How do self cleaning ovens work?
In: Technology
There are two types.
Pyrolytic are the type described by the other answers so far, where they lock the oven door and wind the internal temperature up to ~500C. This more or less burns off all the messes inside and lets you just sweep them out as ash.
Catalytic are the other type, which employ a special coating on the walls and floor of the oven which act as a catalyst, and basically allow the mess and stains to oxidize into ash at a lower temperature, typically between 200-220C.
Your mileage may vary but catalytic ovens work just during normal usage, but the catalytic coatings can wear out, and you only get the effect on surfaces that have the catalytic coating (which might not be all surfaces).
Pyrolytic ovens work over the whole interior of the oven, but they lock during the lengthy (~2 hours plus cooldown) cleaning process due to the very high temperatures involved, and if there’s a particularly large mess to get rid of, they can generate smoke and fumes.
So it’s swings and roundabouts for each.
They lock the door and crank up the temperature to 500+°^F.
This amount of heat will burn off most anything left in the oven and turn it to carbon. Then it is a simple matter of brushing/wiping away whatever is left.
The self cleaning function heats the oven up really hot, usually around 470c. This causes any soil/debris/gunk to decompose into ash. This ash can be easily removed.
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