On my Jenn-Air the problem is the door seal. It gets hardened with age and use. The higher heat of the cleaning program is then allowed to escape and cook the control unit above the door. Maybe everything worked in the test lab on pristine samples. $135 for the part and $35 for a new flexible door seal. But who wants to use self cleaning after that?

We don't clean our ovens. Something I learned from a chef friend and have read numerous times since is that the best thing for good food is a caked on bit of stuff in the oven.

When a restaurant gets a new oven they will often cook a number of thing in it before they'll cook anything served to customers. This burns off any chemicals from manufacturing and coats the oven surfaces so that the food that comes out tastes its best.

I sold my house last summer. The night before the new people took possession I ran the self clean on my chef collection Samsung induction slide in. In the morning I went to wipe it out quickly and it would not respond at all. Blew breaker and would not start. I needed to replace the thermal fuse and it Canada with parts and labor it was almost a 300$ job. I was not a happy camper.

Brad, if using self cleaning on Samsung blew the thermal fuse, than the Samsung has poor engineering. I would not recommend LG or Samsung for any appliances.

also see this article...

https://www.selfcleaningovens.com/articles/main-brands-of-self-cleaning-ovens/

I've been told by numerous repair people over the years that using the self-cleaning feature on an oven is the best way to shorten the oven/range's lifespan. I haven't had a self-cleaning range in 25 years, and when I had it, I never used it.

miatadan roy,

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading about all of the companies who have been acquired by someone. Anymore it's hard to keep up with all of that. I was surprised nothing was mention about Wolf's blue enamel flaking problems since it is not an insignificant problem from all of the reports on houzz from actual owners.

.

Inga

still mentions on link re: Wolf ...." This complaint about problems with the oven burning baked goods seem to be echoed enough to give me pause about this brand. "

Also I seen on other reports on houzz, blue enamel has issues on other brands as well. Enough that I will avoid any oven regardless of brand if it has blue enamel.

With all the changes over the last few years, no one can assume what was a good brand in the past, will remain so.

Dan

Five years ago I replaced my single KitchenAid wall oven with a KitchenAid double oven. I was so happy until I was ready to use “self clean”. I discovered that using that feature would void the warranty! Customer service confirmed! She also warned me about the use of oven cleaner! Using oven cleaner would void my warranty! Incredible! She said I could clean my oven by hand with warm water. I was not speechless.....$3000 retail for a double oven that can’t be cleaned. And a note to KitchenAid executives—can you guess which appliance brand I didn’t consider when I did a total remodel of my current house?

The KitchenAid double ovens had the beautiful blue enamel that reportedly would explode off the oven walls!

https://www.thekitchn.com/why-you-should-almost-never-use-the-self-cleaning-function-of-your-oven-175110

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/christmas-cooking-oven-cleaning-1.3903434

Remodeling1840 ... it's absolutely impossible that using a feature that is part-and-parcel of an appliance will void the warranty. No manufacturer would issue a written warranty that says such a thing. Do you have a record or recollection of what was the model number of it? You can look on KA's web site and find a copy of the warranty. I guarantee you it does not say that. Phone reps are notorious for misinformation and wrong statements.

I too have read all the scary stories about using the self-clean function in my oven. I have the Miele induction range. The Miele rep at the Miele Experience Center said that Miele self-cleaning has been tested and is good for at least 1000 cleanings! That will outlive me. So....I am going to give it a try. What the heck, this range cost a lot $$ so I should be able to use all the functions. I bought the extended warranty and it's still covered.

Skipper, I agree with you. Life is too short to manually clean an oven. I’d rather spend the time actually cooking. And we cook too much and too many messy things to never clean it like someone suggested. We have the Miele oven, run self clean maybe 3-4 times a year, and if it dies a little sooner, oh well. 2.5 years in now and no problems.

HKO HKO Glad to hear the self-clean is working well! I'm having trouble getting the glass on the door clean. I'm thinking the self-clean won't clean the glass so I want to de-gunk it first. How do you clean your glass? Thanks

We use a razor blade after the self clean cycle is over. The special Miele cleaner is worthless.

