# Clean oven or proper roast - do I have to choose?



## andydude (Dec 30, 2008)

I have a new oven (first one ever) it's a domestic Bosch fan oven and prefer to keep it clean.

I also like to roast a decent piece of beef, chicken etc.


Is it the normal habit of the experienced here to roast meat under some form of lid or foil covering and protect the oven from spitting fat/juices - or do members prefer to let the air get around the meat, and baste and roast without worrying about the mess that needs to be cleaned up later?

If you do like the air to circulate around the meat and allow the oven to get dirty as a by product of the process, just out of interest how often, if at all, do you clean the oven?
Thanks.


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

Hi Andydude, 
i understand wanting to keep the new oven clean, but if you worry about spattering roasts to the point of covering them, what's the point of a good oven? The tools should serve us, i think, we shouldn't serve the tools. It's easy to get to the point of being careful not to get the oven dirty and working twice as hard in the process, becoming slave to the tool, and in the end, it works just as well spattered as not. 
My mother never fried anything, not for health reasons but TO KEEP THE STOVE CLEAN - it was more important than the food! I had my first home fried potato at a friend's house. So i admit i've gone the opposite route. But no one rfefuses to eat at my house because the oven is dirty!
In fact, I've never cleaned an oven. Eventually most of the gunk turns to carbon anyway, since i cook a lot of stuff at a very high temp, and there is no problem of hygiene since the oven is hot. I guess you could try to clean the glass so you can see in, but i hate oven cleaners that are toxic and i imagine leave lots of fumes on your food. So i go with the spattered glass, too. 
I'm sure yuou'll find many who disagree. got to go with what your heart (and taste buds) say.


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## texasflute (Jul 11, 2006)

I, personally, don't worry about how dirty the oven gets. I would cook the roast uncovered, and worry about the oven later. As the above post stated, if you cook at high heat, whatever's in the oven will turn to black dust, which is easily wiped away. I bought my oven to use, not to be my kitchen eye candy. I wipe my oven when things have cooked over (like the red velvet cake on Christmas Eve), and run the self-clean cycle once a year.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

It is possible to strike a happy medium. Wiping up any spills that occur that might burn and smoke or stink, especially from fruit pie boil-overs, will go a long way toward maintaing a fairly clean oven. Roasts do tend to splatter, but it takes quite a while for fat to accumulate. As already pointed out, there is nothing unhealthy about what I call a "seasoned" oven, but if you are concerned about how the glass 'looks', then keep just the door clean. My stove is electric, with a self-cleaning oven, so I don't have to be concerned about harsh chemicals and noxious fumes. However, you might check the natural foods store for environmentally safe products. If my oven were not self-cleaning, I would still not clean it any more often. And I would certainly not sacrifice a decent roast for the sake of a clean oven.


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## gonefishin (Nov 6, 2004)

Hi Andydude 

Welcome...and congrats on the new oven!

You may not want to hear this...but I think you'll feel a little better once you have an accident or two in your nice new oven. A new truck isn't all that useful until it's first scratch.

congrats!
dan


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

You ruin your roast you have nothing to eat. You dirty your oven you can clean it. :lol::lol:


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Welcome to the forums. I also have a Bosch but it has a self-cleaning mode... that I've never used i hate to admit. I wipe the inside of my oven and I don't worry too much about it. I know people who line the bottom of the oven with foil so that it will catch drips etc. They also have these pricey oven liners too that are made from some kind of plastic which are supposed to work but I don't bother with either. I don't like to put chemicals inside my oven but I do keep the window clean.

As for your other question, the only time I cover a roast is if the recipe calls for it or if I want to do a braise. Not because it gets the oven dirty.


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Couple of extra long 500 degree preheats for pizza take care of the oven, cleans the pizza stone too! :lol:


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

As its usually the base of the oven that crusts up the worst, why not buy one of those wipe clean, re-usable mats to leave in the bottom?


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## wheresthegrub (Oct 28, 2008)

CLEAN the oven? are we supposed to do that???


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## mavryk76 (Dec 2, 2008)

wouldnt foil on the bottom do the trick? Sure, it doesnt protect the sides but I imagine the sides are less likely to be affected since gravity MUST happen no matter what direction the spatter flies off in.


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## andydude (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks for all the replies - looks like I'm going to have to adjust my new oven grime threshold, and think of it as becoming that which amazingrace ably describes as seasoned.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Andydude;252672 said:


> I have a new oven (first one ever) it's a domestic Bosch fan oven and prefer to keep it clean.
> 
> I also like to roast a decent piece of beef, chicken etc.
> 
> ...


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## andydude (Dec 30, 2008)

Hi Ed,

 As it's my habit to clean and prepare tools in general, in preparation for their next time of use, that's really what I have been doing.

 Usually I understand exactly the practical benefits of doing so, and it can be a pleasure to maintain and properly store working tools.

 With the oven it feels like it's just about the desire to keep that 'new oven' look on a daily basis for cosmetic reasons, rather than it necessarily being a practical response to a preferred way of cooking. I suspect I'll just fall into a fairly regular, but less rigid routine, as long as I can still keep bringing it back to a good level of cleanliness.


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## nowiamone (Jan 23, 2005)

Andydude, 
Why did you purchase this oven.......... is it because the interior color will be enhanced with a small potted plant, soft lighting and a well framed lithograph print if left open to enjoy? 

Or because it has features that will roast, toast, bake, and fill your kitchen with smell so wonderful that you open a great bottle of vino, and wait with anticipation for the new, wonderful oven to work it's magic?

There........ I knew you would figure it out. It's because I mentioned great wine, isn't it?


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## rpmcmurphy (Jan 8, 2008)

I consider myself a frequent user of my oven.......probably more than most. It just doesn't get THAT dirty...once a year, put the self cleaner on for 4.2 hours (not sure where they came up with that time) and wipe it out......if there is a spot that wasn't removed.....spray some oven cleaner on and wipe it...once a year (or.....2 years haha)......and my oven looks like its new.


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## andydude (Dec 30, 2008)

Thanks again for all your replies. 

The oven I replaced was a pre-existing one that came with the house and which I lived with for quite a while, having decided to keep it until I remodelled the whole kitchen. It was over 20yrs old, couldn't keep temperature other than I had it on a very high heat, and then bits of carbon would fall from the roof into the food.

Having now had the kitchen refitted, I'm very appreciative of a well behaved oven, and while this thread may appear like my being the owner of shiny enamel has become an obsession, it really is only about wishing to create a good balance between respecting my tools and creating the sort of food that I want to be able to enjoy.


Andy


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

The most I do is line the bottom of the oven with foil, and when I can no longer see thru the glass, I get a good old fashion glass scraper and peel off the gunge, then rinse off with really hot water.

Every 6 months or so before the landlord comes to check the house I give the racks and the oven a scrub, but that's about it.

If I'm baking something that may overflow, I just put another pan bigger than the other a shelf or two below it.

Works for me - haven't killed anyone ....yet


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Clean is not only attractive, it doesn't make your food taste bad. 

If your oven has a self-cleaning cycle (and as a Bosch convection surely it must), it's a non issue. Just don't forget to (a) remove the knobs, and (b) start the hood fan before turning on the cycle. Much smoke.

If you want to do touch ups between runnings of the cleaning cycle (a lot of electricity), try combining oven cleaning liquid, foam or spray with a home steamer. Even the "green" cleaners work well with steam behind them. 

BDL


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