Oven cleaning is not the horrendous task that you think it is, it is really very satisfying, and sometimes also very dangerous. Let me explain why. The most amazing thing about this job is that everyday is different, and I never know what to expect when I arrive on site.
For the most part, the arrival of the Oven Cleaner is a delight and a joy! The Oven Cleaner is a SOLUTION to a very difficult problem! You are there to take care of a real problem and a perceived impossible task. You are the solution to restoring an unhealthy and unhygienic oven back to a clean oven appliance to cook your family's meals. It is easy to take your eye off the ball and before you know it your oven is dirty beyond seemingly repair. What do you do? You call your Professional Oven Cleaner!
However, as much as we have the tools and cleaning agents to clean a dirty oven with ease, we also get to experience some very dangerous situations. Dirty Ovens are the result of accumulated and spilt grease. Grease is flammable from roughly 190 degrees celsius. Many of our recipes require heat between 180-200 degrees celsius. The obvious, is that we cook our meals in dirty ovens right on the knife edge of oven fires. This means that a dirty and greasy oven is just degrees away from a potential grease fire.
So today's job brought me to a beautiful family home, and a dirty oven. A spill from a baking pan had resulted in a pool of pure grease at the bottom of the oven. The oven was a gas oven, so this meant an exposed flame just a centimetre away from hot, liquid grease! This was a fire bomb waiting to happen! Armed with a heavy duty fire blanket and sizeable fire extinguisher, I set about the task of restoring this dirty oven to a fresher, cleaner and most of all, a safer oven.
First task was to wipe out the liquid grease before applying the de-greaser and warming the oven. Blue paper towel, and lots of it was required! When deemed safe to ignite the gas burner, I gradually increased the heat and watched with trepidation. If grease had splashed onto the gas burners, we would have been guaranteed a dirty oven fire within seconds. An "oven fire" is more like an explosion, than a "fire". With careful control, I gradually increased the heat and watched with satisfaction as the invisible surface grease softened and started to pour down the oven walls and pool at the bottom of the oven. Working inside a very hot oven, each new accumulation of grease was wiped away, until it stopped accumulating. After some two hours of hot, dangerous and careful work, the grease had been extracted and the oven was allowed to cool. The risk had been removed.
A hot soapy wash was applied to the oven interior to remove all cleaning agent residue, and wash away the very last drops of oven grease. Almost immediately, the choking and acrid dirty oven grease odours were replaced with freshness. The interior oven enamel had resumed its shine, the fire risk had been removed, and the once dirty, unhygienic and unhealthy oven was back to near brand new condition!
The lesson from today's oven clean was all about fire risk, well ahead of healthy cooking. Dirty oven fires are real, but they usually don't make the News, so you think they will never happen to you. The truth is, you are just degrees away from a life-changing oven fire. Have a look at this link to see what I am talking about HERE.
In the event of a dirty oven grease fire, NEVER USE WATER! Water intensifies the explosion as the liquid water turns to instant steam. You can see this clearly HERE. Water will cause a catastrophic house destroying fire.
At the end of the day, my message is simple:
Do not allow "normal" oven grease to build up to a level where it is dangerous. Get it professionally removed. It is cheaper than replacing your house.
Never attack a grease fire with water - you will make an instant bomb.
A dirty oven is unhealthy, unhygienic and a very real fire risk. Get your oven attended to sooner than you think.
At Healthy Ovens we professionally clean dirty ovens without fumes, odours and fire risk. Today I was lucky, and so was the home owner!
For a professional and careful dirty oven clean, call Healthy Ovens 01491 714012 www.healthovens.co.uk/contactus
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