MAINTENANCE
The “ Self-Cleaning ”
PAUL RHODES , CAMT
National Maintenance & Safety Instructor National Apartment Association
Kitchen ?
My favorite season is here : Holiday Cooking Season !
Many residents will begin to ponder recipes that go along with their various family gatherings and functions . This is a fantastic time of year to suggest to residents they use the self-clean function in the oven to be ready for holiday baking .
The way that a Self-Cleaning oven works is a mystery to many residents . More than a few times I ’ ve responded to a resident ’ s call that they can ’ t open their oven door , or smells and smoke are coming out of the oven and they can ’ t turn the oven off .
( The most exciting one was for the newlywed couple that was cooking for their in-laws for the first time . They woke up Thanksgiving morning and decided that they wanted to put ol ’ Tom Turkey in a clean oven . I received the call at noon when the oven door wouldn ’ t open , even with the use of a crow bar , and the dinner was ruined because the turkey couldn ’ t start cooking on time . We let the residents use the oven in the model to cook their dinner , and they paid for a replacement stove as they broke the one in the apartment .)
A Self-cleaning oven works because of a pyrolytic coating on the walls that at high temperatures releases any food and stains so that it can burn to carbon . This means that at the end of the cycle , the resident will need to wipe out any ash that remains .
( In other words , the same way a dish washer doesn ’ t exactly “ wash ” dishes , a self-cleaning oven isn ’ t exactly “ Self ” cleaning ….)
If your community has a baking appliance that include this function , there are several items that we and they need to be aware of . Here are some tips and information that can help :
This process will take several HOURS , and produce some smells and possibly even smoke . A reminder to residents of this occurrence and the need to let the office know before they start the cleaning cycle is recommended . ( This can help if the smoke alarm goes off .)
Offer a box fan to residents to help draw the fumes directly out an opened window as a service .
Everything in the oven and storage drawer under the oven should be removed . This includes the racks , and any “ pizza stone ” or baking helper .
24 January / February 2017 | www . saaaonline . org