Quick Tip

If you are the owner of one of those fancy self cleaning ovens, I have a piece of advice for you. Maybe you already know this and for you this piece of advice will be a big, fat DUH! But there are those of us out there who are just a bit slower than the rest. Before you read on, please know I did actually looked for the book that comes with the oven so I could read the directions on how to use the self cleaner. But somehow it has mysteriously disappeared from the bottom filing cabinet drawer. Go figure. So I took it upon myself to get this job done. Not just done, but done with style.

I pulled everything from the oven before locking the door and hitting the self cleaning button. About 20 minutes into the cycle, smoke came billowing out from under all 4 burners. The kitchen was filled with nasty, thick smoke omitting a stench that no one should ever have to smell.

You see, my dear, darling son decided to buy the family dinner the other night. He purchased pizza and burritos. He cooked the pizza first, then the burritos. What he failed to realize was that the burritos needed to be on a cookie sheet. One thing lead to another and 1/2 of each burrito ended up on the bottom of the oven. Now fast forward 3 days.

There were these disgusting piles of burrito bean on the bottom of my oven. Most of you would know the importance of wiping them away before hitting the clean button. But no, not me. I had to leave them. As if this was some science project or something. "Class...to what temperature do we need to bring the oven before we can all die of smoke inhalation? I don't know...but let's find out."

And so my simple, yet immensely important piece of advice...clean out any remnant of food before starting the self cleaning cycle. Three hours later my eyes still burn, my nostrils hurt, I can't quit sneezing and my house reeks.