Ditch The Chemical Cleaners For These Natural Ways To Degrease Baking Sheets

Washing the dishes after you've spent hours cooking is a chore no one wants to do, especially when those dishes include a hard-to-wash, greasy baking sheet. When faced with this dilemma, you might wonder, is cleaning greasy baking sheets with oven cleaner brilliant or a disaster? Well, the answer is complicated. Yes, oven cleaners can effectively remove grease from your pan, but this is not their intended purpose. Using a harsh chemical cleaner like this can cause damage to your baking sheets and could void any warranties you may have on your dishware. Moreover, ingesting oven cleaner is harmful, and if you don't rinse your baking sheets well enough, you run the risk of leaving behind a little residue.

Luckily, there are plenty of natural alternatives that work just as well to degrease those dirty baking sheets. Common kitchen staples like lemons, vinegar, baking soda, salt, and more can be used in various combinations to create cleaners and degreasers you can feel good about using. So ditch those harsh, potentially unsafe chemical cleaners and bring your dirty baking sheets back to life with these cheap kitchen essentials instead.

Baking soda and vinegar is a classic cleaning combo that can be used for various household cleaning tasks, including degreasing your baking sheets. For this combination, use a one to one ratio of baking soda and white distilled vinegar. Sprinkle the baking powder over your pan, then add the vinegar and let the mixture fizzle for a few minutes. Afterwards, you can start scrubbing right away, or leave the pan to soak in the sink for an hour, then scrub.

No vinegar? No problem. You can still get pretty good results by making a paste with just baking soda and water to clean your greasy baking pan. To make the paste, use a ratio of three parts baking soda to one part warm water. Spread the paste over your pan and let it sit for 30 minutes to an hour. Finally, wipe away the paste and give your pan a regular wash to finish up.

Sometimes all it takes is a ball of tin foil and a little bit of your own elbow grease to remove stuck-on grease from your baking sheet. For this method, crumple a sheet of tin foil into a ball shape and use it to scrape the grease away. You might have more success when you pair the tin foil with soap or baking soda. Just remember, this is not a suitable option for non-stick pans, as you can remove the special non-stick coating.

Creating a cleaning solution out of cream of tartar and lemon juice (or vinegar) is a decades-old cleaning hack that makes copper pots and pans shine like new, but it works great on baking sheets as well. For this method use equal parts lemon juice and cream of tartar to create a paste, spread it on the pan, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, scrub away the grease with a sponge. This combination is also effective for removing stains from stainless steel baking sheets.

Salt and vinegar — it's not just for potato chips. For this combination, the vinegar acts as the degreaser while the salt acts as an abrasive. To try it yourself, sprinkle a coarse salt (Kosher works well) over your pan, then pour a little bit of vinegar over top. Use a sponge to move the salt and vinegar around your pan and lift away the greasy residue.

Especially effective for removing baked-on grease stains from glass baking sheets, corn starch and vinegar is a great natural cleaner. Dilute your vinegar with a little bit of water in equal parts and add 1 teaspoon of cornstarch. You're going for a thicker consistency than plain water, but something a little runnier than a paste for this one. For the best results, scrub with a mesh scrubber.

Sometimes, for a really good clean, you need to use a little heat. Start this method by sprinkling your pan with baking soda. Then, drizzle a gentle dish soap over top, and finish by adding some freshly boiled water. The mixture should fizz up. Let that sit for up to an hour, then use a bristle brush and get to scrubbing.

This method is quite similar to the salt and vinegar method, but it can serve as a good way to use up lemons that might be on the brink of going bad. Start by covering your pan in a coarse salt, then cut a lemon in half. Instead of a sponge, use the lemon half to scrub the grease and stains off of your sheet.

If you have a self-cleaning oven, cleaning your greasy, stained baking sheets couldn't be easier. These ovens use heat, not chemicals to remove cooked-on messes and they can do the same for your baking sheets. Simply place your sheet inside the oven and follow the manufacturer's directions for the self-cleaning cycle. When the cycle is complete, leave your pans in the oven to cool down, then give them a quick normal wash and put them away once dried.

For clean (and minty) baking sheets, a little toothpaste can go a long way. Simply apply toothpaste directly to the greasy areas on your baking dish and use a clean, unused toothbrush to scrub away the mess. Afterwards, give your sheet a normal wash to remove any toothpaste residue, then dry and put away your pans. You can also mix in a little baking soda to add an abrasive element and make this cleaner more effective.