Can You Stop a Self-Cleaning Oven Mid Cycle?

If you’ve just got a self-cleaning oven or never used this function on your oven, you likely have plenty of questions about the cleaning programme.

We’ve covered self-cleaning functions on ovens in a few other articles, answering different questions.

However, below, we’re looking at if you can stop a self-cleaning oven in the middle of the cycle.

Now, we can’t speak for every oven as they are different, but we can offer some advice.

 

Stopping a Self-Cleaning Oven Mid Cycle

Most ovens can be stopped during the self-cleaning cycle. If you aren’t sure if your oven can be stopped, take a look at the manual of your oven.

If you don’t have the manual for your oven, put the model number into a search engine along with the words ‘owner’s manual’, which should bring up a downloadable copy of the manual.

There are a few ways to stop an oven during the self-cleaning programme. On some ovens, you can simply press ‘cancel’, ‘clear’ or ‘stop’.

On others, you may need to turn the oven off at the wall, leave it for five minutes, and turn the power back on.

You’ll know if you’ve stopped the oven from cleaning itself if the door unlocks.

If the self-cleaning cycle does stop, it is worth giving the oven time to rest. During a self-cleaning cycle, an oven reaches very high temperatures, and there is a build-up of smoke and fumes inside.

So, even if you have stopped the oven during the cycle, it is still worth giving it an hour or so to get rid of these fumes.

 

Should You Stop an Oven Mid Self-Cleaning Cycle?

Just because you can stop your oven during the self-cleaning cycle, should you? After all, the oven will switch itself off after the cleaning cycle has finished.

If you’ve turned the self-cleaning programme on by mistake and caught it very quickly, then turning it off is absolutely fine. However, if the programme has been running for a few hours, it is best to leave it to finish.

Let’s say, for example, you turn on the self-cleaning programme on your oven a few hours before you want to cook dinner.

However, when you come to start cooking dinner, the programme is still running. Should you turn it off and start preparing dinner?

We would recommend that you leave it. We know it’s a pain, but the smoke and fumes created during the self-cleaning process really aren’t something to be messing with.

Plus, the oven is going to smell quite badly, and this could transfer to your food. It is best to leave the self-cleaning function to do its thing.

Once it’s finished, wipe the oven clean with a damp cloth, let it air out a bit, and then resume using it.

We understand that leaving an oven to self-clean when you’re in a rush isn’t ideal. Still, the self-cleaning programme can create really foul odours and fumes, so you likely wouldn’t want to cook it in straight after the self-cleaning programme has finished (or if you stop it halfway through) anyway.

 

When to Use the Self-Clean Function of an Oven

If you do want to clean your oven but you’re in a rush because you need to use the oven, it is best to do it the old fashion way.

A really clever trick for cleaning an oven quickly is to grab an oven-safe bowl, fill it with water, and pop it in your oven for about an hour on a high heat.

The steam created will soften the food and burnt-on grime and make cleaning the oven really easy. There are no harsh chemicals, no smoke, no fumes, and you’ll have a clean oven ready to cook with.

Most people reserve the self-cleaning function on their oven for when they haven’t cleaned the oven for a while. It’s best to use it when you have a bit of time to wait for the fumes and odours to leave the oven.

So, if you’re going out for dinner and won’t be using the oven one day, for example, this is a great time to use this function.

We hope this look at self-cleaning ovens and whether you can stop the programme mid-cycle has been helpful.

For more tips about self-cleaning ovens, as well as the best self-cleaning ovens available in the UK right now, please check out Chef’s Pick further.