Kashering racks of self cleaning oven

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:46 am

In the past I've left my oven racks in while self cleaning and kashered them that way. That causes the racks to discolor and to be hard to pull out.

I've just gotten an expensive new self cleaning double oven and would like to avoid ruining the racks this way.

I'd like to know what different people do to kasher the racks if they do not put them through the self cleaning cycle.

I will of course ask my LOR in the end, but I'd like to know what options are around first to give me a perspective on the issue.

TIA.

bookie

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:51 am

I don't have a self cleaning oven and I give my racks to someone who does to clean it that way. A rav once told me to easy off it twice, put it in a burning oven on 400 for a few hours and to cover in aluminum foil. I found the covering part does not work out well.

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:56 am

bookie wrote:

I agree on the covering -- if I am told they would have to be covered, I would just put them through the self cleaning cycle instead.

imasinger

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:57 am

I will be watching this thread with interest, as I have been leaving my racks in and we have been considering a new oven.

Raisin

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:57 am

do the old racks fit the new oven? maybe keep them just for pesach. Or see if you can get new racks that you keep for pesach.

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 10:05 am

Raisin wrote:

do the old racks fit the new oven? maybe keep them just for pesach. Or see if you can get new racks that you keep for pesach.

I don't know if the old ones would have fit, but it is a moot point as I don't have them (didn't dawn on me to keep them). Sure I could get new racks, but they are mega expensive -- I need 2 racks per oven and a generic one (which I'm not totally sure fits) is over $50 each.

granolamom

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 3:41 pm

my rav told me I could self clean the oven without the racks, then put the racks in the oven on 400 or higher for a while. no need to cover.
I ruined my first set of racks (self cleaned them) too

freidasima

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 4:09 pm

Why can't you just do what we did, call the company and buy new racks (and burners for the top as well if it is a standing stove...)?
It costs money but so does pesach in general. And these last.

granolamom

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 4:14 pm

freidasima wrote:

Why can't you just do what we did, call the company and buy new racks (and burners for the top as well if it is a standing stove...)?
It costs money but so does pesach in general. And these last.

my racks cost over $300 to replace. the burners are over $500.

yes, pesach costs money but if it is halachically permissable to kasher the racks, there is no need to spend money you might not have (or money that its otherwise allocated). and then there is the storage issue, racks and burners take up lots of space.

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 4:38 pm

It's true that the racks won't be the same after self-cleaning, but I find that they don't stick if you rub them with oil after cleaning before use.

EmesOrNT

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 4:46 pm

I self clean both my ovens all the time with the racks in. I never knew it was an issue. I did it in my old house, and I do it with my new ovens too.

octopus

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 4:56 pm

self cleaning does discolor the racks, but I never had a sticking issue. I do have separate racks and grates for pesach. it almost cost as much as the stove.

EmesOrNT

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 5:03 pm

I actually got a separate set of grates under the warranty, that I use for Pesach. For some reason, the grates had faded a bit really soon after buying it, which is really fine, but under the warranty I was entitled to a new set.

I'm thinking you can get a new set of racks too, if the self cleaning really does ruin them.

I am NOT endorsing lying. I am only suggesting to use the warranty if you are eligible.

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 5:10 pm

freidasima wrote:

Why can't you just do what we did, call the company and buy new racks (and burners for the top as well if it is a standing stove...)?
It costs money but so does pesach in general. And these last.

The minimum cost (for generic racks that I can't be sure will fit right) would be around $250 -- brand name racks would be over $500. This is for 4 racks (double oven -- each oven has 3 racks, but I could do with only 2 each for Pesach) -- and they're bulky and need to be stored.

I'd rather find a way to kasher them.

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 5:12 pm

EmesOrNT wrote:

The manual specifically says to remove the racks before self cleaning as they will be discolored and hard to move if left in, so I doubt the warranty would cover that.

EmesOrNT

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 6:01 pm

OOTBubby wrote:

EmesOrNT wrote:

The manual specifically says to remove the racks before self cleaning as they will be discolored and hard to move if left in, so I doubt the warranty would cover that.

Oh. I should check my manual and see if it says that. But as I said, I never replaced the racks, so I don't know.

OOTBubby

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 8:56 pm

chocolate moose wrote:

we bought separate oven racks b ecause of that.

That's a nice idea, but as I said above, it would cost me $250-$500 to do that and I'm not ready to spend that. If I need to I'll self clean them, but I'm not going to spend that amount of money on racks just for Pesach (and deal with storing 4 racks).

imasinger

Wed, Feb 27 2013, 9:43 pm

You could try removing 3 racks and running the self cleaning cycle with just one to test it out.

I guess there is some financial risk in that, though.