Baking Soda also known as Sodium Bi-Carbonate mixed with water and lemon or vinegar is a popular method amongst many households for attempting to clean an oven. This process involves warming the oven to approximately 100c and then applying the solution liberally all around the oven and then leaving overnight.
It is a slow method and obviously one we could not use at Oven Ready as we clean an oven in roughly 1 hour. The chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar is meant to fizz and loosen the carbon inside the oven from the enamel.
We have experimented with this method and whilst it can loosen the carbon, it is certainly not just a case of wiping the oven clean and shiny afterwards. Stubborn carbon or very dirty ovens will need the application to be applied more than once in an effort to remove the layers of carbon and get the oven clean. Elbow grease is still required to remove what’s left.
Different makes of oven are made from different quality enamels. This process works well on some ovens but does very little on other makes of oven.
Unfortunately what this process cannot do is clean inside the door where gravy stains run down through the vents, it also does not clean the shelves or the fan behind the back panel and it is unable to clean self cleaning liners if the oven has them.