8 Steps for a Super Easy No Effort Needed Oven Cleaning Method

What a mouthful for today's title, right?

Maggie noted that my oven looks so clean and to tell you the truth - it really is! =)

I've been using this method to clean my oven since 2007, where I posted the following post on m4m in August that year:

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http://www.websiterepairguy.com/articles/household_tips/clean_oven.html

I stumbled on this website because of an earlier thread about sodium bicarbonate and its uses. I didn't really believe it until I tried it today. I mean, the science of it sounds true - and that was what convinced me to try it.

And guess what? It works! Sumpah! O.O

The best part of cleaning the oven with the baking soda is that I don't even need to use elbow grease. The 3 teaspoons of baking soda did all the work and I just wipe down the oven with a damp cloth to remove the dirt - and what dirt it was! The pail of water I used to rinse the cloth turned into coffee, but I didn't have to use a whole lot of energy to scrub the oven, nor did I have to scour the oven with detergent etc.

In fact, I managed to even clean the fan behind the grill in the oven - or at least get some of the grime off with the baking soda solution.

Try it and spread the news, people! :D

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Since then, I've only ever used this method of cleaning my oven, and my oven has since progressively cleaner and cleaner, and now, even the oven fan is grime free. =)

I love it that the only cleaning agent is bicarbonate of soda, which is something that is often added to food and is therefore non-toxic. It's also cheap and it's on hand because we bake a lot, so we don't have to buy something in addition just to clean the oven. ;)

I hope today's post will bring a lot of joy to oven users, especially when you see the dirt literally dries up and wipes clean away. =)

Homemade Mayonnaise

In my previous post, I mentioned homemade mayonnaise. And here's how to make it:

Ingredients:
2 egg yolks
1 tbl fresh lemon juice
1 tbl white vinegar
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sugar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil mix (I use 3/4 cup olive oil and 3/4 cup canola oil, but it's really up to you. If you find the scent of the olive oil a little heavy, you can use more canola oil. I've not tried this recipe with other oils like soya bean or corn oil, but I suppose those oils might add their own flavour into the mayo, so you can experiment to get the flavour you like.)

Method:
1. In the mixer, beat the yolks, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, sugar and Dijon mustard.
2. Whilst the mixer is beating the above ingredients, drizzle a teaspoonful of the vegetable oil into the mixer at intervals of 5 to 10 seconds. This is to allow the oil to incorporate into the yolk to from an emulsion.

(Here is a whole aside into Science which you can teach your kids - and I do since Ethan's being homeschooled. *winks* An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that normally can't be combined, eg oil and water or here, vinegar/lemon juice and oil. Emulsifying is done by slowly adding one ingredient to another while simultaneously mixing rapidly, which disperses and suspends tiny droplets of one liquid through another.

However, the two liquids would quickly separate again unless an emulsifier is added to set and stabilise the mixture. Eggs and gelatin are among the foods that contain emulsifiers, and in mayonnaise, the emulsifier is the lecithin in egg yolk.

Emulsification is used in making medicine, and in making various items like paint, make-up, detergents and explosive. Thus concludes this post's Science lesson.)

3. Once you get a pasty mixture from your oil addition, you can add the oil in larger amount, making sure that the mixture remains an emulsion.

4. Once all the oil is incorporated, just put your mayonnaise into a jar and you're done!


For those of you worried about using raw egg yolk in cooking for fear of salmonella, make sure that the egg shell is washed before use. The egg itself doesn't contain the salmonella germs, which are actually found in fecal matter - on the outside of the egg or on unwashed hands. Therefore, wash your eggs in a mild bleach solution if you're worried (and keep those hands clean!), to kill those salmonella germs. Hey, now the Science lesson is really over! *grins*