I need to buy a new stove. I live alone and seldom use a "big" oven, I use my toaster oven. Is it worth the extra $100 to buy a self-cleaning oven?
By joanie massey from Spring Branch, TX
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It doesn't sound like you use your oven enough to justify paying the extra to me. I do love my self- cleaning oven but I use it all the time. If I were you I would put the money away for another toaster oven when the one you are using quits.
Hello Joanie, I don't have a self cleaning oven but when I replace mine, I will buy such simply for the convenience. It's not that I overuse the oven. (I cook a lot, but don't bake, roast or broil as much.) It's just that it has taken so much time and so many chemicals to clean my old non-self cleaning oven over the decades, I think I could save more than enough money to justify the extra cost of a self cleaning oven. :-)
But hey, that's just me. You need to weigh the pros and cons for yourself so here's a few points to ponder:
Are you a neat baker that wipes down the inside of the oven after every use or do you let it build up a bit and then spend an afternoon with chemicals and rubber gloves and open windows for ventilation a couple or three times a year? (I'm guilty of the second mention.)
When you do clean your oven with chemicals and rubber gloves, how much extra do you spend for these products? Would that cost (and don't forget the value of your time) be reduced with a self cleaning oven that only required a few extra hours of electricity or gas to burn the gunk out and a few minutes of cleaning up the ashes, or not?
Since you use your toaster oven more, and considering the age of your toaster oven, would it be a hardship or merely an irritant to replace the toaster oven if it failed tomorrow?
If you will be moving before a new purchased, self cleaning oven reaches its warranty coverage, will you get a better return from your investment than you would a non-self cleaning oven or not?
Again, I believe the extra $100.00 or so is worth it, but if you don't, then by all means, don't spend the extra bucks. Just keep thinking smart and you'll make the best decision for your circumstances. Good luck with your decision.
I say no. I like cleaning it the old fashioned way. I have a self cleaning oven but that feature has never been used. The smell alone will drive you out of the house. Funny I didn't think that feature made it higher. It was just one that was cheap but a good brand that we bought and I don't think the price had anything to do with self cleaning.
Why don't you buy a toaster oven. There are only 2 of us now and the toaster oven works great and is a simple clean up.
Gem
No, it isn't worth it! I don't remember if we paid extra for the self cleaning oven or not but I only used twice, didn't like the way it cleaned, still had to scrub, it discolored my oven racks & I prefer to clean it the old fashioned way - comes out way cleaner, uses less electricity, & looks much better. I have a GE self cleaning oven & I will never have a self cleaning oven again plus it heats up the kitchen very much. Just the two of us & a toaster oven would be fine as we don't do big family dinners or big dinners. Save your money & go out to eat. LOL Hope we all helped you in your decision.
I have one and I wouldn't get one again. You have to clean the racks anyway or they discolor and they are what are usually the dirtiest. Takes a lot of electricity to clean it so I just use cleaner on mine.
In one word, yes! I will never again own a stove without a self-cleaning oven. I am so done with the smelly fumes and backbreaking scrubbing and bending down and trying to reach the back wall to scrub. UGH! Never again! I use my oven to cook bacon (awesome bacon, by the way) and it spatters all over inside.
Wow, I am surprised by the number of people who said no. I say yes! Even if you don't use your oven a lot. Are you always going to want to scrub with messy cleaners in gloves to your elbows and breathe all those fumes when it does need cleaning? Personally I have better things to do with my time. I clean my oven once a year, in the autumn when I can still have windows open but the added heat isn't bothersome.
I say yes. I don't use the self-cleaning option on mine but the extra insulation that is in the stove lets you shut off the electricity and let the retained heat finish cooking the food. I don't do it this way for baking, but for pizzas or casseroles you can cut the power used in half.
I'm w/ the no's and found, when cleaning my mom's oven last fall, that the new products 1-don't smell like they used to and 2-work better than I remember! For that "once in a blue moon" that you would clean the oven, I say pocket the $100 or, better yet, go out for dinner! :)
I, too, vote with the "no" group. My daughter bought our last stove for us...actually the only new stove I have ever owned. I chose one with sealed burners on the stove top, which I love, instead of the self cleaning oven. I do a lot of baking...pies, cakes, cornbreads, yeast breads and casseroles. But I never put anything in the oven that is not sitting on a cookie sheet with a slight rim around the edge. If anything runs over, it doesn't end up in the oven. The inside of my now 11 year old stove still looks like I never have used it. I have never used an oven cleaner. I only use baking soda and water to scrub the few spots that have happened.
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