Bumping in hopes of getting a comment. Just know that way more people complain about how self clean has ruined either the enamel or the electronics on their ovens. I am sure there are some good solutions out there.

Try Googling this problem, not specifically for the Bluestar, just ovens with baked on dirt. I saw a bunch of videos that could be useful. Several were using baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

I was going to say the self clean on new electric ovens is no good either. You can use oven cleaner on BS. I would spray on a rag to apply and use the low fume type. I'm not a fan of oven cleaner but my SIL used some on my dads oven and she had it looking great. No smell after. I used some a long long time ago on a gas oven and the smell never left. I sprayed it on and it got in the cracks. I have self clean on my oven but never use it. I use baking soda and water and leave overnight and it works pretty good but I don't worry about it that much. This reminds me I need to clean it. I do keep a piece of foil on the bottom rack to catch drips but it is not all the big to allow circulation. You cannot put it on the oven floor or it might melt.

Laura, what are you using to clean the oven?

I don't use oven cleaners. Google how to clean an oven with ammonia and baking soda. IT WORKS, but it does require a lot of elbow grease for really stubborn grease. Best of luck to you. :)

Place your oven racks in a large black garbage bag and spray with oven cleaner. Let them sit overnight and rinse well. The baked on grease will fall off and they will sparkle.

LOL. Now there's a cleaning method I can get behind!

I would consider myself a serious amateur chef. I have a Bluestar. I do use oven cleaner. But I only do so once every few years. And more importantly, I only use it on the door after removing it from the stove.

In other words, I agree. These ovens don't need or want much regular cleaning.

Easy Off No Fumes formula. Works like a charm. It really does.

Ammonia and baking soda suggested above - ammonia fumes and scrubbing until your hand falls off. Nope. Anything with baking soda means lots of scrubbing.

ETA: I don't bother cleaning the racks. They'll just have to stay grubby. Shrug.

I see vinegar and baking soda recommended all the time and I think people think that because you have foaming, there is some kind of cleaning going on. The two combine to make water, carbon dioxide and a salt, sodium acetate, so they neutralize each other. One way to write the reaction.

CH3COOH + NaHCO3 = CH3COONa + CO2 + H2O

I think you are better off using either one by itself.

"Anything with baking soda means lots of scrubbing."

You would be surprised. The key is leaving the wet baking soda overnight. It is my go to for burned on stuff in a pan. You may have to do it more than once but I am lazy about scrubbing. I do agree the low/no fume cleaner my SIL used changed my mind about oven cleaners if I ever need to go that route.

" I don't know of any pro (or serious amateur) chef who cleans their ovens."

Really? That is surprising. A dirty oven can cause uneven baking. i can't imagine not getting after it occasionally.

For anyone who doesn't know the method I was referring to...

Ammonia isn't used so much for cleaning other than to loosen up baked on crud. You preheat the oven (don't remember what temp) then turn the oven off. You place about 1" of ammonia in a heat safe bowl or pan in the heated oven overnight. Then the next day you remove the container of ammonia. Take a wet scrubby and sprinkle baking soda on it then wipe up the crud. It comes right off except for the really tough stuff. That's where the elbow grease might be needed. This method requires alot more rinsing than scrubbing, really. I've only need to do this once when I let the oven get really bad. It looked almost like new inside afterward.

Ammonia certainly works to break down all sorts of polymerized crud. Most alkaline chemicals do that. And your method works, because ammonia evaporates easily and gets into everything.

That's also exactly the reason why I'd be hesitant to do this. All sorts of things get corroded upon ammonia exposure. Your oven might be clean, but now your electrical connections are compromised.

The upside is that all your copper wires are now a beautiful green.

I clean my oven racks with OxyCLean. Soak the racks in hot, hot water with OxyClean for at least an hour. The grease and baked on crud wipes right off.

Nope, no verdigris on my copper wires. Must have been due to the indirect contact.

