How Often Should You Clean Your Oven? Experts Weigh In

Scraping off greasy grime and burnt residue from an oven is no joke—it takes hours and requires some serious elbow grease. But, it doesn’t have to be this way as long as you stick to a regular cleaning schedule.

Aside from minimizing buildup, routinely cleaning your oven reduces the risk of cross-contamination and kitchen fires. It also keeps the appliance in good working order because dirt can mess with the oven’s internal temperature and block airflow.

So how often should you clean your oven? We caught up with cleaning experts to find the answer, plus more on how to make this dreadful chore a little easier.

When to Deep Clean Your Oven

The golden rule is to deep clean your oven every three to six months. Of course, this depends on how often you use your oven and what you’re cooking. Some people use their ovens daily and need to clean them more often; while those who rarely cook at home can get by with doing a deep clean once a year.

Ovens with effective exhaust fans and well-maintained drip pans require less frequent cleaning than those who don’t have these, says Jess Farinha, a professional cleaner and visionary founder of London House Cleaners.

Regardless, it’s easy to tell when an oven needs some TLC:

• You can’t see through your oven door. 
• There’s burnt-on residue on the interior floor.
• Your oven racks are sticky.
• Your food tastes icky.
• Your oven smokes when you turn it on.

Want more cleaning and organizing tips? Sign up for our free daily newsletter for the latest hacks, expert advice, and more!

Don’t Skip Regular Cleaning

With her experience as an appliance expert at Abt Electronics, Shirley Hood encourages tackling any spills and splatters immediately once the oven cools down.

“If you like to cook fatty meats or roast chicken in your oven, these food items tend to produce a lot of grease splatter, causing you to have to do a cleaning sooner,” Hood says. The same goes for baking casseroles or pizza directly on the racks—these, too, require immediate cleaning once the oven has cooled.

Simple habits, like weekly wipe-downs, not only help speed up your next deep cleaning session but also prevent lingering odors and flavors from tainting your next dishes.

Ways to Extend Time Between Deep Cleans

The longer you put off cleaning your oven, the harder the job will be. But there is a way to stretch out the time between deep cleans and keep your oven spotless at the same time.

Here are Farinha’s favorite ways to do so: 

1. Lemon steam clean: Fill an oven-safe bowl with dishwater and lemon slices. Heat this at 200 degrees Fahrenheit or about 93 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes. The steam loosens up the baked grime, which will make it easier to wipe with a damp cloth afterward.
2. Aluminum foil: Line up the oven bottom with heavy-duty aluminum foil and replace it regularly. This catches the drips and spills and makes the cleaning process easier.
3. Baking soda: For fresh spills, sprinkle some baking soda on the spill while the oven is still warm and not hot. Allow it to sit for 15 minutes, then wipe it clean using a damp towel. Baking soda easily absorbs the grease and neutralizes the odors.

Self-Cleaning vs. Manual Cleaning

“Regardless of self-cleaning or manual cleaning, the recommended cleaning schedule is every three months depending on usage,” Hood says. “With that said, because self-cleaning ovens do have the ability to remove more buildup, you can go longer between regularly scheduled cleanings.” 

Be cautious, though, when running your oven’s self-clean cycle.

“In general, you should only use this feature on mild messes,” says Katie Barton, head of cleaning and home improvement at Homedit. “If there’s too much buildup inside your oven, it can create excess smoke and fumes.”

Also, the cycle uses a lot of power and takes about three hours. Barton recommends the steam-cleaning feature as an alternative.

“It generally takes less time and power to complete but is also effective at loosening stubborn food residue,” she says. 

Don’t worry if your oven doesn’t have a steam clean or self-clean cycle. You can still prevent stubborn buildup (without using harsh chemicals) by spot-cleaning it as needed.

“You can do this by waiting for the oven to cool and then wiping the mess with a microfiber cloth and a mixture of half water and half white distilled vinegar,” Barton says.

As for burnt-on food, she suggests mixing water with baking soda until a paste forms, and using it to scrub the food from the oven.