Hassle-free oven cleaning

I use the grill in my oven a lot. Result: a really mucky oven! Unfortunately, I’m just not cut out for the industrial-strength cooker cleaning products that you can get from the supermarkets. I try my best: I open the back door, I open the windows and I hold my breath when I spray. But the stuff gets in my eyes and stings, burns my throat, and gets in my lungs and makes me cough. It’s not easy, being a delicate English rose!

So I’ve been trying a gentler solution, which has been working quite well. It’s eco-friendly and lung-friendly – and it’s super-cheap, too.

I’m boiling up a pint of water, then adding two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda. When this is cooled, I’m decanting it into an empty spray bottle. After I’ve taken food out of the cooker, I spray the inside door with the mixture and wipe it over with a cloth. When the mixtre has dried, I wipe the door with another cloth. The cooked-on brown grease stains come off right away!