Remember when MrZ and LilZ made something for dessert that supposedly tasted like glue and looked profain? Fun times. Well, something oozed from that dessert onto the bottom of my oven that night, and it’s caused the smoke alarm to go off several times since. The first few times the smoke alarm went off I thought it was because I was using my new silicone bakeware (have you seen that stuff? It rocks my world.) and I thought that maybe there was some coating that was burning off of it. I thought this because along with the smoke, there was a strange chemical smell. When I finally realized it was some mystery goo on the botton of my stove, the chemical smell made me glad no one actually ate the mystery dessert from that fateful night.
Luckily - there was aluminum foil on the bottom of my stove to catch the goo. This weekend, I pulled that aluminum foil out and replaced it with some new stuff. While I had my head in the oven (hee) I thought, “Is this considered ‘cleaning’ an oven?”
Seriously. Switching out that one piece of aluminum foil for another is the closest I’ve ever come to cleaning an oven. EVER. And if you don’t consider that “cleaning” then I’ve never actually done it. It’s just not something I ever think about. Maybe this is because I’m a clean cook and my ovens have never been messy, or maybe it’s just because unless it smells up the house or produces fire, I don’t really care too much. Either way - I figure I’ve lived with 9 different ovens in my adult life and never, EVER have I cleaned any of them. I’ve seen commercials for oven cleaner - so I know it exists, but I have never bought any.
And if this isn’t proof enough that I’m possibly the worst housekeeper in the history of house keeping? After I replaced the aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven, I decided I needed to clean out the crumbs from the drawer under the oven - so do you know what I did? I vacuumed it. Seriously. I vacuumed my oven this weekend. Screw “goddess” - I’m a domestic GENIUS.
haha. You’ve done the opposite of what I did.
I grew up with an older over. Our house was built around an old 70’s over wall unit type thing, burnt yellow…oh so nice. 
We cleaned it all the time. It got so dirty. When my hubby and I moved into our house it came with a “self cleaning oven.” I had no idea what this was, so I cleaned it. 
Then I noticed that I didn’t HAVE to clean it all the time. Hubby had to explain to me the difference. heh. Self cleaning ovens are a blessing.
Oh god, I love vacuuming things.
Isn’t that how everyone cleans up stray kitty litter?
Excellent! I vacuum the crumbs from under the grill on my stove. I HAVE cleaned my oven and I can categorically say it is the Worst Job Ever to do. Don’t do it, just don’t.
I’m afraid of the commercial cleaner, especially with a gas stove, because it says not to spray it near the pilot light or it could explode. Aiee! That’s stress that I don’t need. I’ve only cleaned an oven once, it was an electric oven and the cleaning stuff stunk. It was awful.
We just bought a new stove, and it’s self-cleaning. Rock on, self-cleaning.
I think the scary part for me is that I vacuum this drawer quite often. When did I become my Aunt Bessie?
Yeah… my mother still tell the story of how my sister (no, NOT me) tried to bake cookies on the self cleaning setting of the oven. Mmm, chocolate chip and chemicals, good times, good smells.
The strip of foil lining the bottom of the oven is CRUCIAL. I’m with ya. I also wrap the burner thingies in foil so I don’t have to scrub those, either. I also don’t dust. Finally, I hire a housecleaner.
I have this housekeeping down pat, for sure. Although, for some sick, twisted reason, I LOVE washing dishes.
What are people doing with their ovens that they become dirty enough to warrant oven cleaner? I have never opened an oven that looked like the grimy, filth-covered ovens of the commercials.
Maybe 5ish years ago I had something drip onto the the bottom of the oven and start stinking and smoking, so I dumped a bunch of salt on it. The salt’s still there, but the oven doesn’t smoke anymore…
That IS genius.
I’ve vacuumed the bath tub rim and the coffee table, among others…
wait. you’re supposed to clean the oven? huh.
I have vacuumed INSIDE my oven….I’m a sloppy cooker…but like you, I have no desire to clean the oven…so I let the spilled food harden, scrape it and vacuum it up!
I now have self cleaning oven. Yay. It heats up to the temperature of the sun and just burns everything off. I only do it in the summer and fall. Never thought about the foil.
Also, the silicone bakeware rocks. I’ve noticed the chemical smell when using them, too. I worry I’m poisoning us, but the cookies were still delicious.
Ha. Cleaning the oven. That’s funny stuff. Seriously, unless something drips onto the bottom (and that’s what aluminum foil is for), why is this something I would even think of doing?
I have had to use oven cleaner to clean out my bathtub before, it was one of those fiberglass dealios that if it got dirty, regular old aj@x or commet wouldn’t clean it. No, we had to pull out the big guns to get our soap scum off the tub, Easy off, does’nt everyone use it to clean their tub with?
You should go talk to busymom she just posted about this last month.
My advice: when you allow it, you monitor the hell out of your kid’s usage. That doesn’t just mean setting parental controls. It means checking to make sure the controls are the same as what you set (checking on a regular basis). Checking the history of the computer’s internet useage (like pretty much every time they use it). They create new accounts in new places you’ve never heard of–they’re sneaky like that. You keep the computer in a “family space”, not in their rooms. I know all of this is total PITA, but if you want to stay on top of it, that’s really the only way to do it.
LilZ sounds like he’s got a good head on his shoulders (or he’s got you completely snowed
So doing this sort of stuff will be quick & painless because you won’t be finding anything.