This sounds like a dream come true for anyone who has ever spent hours scrubbing the oven! These “30-minute miracles” actually work surprisingly well because they utilize a simple physical and chemical principle: steam and acid (or alkali).

If you want to get rid of grease and sticky dirt without scrubbing, there are two ingenious methods based on this very principle:

Method 1: The Lemon Trick (The Fragrance Favorite)
Citric acid is an excellent grease remover and also leaves a fresh scent in the kitchen.

The mixture: Slice two lemons and place them in a heat-resistant dish. Fill the dish with water so that the lemons are well covered.

Into the oven: Place the dish in the oven at 120°C to 150°C (conventional oven setting) for 30 minutes.

The effect: The water evaporates along with the essential oils and the acid from the lemon. The steam settles on the burnt-on grease and softens it.

The final step: Let the oven cool down briefly so you don’t burn yourself. Now you can simply wipe away the grime with a damp cloth.

Method 2: The dish soap and baking soda steam bath (for tougher cases)
If the grime is a bit more stubborn, a combination of baking powder/baking soda and steam will help.

The preparation: Mix baking powder or baking soda with a little water and a squirt of dish soap to form a paste. Apply it to the dirty areas in the oven.

The steam bath: Place a heatproof dish filled with clean water on the bottom rack of the oven.

The heat: Set the oven to approximately 100°C for 30 minutes.

The final step: The steam activates the baking soda and softens the grease. After cooling, the paste, along with the grime, can simply be wiped away.

A quick safety tip: Be careful when opening the oven door after 30 minutes – otherwise, the hot steam will hit you in the face. Look away briefly, open the door a crack, and let the steam escape!