Cleaning with Heat: Old Technology with a Bright New Future

BY KENNETH MAINORD M any are familiar with "cleaning with heat" whether they realize it or not. Abandoning their rubber gloves, scrub brushes, and chemical cleaners, millions of households across America have been quick to accept a better and easier way to clean their kitchen ovens. This ready acceptance has made the self-cleaning oven one of the most successful new products introduced to the consumer marketplace in recent years. Self-cleaning ovens operate on a very simple principle: using heat to clean. When the oven interior becomes dirty from baked-on food spills or grease, the self-cleaning cycle engages by bringing the oven temperature up to 850°F to 900°F. substantially higher than the normal cooking temperatures of 250°F to 550°F. This additional heat removes the baked-on residues by a combination of vaporization, thermal decomposition, and oxidation. Once the oven is cool, remaining small amounts of ashes or residue normally can be removed with a quick wipe from a damp sponge or towel. No scrubbing, no chemicals, no mess.