How does a self-cleaning oven work?
Since the oven will be heated to a very high temperature, there is a safety mechanism to lock the oven door to prevent injuries from burning and will only be released after the temperature comes down to about 600oF. The oven self-cleaning cycle will last approximately three hours.
As there are still leftover spill from the earlier baking still clings to the oven walls during the "self-cleaning" process, it is inevitably that sometimes there may be some smoke appearing. So it is best to keep pets out of sight as the oven-heated Teflon-coated items could release deadly fumes which are odorless and could harm small pets especially birds. So it is advisable to do the oven self-cleaning process in a well ventilated area with the windows opened.
With the oven heated to such a high temperature, obviously it will also be going to use up a lot of energy. And in order to save energy cost, perform the oven self-cleaning cycle immediately after baking to take advantage of the current partial heat already presence in the oven from the baking.
** Asian Recipes **
