When it comes to the most tedious household chores, cleaning the oven is definitely up there as one of the worst.
It’s something that gets ignored sometimes for months at a time, so that when the time comes to sort it out, you’ve got burnt-on food stains, oil and grease to deal with.
And it seems like no amount of scrubbing can get these stubborn marks off, making your oven and your kitchen look dirty and uncared for.
However, if you struggle with maintaining a clean oven, don’t stress – the consumer experts at Which? are here to help.
They’ve recommended a few simple ways to keep on top of your kitchen cleaning this year, and one of these tips can slash your oven cleaning time in half.
The experts said: “These easy kitchen maintenance jobs should stop dirt and grime building up, and help keep wear and tear to a minimum (hopefully preventing the need for expensive repairs further down the line).”
And if it’s the oven that you can’t seem to keep clean and tidy, the experts say there’s a very simple £1.90 item that makes the job much easier to tackle.
Investing in an oven liner means you won’t have to clean your appliance as frequently, and it’ll be less of a struggle when you do.
These mats, which are sometimes made of silicone, sit at the bottom of your oven and catch all the grease, oil and crumbs that might fall off your food while it’s cooking.
This means it doesn’t land on your oven directly, which is what results in those hard-to-remove stains.
Whereas you can just whip out the oven liner and give it a rinse or a scrub – and some are even dishwasher safe, making the whole job even easier.
A pack of two oven liners costs just £3.89 from eBay, making it work out at just £1.90 each. You can also buy a roll of heavy-duty oven liner from Dunelm for £4, and cut off however much you need.
However, the experts did issue a word of warning when it comes to choosing the correct oven liner for you.
They said: “Just make sure that you get the right one for your oven: you will need to buy a heavy-duty liner if you have a fan oven, and you should check the temperature they can withstand if you are regularly cooking at a high heat.
“You might not be able to place your liner at the base of your oven if the heating element is in the bottom.”
