawings and numbers on it that has a strip on the back they claim is magnetic. Guess what? Is not magnetic! I tried to make a nail stick to it and it doesn't work!
The wife gave me a couple of them and when I walk in a store my favorite question is "do you take Credit Cards?"
Even the Girl Scouts will sell you cookies if you have a CC! Imagine that!
That little piece of plastic is a wondrous thing!

[ken a.k.a OMK]

On a side note don't leave a lot of stuff on the bottom of the oven to get burned off. Wipe them up with a damp rag. The temp gets to 900F to burn off leftovers. Fires can start.

[hoops902]

Mar 20, 2017 12:23:31 GMT -5 mroped said:

Mar 20, 2017 12:12:04 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Good point. We did leave ours in once and just lived with clean dull racks from then on.


 mroped the man with money. I wonder how oped feels about that?

Money? What money? I could use some money!
Credit Card man, that's the thing today! You know that you don't have to pay on the spot when you use CC? You just need that little plastic square with drawings and numbers on it that has a strip on the back they claim is magnetic. Guess what? Is not magnetic! I tried to make a nail stick to it and it doesn't work!
The wife gave me a couple of them and when I walk in a store my favorite question is "do you take Credit Cards?"
Even the Girl Scouts will sell you cookies if you have a CC! Imagine that!
That little piece of plastic is a wondrous thing!

If you think that's amazing...you can use a little plastic thing that doesn't even belong to you, and you'll never get a bill for the charges.

[hoops902]

Mar 20, 2017 12:25:03 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

On a side note don't leave a lot of stuff on the bottom of the oven to get burned off. Wipe them up with a damp rag. The temp gets to 900F to burn off leftovers. Fires can start.

This is what spatulas are for...if something falls to the bottom you scrape it up and add it to what you were making. I routinely lose a slice of pepperoni to the oven bottom when I'm making pizza, just scrape it up and throw it on top of the pizza.

[Tiny]

Here's another way to do it:

You need:

A large BLACK plastic bag

Dollar Store Oven Cleaner

Rubber Gloves/Latex gloves

a plastic scrub brush or scruffy or brillo pads

a Sunny Day

Outside, in a spot that will get several hours of sun (not on your grass),  put whatever it is you want to clean into the plastic bag  (your oven racks, your gas grill rack(s), an old iron pan you want to clean and re season). 

Wearing the Rubber gloves (and trying NOT to breath the fumes) spray the items you want cleaned with the Oven Cleaner.   Everything sprayed needs to be in the BLACK plastic bag.  Close the bag and leave it in the sun for a few hours.   The things inside will heat up - making the oven cleaner more effective.

After a few hours, using the rubber gloves - carefully remove your racks/pans/whatever.  You can use the scrub brush/scruffy brillo pad to get off the still stuck on stuff.   If there's a lot of stuff still stuck - spray with Oven Cleaner and put back in the bag, in the sun for a few more hours. 

Hose off/rinse off the oven cleaner (be careful where you do this - it will kill your grass - if you do it indoors it may mess with your older pipes (so run LOTS of water). 

You shouldn't have to do much scrubbing at this point. 

(my brother uses this method to clean up his "garbage gas grills" when he finds one that is worth fixing/cleaning.  Works like magic).

[MJ2.0]

You're supposed to clean those?  Great, another thing I failed at. 

[flamingo]

Mar 20, 2017 12:43:46 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

You're supposed to clean those?  Great, another thing I failed at. 

Um, I cannot tell you when I last cleaned my oven. So I am failing worse than you! 

(My DH does 90% of the kitchen chores - I trust that he cleans the oven when needed and refuse to think otherwise).

[MJ2.0]

Mar 20, 2017 12:54:36 GMT -5 flamingo said:

Mar 20, 2017 12:43:46 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

You're supposed to clean those?  Great, another thing I failed at. 

Um, I cannot tell you when I last cleaned my oven. So I am failing worse than you! 

(My DH does 90% of the kitchen chores - I trust that he cleans the oven when needed and refuse to think otherwise).

well damn, I don't clean that either!

[swamp]

power washer?

