The Salt Hack That Will Have Your Oven Sparkling In No Time

If you've ever baked a delicious dish in your oven only for it to spill over and create a charred mess, you understand how painful it is to clean the appliance after such an incident. Not to mention the dreaded burnt smell that'll stink up your kitchen. But what if we told you a pantry staple is the secret to cleaning your oven effortlessly? Enter salt. Sprinkling a generous amount of the unassuming spice on the spills will prevent them from sticking to the appliance.

This hack works because salt seals the spills and prevents oxygen from reacting with them. This impedes the combustion reaction and saves you from scraping a burnt mess from your oven. Think of it as the blanket or fire extinguisher that cuts off the oxygen supply to a flaming fire, forcing it to die. Thus, salt is an excellent option to quickly clean your oven without using chemicals.

When you notice something spill or bubble over in your oven, press the pause button, don an oven mitt to protect your hands from the high heat, and grab your salt shaker. Now, open the appliance's door, unscrew the top of the shaker, and apply a generous amount onto the spills to cover them completely. Once you're done, shut the door and let the dish cook to perfection. Since your oven won't quite reach the high temperature of 1,474 degrees Fahrenheit, there's no danger of the salt burning and smelling foul.

After the dish is ready and the appliance cools down, use a scraper (or microfiber cloth) to remove the baked crust and say hello to a sparkling oven. While you can use the self-cleaning cycle if your oven has one, it's not an ideal solution if the spill is mainly made of grease since it can lead to toxic smoke. Moreover, the high temperatures will turn your kitchen unbearably hot (especially during the summer).