What Will Happen To Your Oven If You Never Clean It?

So, you've read all the advice on how often to clean your oven and decided that this messy, onerous, and, frankly, intimidating task was for the birds. Honestly, you aren't alone. Plenty of people go long stretches without cleaning their ovens, save periodic spot cleaning in the event of a major spill — and some hope for the best and never touch it at all. What are the actual consequences of never cleaning your oven? Is this task just one of those nit-picky home maintenance steps that you can benignly neglect, like washing your lampshades and disinfecting your trash cans? Or could the fallout be more insidious? The answer is a solid ... maybe.

If you never clean your oven, the quality of your food could eventually suffer. Baked-on grease and grime might emanate strong odors when the elements are heated, stinking up your kitchen and leaching into your food to create an "off" taste. If the heating elements get absolutely filthy, they might eventually not heat as well, causing your oven to malfunction. And, in the most scary scenario, a dirty oven could be a safety hazard, leading to a kitchen full of smoke or even a fire if residual grease ignites in a hot oven. Does this mean that you must make yourself a slave to the official recommendation of deep-cleaning your oven every three months like clockwork? Perhaps not, but a biannual or even yearly scrub could be a good thing. Know that there's no need to feel ashamed if you've never cleaned your oven, because you are in plentiful company.

"I've been living here for six years and I've never cleaned my oven," a Redditor reported. "I've cleaned the glass and stovetop but I've never even touched the inside. My mom was a clean freak growing up and she never cleaned ours. And honestly, oven cleaner kind of freaks me out." Another Reddit discussion thread brought out more confessions related to the same topic: "I'm in my 40s and have been a homeowner for 18 years and I've never cleaned an oven. Obviously [I] wipe up major messes but it just doesn't seem super necessary to me. How often are people doing this?" A hilariously succinct reply to a Reddit inquiry about how often to clean one's stove summed up the attitude of many: "I don't?"

If you are ready to embark on an oven cleaning odyssey after a long period of overlooking the job, you'll need to prepare yourself for the task. There are some good reasons to avoid the self-cleaning setting on your oven, so you may not want to default to that. Harsh chemicals need not be the only technique in your pocket, either — natural household items like baking soda and vinegar can be very effective, along with a gentle dish soap. Of course, more stubborn, baked-on ick will require quite a bit of elbow grease. Remember that a hot oven may be the best and easiest way to clean, but requires caution. When in doubt, simply do the best you can and take comfort in the fact that your oven will be, at least, cleaner than when you started.