HKO Thank you, I'll try that.

HKO "The special Miele cleaner" do you mean the Hob & Stainless cleaner?

Dadoes, I didn’t make up my story. I can’t imagine you would say this discussion with customer service didn’t happen. You were not a witness to the event. Something I read in the owners’ manual triggered my phone call to customer service.

Remodeling1840, surely I didn't listen-in on your call with customer service and I don't dispute that the rep may have (erroneously) said that to you ... but I stand by my comment. There are consumer protection laws regards to written warranties and voiding a warranty for using a feature that is factory-designed into an appliance would never stand-up in a court of law.

Just don't make a mess while cooking. Though we have not used oven self cleaning functions in our new home which has both gas range with dual gas ovens and dual electric wall ovens, DW has always used self cleaning function in ovens in all our previous residences for years without any issues. Having said that, new ovens are huge, doors are removable and it's a cinch to clean a drip or two with hot water rather than run a four hour self cleaning cycle, I think ours has a couple of self cleaning options and believe most modern ovens may have the same.

It's logical, overheating anything may shorten it's life but that's simply an opinion, not a conclusion.

had a past electric oven go down after a self clean. I was dead set against using self clean ever again. but with our all gas range, we started cooking bacon regularly in the oven. after 3 weeks or so, the grease splatter needs to be cleaned or pose a fire hazard. i feel like the risk of using self clean is a lot lower on a pro-style range with much less electronics. And i usually end the clean cycle early at about 2 hours, when clearly the smell and the smoke has gone. I'd rather use heat than chemicals any day.

Skipper—no, the Miele oven cleaner. The Miele service tech recommended it to us (on a dishwasher service call) for stubborn stuff and cleaning the racks etc but it does next to nothing.

@HKO HKO - I know this post is a few months old now, but just saw your comment. I have a Miele oven and haven't yet used the self clean feature yet. About to use it for the first time. Do you remove the side rails when you run self clean on your oven or do you leave them in? I'm going to take out the racks, but hoping to leave the side rails in, if you've had no issue leaving them in... Thanks!

All our ovens are self cleaning however I’m the oven cleaner and for all appliances; have not used self cleaning function in the year we’ve been in our home. Oven doors come off and make the job easier and may be the case with most ovens.Just realised i already said that before. Happy Holidays!!

None of my ovens are self-cleaning. But even if they were, I'd be hesitant to use this feature. Too many reports of damage to ovens or oven liners.

My small Miele ovens have stainless interior that is relatively easy to keep (mostly) clean. But I try to avoid cooking anything particularly splattery in it. My big all-gas oven has traditional enamel lining. It does get dirty over time, and every 5 years or so, I clean it with a chemical oven cleaner. That's about the extent of what I am willing to do. I don't mind if it looks not quite factory new, if that means less work for me and less potential of causing damage (even chemical cleaners do have some potential to cause damage).

I am religious about putting drip pans under all my food though. So, that really helps.

And if I know I am making something really splattery, then it goes on the outdoor gas grill. For all I care, that one can get all dirty and sooty on the inside.

No self cleaning here either. We lived in 2 houses with self cleaning ovens previously. When we used them it stunk up the whole house and melted the cabinets on either side of the oven. We have a Blue Star range in our current house and we don't get caught up in keeping the oven immaculate. I'll wipe it out every now and then but that's about it.

Our Electrolux Wave Touch single wall oven is seven years old. I use the self clean function once a year (occasionally twice a year) and only for the shortest cleaning cycle. Any kind of manual cleaning is an exercise in futility. Ha! Don't ask. :-p

I won't jinx it by saying so far, so good. Not even going to chance that. Nope.

Most of the failures of self cleaning ovens, when I did my research in 2012, were happening to the double wall oven units.

ETA - the owner's manual for our Elux oven states "Do NOT use commercial oven cleaners".

@Kim Appleton, we only remove the bottom broiler pan. We don’t even remove the racks since they don’t get clean otherwise. We tried the Miele cleaner on them and it was useless. No issues with self cleaning the racks.