Close Menu
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

What's On

Apple to Shutter a Retail Store in China for the First Time Ever

30 July 2025

Psychedelic Therapy Crashed and Burned. MAHA Might Bring It Back

30 July 2025

Oppo Find X9 Pro Tipped to Feature a 7,500mAh Battery, MediaTek Dimensity 9500 SoC

30 July 2025
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Just In
  • Apple to Shutter a Retail Store in China for the First Time Ever
  • Psychedelic Therapy Crashed and Burned. MAHA Might Bring It Back
  • Oppo Find X9 Pro Tipped to Feature a 7,500mAh Battery, MediaTek Dimensity 9500 SoC
  • This Smart Basketball Tracks Data About Every Shot. It Could Be Headed to the NBA
  • Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Series May Not Include the Standard and Plus Models
  • I Lived With Alexa+ for a Week. Here’s How It Went
  • Upcoming Smartphone With 10,000mAh Battery Tipped to Enter NPI Stage; Could Debut as Honor Power Series Handset
  • Slime Rancher 2 Exits Early Access In September
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest Vimeo
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
  • News
  • Phones
  • Laptops
  • Gadgets
  • Gaming
  • AI
  • Tips
  • More
    • Web Stories
    • Global
    • Press Release
Subscribe
Best in TechnologyBest in Technology
Home » How to Clean a Toaster Oven
News

How to Clean a Toaster Oven

News RoomBy News Room16 March 20253 Mins Read
Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Reddit Telegram Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

Photograph: Matthew Korfhage

Add vinegar to dish soap for extra degreasing: Need a meaner substance? You don’t want to use it all the time, but vinegar does help degrease a pan or an oven when simple elbow grease won’t do. And while it’s a little harsher than basic dish soap, it won’t do a lot of harm when reserved for the occasional power clean.

The steam method: Before cleaning your oven, try heating up a tray with a layer of water in it. As water evaporates, the steam will help loosen up a bit of the gunk for easy cleaning.

Use gentle degreasers and magic erasers: Try simple dish soap first. But if your oven glass or sides are really greased up, and dish soap won’t do, you may need something a little stronger. But you still don’t want to use truly abrasive substances. Try a more gentle degreaser like Krud Kutter ($11). Breville’s spokespeople have also been pretty vocal about their love for Mr. Clean Magic Erase ($12) wipes.

Some don’ts: Don’t use bleach or ammonia, it’s harsh and toxic and you eat the food in that oven. Don’t use steel wool or other abrasive pads. Don’t use heavy-duty degreasers or overnight cleaners like Easy-Off, which may not be suitable for the materials on your toaster oven. Many toaster ovens, including Breville, have nonstick coatings for easy cleaning: You’d rather not chemically peel off this nonstick coating.

How to Clean Toaster Oven Heating Elements

My feeling is, avoid doing so. Run it on high, burn off what you can. Avoid your heating elements the way you avoid downed power lines. They’re fragile, a thin tube of quartz glass that’ll break at minor pressure. And on many ovens they’re quite difficult and expensive to replace. Messing this up is an easy way to not have an oven, and I know this from experience.

But if you must: Don’t use cleaning agents. Don’t use baking soda. Don’t use anything but the gentlest whisper of a water-damp sponge or cloth, run softly along the length of the heating element. Don’t apply pressure. Also, make sure the heating element is dry again before you turn it back on, if you’ve gotten it wet. This is all advice from Breville, whose heating element I nonetheless broke while trying to be gentle.

Actually, have you tried prayer?

As a Last Resort, Accept the Things You Cannot Change

But if you own a toaster oven for longer than a year, no matter what you do, you will almost certainly accumulate at least one grease spot or discoloration that has just become a part of your oven. Maybe it’s on the aluminized steel of your crumb tray, now permanently discolored with a stain from burnt butter. Maybe it’s some spatter up by the heating elements. Maybe it’s that permanent dark spot on the glass of your oven door, beauty-marked by something unknown.

You’ve tried everything, but it’s just there. It’s part of your life now. Well: Forgive yourself. Life shows up on you sometimes. I still have a small but visible scar on my hand from a skateboard accident on my babysitter’s driveway when I was 8, and a jagged remnant on my elbow from that time I got mugged in Chicago. I try to believe it gives me character. Your oven, too, may now have character.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
Previous ArticleiPhone 17 Air might lead the way for port-less Apple smartphones
Next Article You Asked: Clarity on quantum dots, and why monitors can’t match TVs

Related Articles

News

Psychedelic Therapy Crashed and Burned. MAHA Might Bring It Back

30 July 2025
News

This Smart Basketball Tracks Data About Every Shot. It Could Be Headed to the NBA

29 July 2025
News

I Lived With Alexa+ for a Week. Here’s How It Went

29 July 2025
News

Meta’s AI Recruiting Campaign Finds a New Target

29 July 2025
News

The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got Covid

29 July 2025
News

ChatGPT’s Study Mode Is Here. It Won’t Fix Education’s AI Problems

29 July 2025
Demo
Top Articles

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024103 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views

Oppo Reno 14, Reno 14 Pro India Launch Timeline and Colourways Leaked

27 May 202582 Views

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Latest News
News

I Lived With Alexa+ for a Week. Here’s How It Went

News Room29 July 2025
Phones

Upcoming Smartphone With 10,000mAh Battery Tipped to Enter NPI Stage; Could Debut as Honor Power Series Handset

News Room29 July 2025
Gaming

Slime Rancher 2 Exits Early Access In September

News Room29 July 2025
Most Popular

The Spectacular Burnout of a Solar Panel Salesman

13 January 2025125 Views

ChatGPT o1 vs. o1-mini vs. 4o: Which should you use?

15 December 2024103 Views

Costco partners with Electric Era to bring back EV charging in the U.S.

28 October 202495 Views
Our Picks

This Smart Basketball Tracks Data About Every Shot. It Could Be Headed to the NBA

29 July 2025

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Series May Not Include the Standard and Plus Models

29 July 2025

I Lived With Alexa+ for a Week. Here’s How It Went

29 July 2025

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest tech news and updates directly to your inbox.

Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
© 2025 Best in Technology. All Rights Reserved.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.