Cleaning Guides

How to Clean a Fan-Assisted Oven

A fan oven (also known as fan-assisted or a convection oven) is an oven which has a fan and an exhaust system. The fan is placed at the back of the interior. It blows hot air around the oven so food can be cooked more evenly and more quickly. Regular ovens lack this system and just surround the food with hot air, instead of circulating it.

Now when that’s out of the way, let’s get down and dirty, literally…

Table of Contents:

How to clean a fan-assisted oven?

You can use 3 methods. Before doing so, however, make sure to get any trays and racks out. They can be cleaned separately. Once that’s done, let’s start with:

Self-cleaning feature option

Most modern ovens have this cool-sounding feature: self-cleaning. Sounds like you can just turn it on and go read a book, while the oven takes care of itself. Unfortunately, it’s not like that. The self-cleaning function heats the oven to extreme temperatures of about 900°F (482.°C). The heat reduces all the leftover grease and food bits to ash, making it easy to wipe away. That doesn’t mean no effort is involved.

  1. Remove the racks and trays as the extreme heat will likely damage the chrome plating. These need to be cleaned separately. Fortunately, you’d have time to do that since the self-cleaning feature takes several hours to finish. Learn how to clean oven racks naturally here.
  2. Switch the self-cleaning option on and set the amount of hours. Make sure the oven door is closed properly so no fumes or heat would escape.
  3. Vacate the room of any children and pets, and open all the windows and doors once the cleaning procedure starts. Depending on your oven model, the self-cleaning cycle may take around 4 hours. Check the user manual for details.
  4. Once the cleaning procedure finishes, the oven will need several hours to cool down.
  5. Clean the ashes from the oven interior by giving it a good wipe down.
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Eco-friendly option – Using baking soda and water

  1. Mix together baking soda and water so it forms a paste. Since you will be cleaning the entirety of the oven interior, you’d need at least a cup of baking soda. Put it into a plastic container and pour some water. Don’t forget to stir. Add just enough water so the forming paste would thicken, don’t overdo it.
  2. Cover the inside of your oven with the paste using a spatula or a soft sponge. Try to spread a thin layer all over the surface. Add extra mixture on spots where you see heavy stains. Your oven engineer will always advise you to not cover heating elements and internal fans with the paste to avoid repair service at a later stage.
  3. Close the oven door and give the cleaning mixture several hours, to break down the grease and food particles. Better yet, leave it overnight.
  4. Scrub the paste off using a kitchen sponge or a damp rag. All the food particles should be easy to remove, but if you run into some stubborn ones, spray them with some white vinegar. The chemical reaction will help loosen the tough grime.
  5. After all the grease and grime is removed, wipe the oven with a clean rag dipped in clean water. This is to make sure no residue is left from either food particles or the cleaning paste. Once you’re done rinsing the oven, you can either let it dry on its own or dry it yourself using a dry clean rag. Or, you can switch the appliance on at the lowest setting for several minutes, until it’s dry.

So far, the methods can be used for regular ovens as well as convection ovens. Here is where it gets tricky.

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How to clean convection oven fan

  1. Unplug your fan oven from the mains.
  2. Get a screwdriver and unscrew the bolts holding the protective cover.
  3. Get a socket wrench and unscrew the fan blade nut. Keep in mind, it’s reverse threaded.
  4. Place the fan blade in a dip tank full of cleaning solution. The particles will degrade and become easier to scrape off after 40 to 50 minutes. (You can clean the blade while it is still attached to the interior of the oven. Keep in mind, that will be very hard and you will only be able to clean its front side.)
  5. Reinstall the fan blade, once it’s clean and dry. Notice the motor shaft thread is in the shape of a D and so is the blade hole.
  6. Screw the cover back on, by lining up the holes.
  7. Test run

Think that’s too much hard work and you don’t remember where you left your toolbox? Well, why don’t you just…

Hire a professional oven cleaner

These methods sound easy to pull off on paper, but if you lack enough time and especially the willpower, they can be quite overwhelming. Fortunately, you can save yourself the time and trouble by giving Fantastic Services a call and booking a professional oven cleaning technician. The pro will disassemble your convection oven and clean each part separately in a matter of 2 to four hours.

Afterwards, he will put everything back together and test run your convection oven. Your cooker will get back its former shine while you spend your time on more pleasurable activities. Book your oven cleaning today!

Need your convection oven cleaned up?

Get an oven cleaning from Fantastic Services! Enter your postcode here:

Add a valid postcode e.g. SE1 2TH

Takeaways

  • You can use the self-cleaning feature, but know that you should sweep the ash out afterwards. Also, racks and trays need to be cleaned separately.
  • When using a natural cleaning paste, always leave it for a few hours, so it would have time to break down the grime.
  • Remember that besides the cooking chamber, you also need to clean the fan blade of your convection oven.

Okay, you’ve cleaned your oven but how soon can you cook? Ten minutes? Fifteen? Learn how long after cleaning the oven can you cook in our helpful post.

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Do you have a convection oven? What methods do you use to clean it? Let us know and let’s start a conversation in the comments below.

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