Naturally Cleaning Your Oven's Innards

Have you ever noticed that black, sticky grime on the inside of your oven?

You can clean that off and out of there by running the auto-cleaning setting. But all that does is turn up the heat to a point where anything left inside will be burnt to a crisp, leaving you to wipe out the residue once it cools. The bad news: doing this may actually set off your  smoke detectors.

You can also buy oven cleaner sprays that have chemicals that eat through inner oven debris.  Those tend to work.

However, if you're looking for a non-toxic, safe alternative, try a little vinegar, baking soda, and elbow grease.

1. Mix a 1/2 cup of baking soda and 3-4 tablespoons of water in a bowl.  
2. Adjust the consistency until it's a paste.  
3. Then spread the paste all over your oven's interior (NOT the heating elements). As you do this, it's natural for the baking soda to turn into a brownish color. 
4. Let it sit overnight.  
5. Afterwards, wipe or scrape out as much of the dried baking soda paste as you can with a damp dish cloth or spatula. 
6. Next, spray a little vinegar everywhere you still see baking soda residue in your oven (the vinegar will react with the baking soda and gently foam).  
7. Finally, wipe out the remaining foamy vinegar/baking soda mixture.