Essential Steps On How To Clean Baking Tray

Many people think that a blackened baking tray signifies one’s cooking abilities.

However, it is not like that, but if you avoid cleaning it, then it can result in extreme stickiness. Moreover, it does not even feel hygienic. If this is something that is happening to it, then you may need to start with the cleaning.

It can be difficult to make the oven tray spotless, as you may not be aware of the blackened condition of the baking tray. It could be stained with grease, or it may have stubborn burn marks due to certain foods. Thus, you need to follow this guide and learn the right way to clean a baking tray.

How to Clean Baking Tray

Before moving on with the steps, it is essential to prepare the tools you will need in advance. Here are some of the tools that you are going to use.

• Elbow Grease
• Rubber Gloves
• Towel (made of paper)
• Dishwashing liquid
• Dishwashing sponge
• Scouring pad
• Kettle
• Baking soda

1.     Steps To Clean A Greasy/Oily Tray  

Many feel that such a tray can be placed inside a dishwashing machine just like other utensils to clean it. But, a dishwasher’s cleaning power might not clean a stubborn baking tray. An appropriate recommendation for cleaning such a tray stained with oil is with elbow grease. The right amount of this grease to be used depends on the level of stickiness on the tray for baking. Before starting with the process for cleaning, ensure that you have put on a pair of rubber gloves to keep your hands safe from the grimy surface of the utensil. Here is how you can proceed:

• With the help of a paper-based towel, remove the grease from the tray first. You do not have to do this thoroughly and waste your time. You just need to do this to remove the large clusters present on the tray beforehand.
• Now, fill up the sink in your kitchen with hot water. After that, pour dishwashing liquid in it.
• Submerge the plate in the water and let it soak there for at least an hour. This is needed to let the soap react with the grease and oil residue. If the tray is unable to submerge in the water completely, then you may need to soak each of its sides inside the sink for one hour each at least.
• After that, you will apply elbow grease on a sponge and wipe the grease residue that has been soaked with soap. It will be much easier to wipe the residue from its surface because it has now been soaked.  After that, scrub the plate surface using a scouring sponge. 
• After that, you can place it in the dishwasher, as now the stubborn grease and oil residue will be removed easily from its surface.

2.     Steps To Take Care Of A Burnt Tray

If the baking tray has burn marks on it, then you may notice a coating present on the tray. This coating is quite thick. This may not involve a similar technique to clean it like an oven plate that has oil stains. For oils, soaps and detergents are appropriate as they can decompose the oil molecules. However, dishwashing liquids may not be suitable for taking care of burnt layers from the tray’s surface.

For this, you can follow the below steps on how to clean baking tray that is burnt.

• Start removing any burnt areas on the tray that are loose. You do not have to waste your time to scrape it. Your action could even leave permanent marks on the tray. So, prefer using a towel with gentle strokes to remove the soft clumps from the surface of the tray.
• Now, use a kettle to boil water and then add it in the sink. Add a cup of baking soda in the boiling water present in the sink. Let the solution bubble. Submerge the tray in the solution. Let it stay in the water for at least an hour. It will change help in softening the burnt surface on the tray.
• After that, remove the tray from the water carefully. Use a sponge to wipe the crust from the tray. It should be easy to do it now as the hot water, and baking soda solution helped to soften the burnt surface.
• Also, just like before – if the tray is too big to submerge in the sink all at once, then you can soak each side at a time for one hour each.
• Once you have used a sponge to wipe the surface, you can add the tray in the dishwasher to let it clean properly.

3.     Steps To Keep Baking Tray Clean Consistently

While the practical steps of cleaning a baking tray given above will help you whenever you need, yet your best bet is to keep your tray clean to avoid all this cleaning in the first place. So, to maintain an oven plate, you can prefer using baking sheets or oven-friendly foil to line it whenever you use it. This way, it will help keep it hygienic and clean. Note that foods that are acidic can make it harder to maintain clean trays after usage. So, try to use them properly for best results. 

Conclusion

Hope you had a good read and learn how to clean baking tray correctly for keeping it hygienic and clean. Always remember to soak the tray after using it before adding it to the dishwasher. That way, you will not have to use harsher methods to clean it.