Breathing ammonia, even relatively small amounts, can be quite damaging to your health, particularly as a neurotoxin causing brain damage. Any ingestion (breathing, touching, drinking) will likely cause neurological damage and exposure to household amounts is believed a significant contributor to our high rates of Alzheimers. Think about how much you'd breath fixing the ammonia bath for your oven, while it's in there, and disposing of it. What impact will it have on the taste of food and on your health from eating food prepared in an oven recently cleaned with ammonia fumes?

As a child I remember my mom using ammonia to clean her oven. I've never done it myself because I have always had self cleaning ovens, and I personally like a clean oven. I also recall my mom using an ice pick to chip away at the ice in the freezer compartment before we got a frost free refrigerator. I say 'no thanks' to either of those chores. Anyhoo, here's the ammonia method. I would pay attention to the caveats of using ammonia on a gas oven.

homemade-oven-cleaners

I am always amused how there are all these websites advocating less harmful ways to do something, and then they fall for the fallacy that because it is a common household item it somehow is less harmful. Ammonia is a pretty damn strong chemical with all sorts of potentially serious health issues. As long as it is well contained, diluted, and kept away from other chemicals, that might not be a big deal, but ammonia evaporates particularly easily; so, these assumptions are generally not true for a lot of household applications.

Similarly, everybody loves using vinegar for all sorts of non-food applications. It's perfectly safe when ingested in small quantities, and that's what it is sold for. But -- for example -- put it into a spray bottle and it suddenly becomes rather hazardous. In particular, the MSDS warns about damage to mucous membranes; this specifically means inhalation and contact with eyes.

I am not saying that commercial oven cleaners are all that great for you either. But having read the MSDS for a couple of no-fume cleaners and comparing them with the MSDS for aqueous ammonia, I absolutely prefer the former for my health.

I provided links for a couple of the chemicals in question. I am not saying that commercial oven cleaner is harmless. But if used according to instructions, it is really hard to get yourself injured. Wear gloves. Don't ingest. Wipe when you are done. And you'll be fine.

The same is absolutely not true for ammonia. That stuff scares me, and I have worked with liquid pure ammonia (not the weak diluted stuff that you use in a household) in a lab.

I'm back. My oven is still dirty. I can't get it clean.

The oven door is appalling. I can't get it clean.

And now my burners are booth covered in crud and impossible-to-remove grease AND they've rusted.

I've never had trouble keeping a stove clean before. This one is disgusting. I would have to spend three or four hours a week cleaning it to keep it looking nice. I have an open-concept townhouse and you can see the stove from my living room and dining room, and it is quite the eyesore.

I hate this stove. I hate everything about it. I hate that it's so heavy I can't move it to clean around and behind it. I hate the overblown hype and the oven that doesn't cook any differently from any other oven. I hate how difficult it is to keep it clean. I wish I'd never set eyes on it.

Easy Off is worth its weight in gold. Spray it on, let it sit overnight, wipe out the next morning with lots of paper towels, Use a spray bottle of hot water to rinse rinse rinse. Wipe dry. Heat the oven briefly to burn off any remainders. You will not keel over from asphyxiation.

My cleaning crew loves Easy Off Fume Free for any greasy clean up: grates, sinks, disgusting broiling pans. (But I never ask them to clean my oven, I do that chore myself.)

Also, the top grates clean in the dishwasher. Afterwards, apply a thin coating of vegetable oil and heat in the oven for an hour. Wipe off excess oil with a microfiber cloth. They'll look like new. Don't let them stay wet and air dry. That's how you make cast iron get rusty.

There's a good reason why Easy-Off and similar oven cleaners are illegal in most countries - they're toxic when you use them and the toxicity get's in to any food you cook in them (not to mention the chemical taste they add to food). For your health you should stay far away from these cleaners.

You can breathe in your baking soda & vinegar irritants, I'll stick to my Easy Off in a well ventilated room.