Whether we like the traditional onion soup or we prefer a good pizza, the oven is an appliance that we must have in our kitchen. The day it breaks down, we suddenly have the urge to eat lasagna, potatoes au gratin, baked chicken… and even bake a cake.

There are so many things we can cook in an oven! But we don’t realize how tasty and healthy are the dishes prepared in it until it’s no longer working. So, we should pay more attention, care, and maintenance to this very important appliance. As a rule, we tend to take more care of our range or cooktop than the oven. We have even, at some point in our lives, used the oven to store pans and pots we rarely use.

This time, we want to give you some simple tips so you can extend the useful life of your oven. Some of them may seem obvious to you, but you must apply them in your kitchen routine. Remember, nobody knows the worth of their oven until they need it.

The step-by-step guide to preserve your oven

1. The first thing is to thoroughly clean the oven on time. It may sound repetitive, but order and cleanliness are your best allies in the kitchen. It’s quite easier to remove a piece of food that has just fallen and soiled the oven, than a stain that has accumulated other ingredients on top for several days. If you leave the stains in place, food debris will stick to the surface. And the worst thing that you can do is scratch your oven trying to remove a stain.

Even if you love to clean, wiping the oven with a cloth dampened with a mild detergent from time to time after cooking can save you a lot of headaches in the future.

Also, if your oven comes with a pyrolytic self-cleaning system, don’t go overboard. Excessive use can damage the oven’s heating elements. Remember, appliances are damaged by not being used and by excessive use as well.

2. Use the right tools and products. In this sense, it is always good to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Very abrasive products can damage the coating of your oven. And never clean the appliance using metal sponges or paddles.

3. Check the whole appliance from time to time. Occasionally, check the condition of lights, rubbers, and other accessories, so that you can replace them in time. A door that doesn’t close properly will make the appliance work harder to compensate for the heat that escapes. This will eventually cause damage to the entire system.

4. Be careful with energy when cooking. To preserve heat, try not to open the oven’s door too many times, and never cook semi-frozen food. For an environmental touch, you can always help the planet by turning the oven off first and letting the residual heat finish cooking the food.

5. Finally, use containers suitable for baking. We don’t usually pay attention to this fact, believing that if the container doesn’t burst or melt, it’s ok to use it.

Why do we have to be careful? For example, many people don’t know that the aluminum that we like to use so much for cooking, sticks to the internal walls or glass doors of the oven if not used properly, scratching these surfaces.

Did you know that silicone can damage the humidity sensors of some ovens? The best materials are black enamel dark refractory ones. Nowadays, technology has advanced enough so that there are special containers for the oven that won’t be damaged by the heat or damage the appliance when you use them.

The advantage of ovens is that they require little maintenance, and for that reason, we tend to overlook their care.