Holly had written this in response to
http://www.www.thestuccocompany.com/...er-295202-.htm
:
Hi!
A week ago Friday, my Sears Kenmore Continuous Self Cleaning Oven caught
on fire. It has worked faithfully for me ever since it was new 17 years
ago. My teenagers had cooked some pizzas the night before and a piece of
sausage fell to the bottom of the oven. It flamed up right by the leg that
held up the heating filament. The little leg had melted enough to allow
the burner to touch the bottom of the oven and I hadn't noticed it, and
they hadn't told me about the sausage. Long story short, when I put a slow
cooking roast in the next morning, by mid-day the burner had caught fire
and had gone far enough to render the oven useless due to the fact of its
age and the cost of replacing the part. The fire started because it was
touching the bottom of the oven in the place where the sausage had burned
and where the leg had melted down! It was not the fault of the oven. I
loved my oven. It was always clean.
All these years, all I have ever had to do is sometimes either sweep or
vacuum out the dust. That oven NEVER failed me.
All ovens require a certain amount of care when cooking so that foods
don't splatter and spill etc. while cooking. Most people who have really
dirty ovens do a lot of messy cooking that could be avoided if they would
use pans large enough to catch spits and pops.
If you do have a spill, or a cheesy mess, swab out the mess before it gets
baked on. If it gets baked on then you'll have a smoky mess during the
self clean cycle, and in a continuous clean oven, the smoke could affect
the food.
I have also had ovens that required me to use oven cleaners and scouring
pads. I would NEVER go back to that!
I now have purchased a new oven. It's a Maytag self cleaning oven with a
glass range top. The self-clean option has three settings. BUT I have to
set it to clean and have to remove the oven racks too. I think this will
be more work in the long run, and I will miss my old oven for its no-muss
no-fuss clean.
For me, the new Maytag's other points are what sold me. I love the size,
the nice look with no oven filament showing in the bottom - it's embedded
- and the oven cooks more evenly than my old one which required me to move
pans and turn meats etc.
As for the continuous self-clean vs. self clean -- common sense applies to
both ... don't get the oven SO dirty that it will smoke or flame. There
really is a certain amount of preventive care that serves every cook well.
Cover meats, don't let foil touch the sides of the oven. Never let any
food touch the sides of the oven. Clean out all large chunks of foods and
debris as soon as you know its there. My teens should have put a catch
plate under their pizza which they cooked on the rack. Never put the catch
pans on the bottom of the oven, just put it on the bottom rack directly
under the foods that might boil over or melt off...etc.
I hope this is helpful to you!
Best wishes, Holly
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RC wrote:
I use to have a Self Cleaning oven and I have to say I was very happy
with it. I would put it on the Auto Clean cycle and except for having
to replace the Lock once, it worked great. I don't recall it ever
failing to clean up a mess. I wouldn't do anything except use the
auto setting once or twice a year, then MAYBE sweep out the dust.
Then I moved to a home with a Continuous Cleaning Oven.
I didn't realize that me "I" was to be continuously clean the
thing.
It looked bad when I got it and though I cleaned it (per directions),
it was soon back to a mess. It looks quite bad.
My question is, "Is this the common experience, or is mine the
exception?" I would like to hear from those of you that have had
experience with both.
Thank You.
RC
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