[Peace Of Mind]

You put in a brand new aluminum oven liner at the bottom of the oven so that nobody notices the oven racks and comments on how clean your oven is so you must  never cook.  If  you don't want to invest in those just store your cookie sheets in the oven so nobody sees your racks.  Easy peasy!   For those crazy people that actually clean their ovens they are also great to catch the crap you clean off your oven (or flake after you use your self cleaning oven) for easy clean up.

[MJ2.0]

Mar 20, 2017 13:09:43 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

You put in a brand new aluminum oven liner at the bottom of the oven so that nobody notices the oven racks and comments on how clean your oven is so you must  never cook.  If  you don't want to invest in those just store your cookie sheets in the oven so nobody sees your racks.  Easy peasy!   For those crazy people that actually clean their ovens they are also great to catch the crap you clean off your oven (or flake after you use your self cleaning oven) for easy clean up.

OMG, I need this yesterday! Thanks for the tip!

[Miss Tequila]

I left mine in during auto-clean. It definitely dulled them but I have had no issues with sliding them in or out. I also don't cook all that much so you should probably not take any advice from me

[Tiny]

I was thinking - if the oven racks aren't totally encrusted with gunk - you could probably use the Black Plastic bag but use solution of water and box of baking soda to soak off the gunk.   You'd need to make sure that your racks were submerged in the solution.  I suspect the heat from the sun would also help with this.  

This would probably take a full 24 hours... a handful of hours with the heat of the sun and then the rest just soaking...

It would be less toxic than the oven cleaner.

(FWIW:  my now 70 year old stove/oven has removable enameled drip pans in the oven and under the burners for easy cleaning.   

[twystedsystermi1]

Buy a new stove!

[Shooby]

Mar 20, 2017 11:55:17 GMT -5 ken a.k.a OMK said:

Warning....if you leave them in the oven during the cleaning cycle you will ruin their shinny finish permanently. They tell you to take them out.

Good point.  

[dee27]

DH made a wooden container that he lines with a plastic garbage bag. He puts in Dawn dish liquid and warm water and lets the racks soak. He scrubs them with a Dobie pad and rinses them outside.

[janee]

Mar 20, 2017 12:40:16 GMT -5 Tiny said:

Here's another way to do it:

You need:

A large BLACK plastic bag

Dollar Store Oven Cleaner

Rubber Gloves/Latex gloves

a plastic scrub brush or scruffy or brillo pads

a Sunny Day

Outside, in a spot that will get several hours of sun (not on your grass),  put whatever it is you want to clean into the plastic bag  (your oven racks, your gas grill rack(s), an old iron pan you want to clean and re season). 

Wearing the Rubber gloves (and trying NOT to breath the fumes) spray the items you want cleaned with the Oven Cleaner.   Everything sprayed needs to be in the BLACK plastic bag.  Close the bag and leave it in the sun for a few hours.   The things inside will heat up - making the oven cleaner more effective.

After a few hours, using the rubber gloves - carefully remove your racks/pans/whatever.  You can use the scrub brush/scruffy brillo pad to get off the still stuck on stuff.   If there's a lot of stuff still stuck - spray with Oven Cleaner and put back in the bag, in the sun for a few more hours. 

Hose off/rinse off the oven cleaner (be careful where you do this - it will kill your grass - if you do it indoors it may mess with your older pipes (so run LOTS of water). 

You shouldn't have to do much scrubbing at this point. 

(my brother uses this method to clean up his "garbage gas grills" when he finds one that is worth fixing/cleaning.  Works like magic).

This is my guaranteed way to do it.  Works like a charm!

[Rob Base 2.0]

Trick question. Everyone knows ovens are self cleaning.

Makes me wonder why they haven't invented the self cleaning house yet. I guess it's politics about maids not losing their jobs.

[Malarky]

I like the "well loved dull finish" from leaving them in during the self clean cycle so much better than the" shiny it took me forever to clean those suckers."

[NoNamePerson]

I lived in an apartment for 8 yrs that didn't have self cleaning oven - no problem I never even turned it on to see if the oven worked. I do have a counter top convection/microwave combo and it's just me so no need to heat up big oven.

When they came to do walk thru I told them no need to check the oven it had never been used. But back in the day I just left the racks in there for cleaning.  Dull racks kinda matched my cooking skills.