I have a confession. It’s a dirty little secret. I have a filthy oven! Well, I did up until 2 weeks ago at least. Cleaning my oven regularly is something I am not good at doing, I would say it is a job I tackle maybe once or twice a year. That is probably bad, right? So when I discovered that the people at Oven Pride were looking for bloggers who had an oven that had not been cleaned for at least 3 months (mine was 6!), I eagerly offered up myself and my oven!
The challenge was to cook a Christmas dinner in my oven in the state in which it was currently in, and then clean my oven using Oven Pride and recook the same meal, and compare them to see if there was a difference in taste. Basically to determine if meals cooked in a clean oven taste different, indeed better, when cooked in a clean oven. Knowing how the bottom of the oven can collect burnt and charred food, it is no wonder that a dirty oven can leak smoke during cooking when the door is opened, which can possibly taint the food which is cooking inside. So this was a challenge that I was very interested in taking part in because the results might well make me clean my oven more often!
So here is the inside of my oven before it was cleaned – not looking very good is it?
So I cooked a Christmas roast dinner with all the trimmings, you know turkey, pigs in blankets, roasties, stuffing, roasted parsnips and carrots, brussels, peas and gravy. I have to admit there was a fair bit of ‘smitch’ as I call it (smoke to all of you!), while the food was cooking in the oven. However, once served up we all sat down and tucked in and it tasted delicious – even if I do say so myself.
Anyway, the next weekend I cleaned my oven which I have to admit did not take very long and was easy to do thanks to the simple step by step instructions on the back of the Oven Pride pack. Infant, I actually do not know why I do not do it more often because it is actually really easy when you have an Oven Pride Complete Care pack!
I made a little video showing how easy it was to clean my oven using Oven Pride which you can see here
As you can see my oven is so much cleaner now and I have to say it was a welcome sight because it looked so clean, I was almost proud of my cleaning efforts!
Still, the real test was to see how it would affect the taste of our next Christmas dinner. So I re cooked the same meal again the following Sunday inside my newly cleaned oven (which was done the day before I cooked), and the first thing I noticed was the lack of ‘smitch’ while the food was roasting in the oven.
While we ate the food, I did ask if anyone noticed anything different about it. The boys did not think so, but my OH said it tasted better than last weeks. Not sure if that was down to a clean oven or not, but it made me happy!
Personally, having a clean oven while cooking is definitely a better cooking experience. Less smoke and smokey smells, and I think having a clean oven gives you a sense of pride. I would not be ashamed if someone were to look inside my oven if it looks like it does currently. I honestly cannot say for sure that the food tasted better or not, because I think to establish that I would have had to have each meal side by side at the same time. However, knowing it was cooked inside a clean oven made it seem better, if that makes sense? Therefore, for a special occasion like Christmas ensuring my oven is clean is something I will now add to my countdown to Christmas planner because I think it made for a more enjoyable cooking experience.
How often do you clean your oven?
I was asked to take part in this Oven Pride cleaning challenge and have done so and all of my comments, photos and video footage are honest and my own.
My Dad did my oven with this and it was fab!