Has anyone here left their cast iron pan in during the self cleaning cycle to strip the seasoning so you can start over?
If so, how would you do it if you removed the oven shelves? I’m afraid if I put foil on the oven floor and the pan on top of that, the foil will burn.
Here is one review of that method: They did end the cycle early so not sure if that played a part in it.
“ i decided to do the oven cleaning method. My husband took all the racks out of the stove (didn’t want them to discolor) and since we have no heating element on the bottom, we laid the foil on the bottom of the stove and placed the pan upside down on it.
We turned on the self clean cycle (which cannot be adjusted to less than 3 hours) – the door locked and we were on our way. The fumes started in about 20 minutes and we had the blower going and all our windows and doors open because I have asthma and couldn’t handle the odor. We had no smoke, just odor. We canceled the cleaning cycle after an hour on the timer and waited for the stove to cool and unlock. One look at the pan and I saw that this method works very well. I probably should have left it in a little longer, but most of the gunk came off and I could not handle the odor anymore. I waited for it to cool and took steel wool and soap & water and cleaned off the rest of the mess. We dried the pan and then seasoned it. It looks almost new!
Now for the bad part – ( I went to remove the foil from the bottom of the stove and part of it was stuck. I got most of it up but there were several spots I couldn’t get the aluminum foil off of. I scrubbed and rubbed and even tried to use a plastic scraper and could not get it off. My husband was surprisingly calm as we tried to get it off and took it quite well that the enamel actually peeled off the stove along with one of the pieces of foil. The foil literally fused to the enamel in some spots – there was no removing it without doing more damage. So, we left it alone, went to bed and in the morning my husband announced that he was going to order a new bottom (it is a brand new GE stove by the way) which he did today (cost $60 plus shipping). I should have just put the pan on the rack in the first place or used an old rack placed on the bottom, but I had no clue this would happen to the stove.
Please caution your readers and put this information on your website not to put the foil on the bottom of the stove because of the potential damage it can cause. I would like to prevent it from happening to someone else. I am not sure if anyone else has ever had this problem or not, but better to let them know even if it seldom does.
Nevertheless, lesson learned and I now have a clean frying pan. I intend to do the Dutch oven next (BEFORE) my husband replaces the bottom of the stove. All in all, it is a very effective method for cleaning the pans, it would have been a perfect success if not for the stove dilemma.”
Thanks so much for your post! I’m not certain what the reviewer meant by “I should have…used an old rack placed on the bottom.” I was under the impression that the cast iron stove must be placed upside down, so wouldn’t foil would still be necessary on the bottom of the oven? But I guess since it’s the self-cleaning cycle, whatever drips on the bottom will just burn off… hmmm. I need to find an old rack to use. Might as well try it and see what happens.
This is where I found it. Plenty of self clean cycle cast iron chat.
i used my self cleaning feature on my old thermador oven about every 3 to 4 months, however, when i bought my new bosch oven, the technician told me to either not use it or only use it rarely as it can cause the oven to stop working. what 's the point of having it, i love that feature. i have had my oven a few years and have used it about once a year.
Welcome back Wmg! How do you like your Bosch? I’m thinking about a Bosch induction cooktop when I move.
I like my oven, other than the digital control for the temperature setting is a little quirky. The oven itself works fine but I have never used an induction cooktop. I have a gas dacor cooktop, and Bosch dishwasher and Bosch refrigerator. Both work well.
It never occurred to me to use it to clean a cast iron pan before re-seasoning, good idea. Why put anything on the bottom of the oven? Will it discolor it or something? I sometimes put my pizza stone directly on the bottom of the oven when I run the selfclean without any problems. I know it can harm the racks if they are left in. The former owner of my house ran selfclean in my former oven with the racks in, they did not side well. They worked fine, they just did not side as smoothly as they could have.
I don’t know, maybe you want to raise it for air circulation. It’s just some sort of intuition I have that it shouldn’t be touching the oven directly.
I’m pretty sure I read in the instructions not to put things on the bottom like that so I am not sure that your intuition is wrong.
I need to clean off a circuit board in my oven so I can run my self clean again. It might take me a while to get around to it but when I do so I’ll stick a cast iron pan in on the bottom without a rack and see what happens. I need to get a new stove eventually anyway because they no longer sell parts to fix one of my burners so I might as well experiment with the old before I buy a new one.
If you plan to experiment anytime soon, make sure to check that the new oven you want is available without a long wait time. As we found out, the pandemic has resulted in various parts shortages and long wait times for appliances in some cases. We experienced this a couple of times—lucked out once (washer part) and waited a few months (additional fridge). I don’t know if things have bounced back.
Gas or electric? I have been able to fix some pretty ancient boat cookers with a little creativity. If you’re at all DIY perhaps I can coach you through a repair. As long as you stay away from induction it isn’t rocket science. Besides, rocket science isn’t hard. The pointy end goes first and the fire comes out the back. grin
Thank you for the kind offer. I am very DIY. With the help of the appliance samurai (used to have great DIY site) and youtube videos I have managed to kept lots of appliance running including this range. At some point the parts needed get so expensive that it starts making sense to get a new one but I have yet to fine a new one I like as much as my old one. They all look cheaply made. I think I need a new thermostat among other things.
Anyway, it is gas. I forget exactly the name of one of the part I can’t find. It is the spark ignitor? It effects just one of the burners and I can start it with a match but that becomes a pain. It is cracked. I was told to keep an eye out for one on ebay but I wonder if I could solder it back together or something. What do you think?
I think you’ve identified it correctly. What the pictures look like to me is that the ceramic insulator around the spark igniter has cracked. Take those pieces out and clean them (old toothbrush and baking soda slurry with water – or toothpaste) rinse the heck out of them and use a high temperature epoxy adhesive to glue the pieces back together. While you have the toothbrush in hand scrub all the gas jets. Let the epoxy cure for at least a day (check package directions). Reassemble and try again.
Good luck and report back. Country?
Thermador, Bosch, and Gaggenau are related. Though appearances may differ in places on the outside, a lot on the inside is the same.
Cool. I think I am going to have to drill the screws out to get the pieces out because they are so corroded so it might take me a while to get around to it but I will report back once I do. Thank you for the suggestion!
Country=USA
Great. You should be able to drill the screws out with a tiny drill and then use an EZ-Out (see Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, True Value) to get the scrap out without hurting the threads. https://www.amazon.com/Ez-Out/s?k=Ez+Out You should be able to borrow EZ-Outs from any mechanic or machinist. If you’re near Annapolis MD you can borrow mine. They’re cheap though.
Thanks. I bought something like that once but never used it so all I have to do is remember where the heck I put it. That is usually that hardest part of any DIY I do, LOL.
The repair guy told me Bosch, Siemens and Gaggenau are the same in terms of technology. Difference between B and S, S can be integrated into your kitchen system eg the door can be attached to your cabinet door (think dishwasher or fridge), while B is sold as it is, you can’t modify the design. G is most expensive, they have much better service.
