| How to Use Baking Soda for Stubborn Oven Stains Posted: 19 Feb 2022 12:00 AM PST Oven stains are notoriously very difficult to remove. This is due to the fact that they are hardened and set onto the surface from the high heat of the oven, and only become more stubborn the longer they remain. Many people use specialized cleaning products for the purpose of removing these stains, but you can also use a common kitchen product: baking soda. Learn how to remove oven stains effectively in this way. [Edit]Applying Baking Soda to Oven Surfaces - Sprinkle baking soda on a cool oven. Remove any oven racks, thermometers, or other removable elements from your cooled oven. Then apply baking soda to all stained surfaces of your oven's interior, paying particular attention to thick or greasy stain areas.
- Make sure that if you have used your oven recently, it is turned off and completely cooled before cleaning it with baking soda.
- Apply the baking soda liberally, up to ¼ inch thick in areas that are stained.[1]
- For the sides and top surfaces of the oven where you can't easily sprinkle on baking soda, add enough water to the baking soda to make a paste that can be spread on to the oven surface.[2]
- You can mix baking soda and warm water to make the paste.[3]
- Apply water to the baking soda. Lightly pour or spray water from a spray bottle onto the baking soda-covered surfaces of your oven. Use enough water to fully saturate the baking soda.[4]
- A spray of water should be enough for a light layer of baking soda, while pouring on water may be needed for a thicker coating. The goal is for a paste-like consistency, with no dry powder but no pooled water either.
- You may also spritz plain white vinegar over the baking soda with a spray bottle. Take care if using this method, as the combination of vinegar and baking soda creates a chemical reaction that can be explosive in large quantities. Use only a spray bottle for vinegar in this case.[5]
- Leave the damp baking soda overnight. Allow the dampened baking soda coating to sit undisturbed in your oven. Wait for at least 12 hours or overnight before removing it.
- You can spritz the baking soda with water again if you find it has become dry, but otherwise you can leave the mixture alone until the next day.
- You'll find that the damp baking soda turns black or brown as it picks up the grease and stains from your oven. If you used a vinegar spray, the mixture will bubble. These signs are normal and show the effect of the baking soda in picking up food stains.
[Edit]Cleaning Out Baking Soda and Grime - Wipe residue away with a damp cloth. After at least 12 hours, wipe away the baking soda paste and grime from your oven surfaces. Use a damp dish cloth to remove this solid residue as best as possible.
- You can use a plastic or silicone spatula to gently remove paste that may have become hardened or stuck in a hard-to-reach place.[6]
- Don't worry about getting oven surfaces completely clean and dry in this step. Focus on removing the built-up food and residue and most of the baking soda paste.
- Spray and wipe surfaces again. Spray down the oven surfaces with water and wipe away any remaining residue of food stains or baking soda with a damp or dry cloth. You can also spray white vinegar for this step before wiping down.
- If using vinegar, spray it lightly onto any areas that have some remaining baking soda. The mixture will foam slightly from the resulting chemical reaction.
- Make sure to remove all signs of baking soda as best as possible before using your oven again. Baking soda left in contact with a heating element tends to smoke badly when the oven is turned on.[7]
- Repeat the process if necessary. Apply more baking soda and water/vinegar to let sit if stubborn stains still persist after the first application. You can apply baking soda to just the location of the stain if necessary.
- You can try applying baking soda directly to a wet sponge, a soft-bristled brush, or other scrubbing material to rub right on the stain for removal.[8] If scrubbing is unsuccessful, re-treat with the baking soda paste overnight.
- Use another oven cleaning product if you wish, but the combination of baking soda, water, and 12+ hours to sit is typically effective for nearly all stubborn oven stains.
- Baking soda is great because it is abrasive enough to remove tough marks. It does not damage the material.[9]
[Edit]Cleaning Other Oven Elements - Use baking soda on the oven door. Remove stains on the inner glass of your oven door by applying baking soda and water/vinegar in the same way as you would with the other surfaces. Remember to leave the mixture on overnight or for 12 hours.
- Keep the oven door open and horizontal to best allow the damp baking soda to sit on stains.
- You may want to spot-treat stains to use less water, or apply a premixed baking soda and water paste, to avoid the possibility of the mixture getting in between oven doors that have double panes of glass.
- Clean oven racks with baking soda. Remove oven racks from the oven and lay them on a surface that is okay to get dirty. Sprinkle baking soda over the rack, spray on white vinegar, then let soak in hot water overnight.[10]
- You can also scrub at the racks using baking soda and a wet sponge or toothbrush for smaller grates. It typically works best to soak before scrubbing.
- You can try soaking oven racks in a bathtub protected by old towels. Allow them to sit submerged in hot water with ½ cup of dishwasher detergent for 4 hours or overnight. This will loosen grime and make scrubbing easier, or in some cases not even necessary.[11]
- Make sure to wipe down the racks with a clean damp cloth once treated with baking soda, soaked, or scrubbed, to ensure they are free from any residue before placing them back in the oven.
- Treat a stovetop in the same way. If you have a stove-top oven, you can clean the stove surface with baking soda in the same way you would the oven. Simply let baking soda and water/vinegar sit overnight and wipe down in the morning.
- Remove grates if possible on a gas stove. Also note that you want to avoid allowing baking soda and water to drip down into the ignition area, so keep baking soda to a paste and apply carefully on gas stoves.
- Remember to wipe down the cooking surface thoroughly with a clean damp cloth once the baking soda and grime is removed, then let dry. A glass-top electric stove will smoke easily from any baking soda residue or other moisture when it is turned on.
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| How to Reduce Acid in Tomato Dishes Posted: 18 Feb 2022 04:00 PM PST Tomatoes can add wonderful flavor and nutrition to your favorite recipes. Tomatoes are very acidic, so they can cause serious problems for those with ulcers or other acid related digestive issues. You can reduce the acidity of tomatoes by adding some baking soda after you cook them. You can also remove the seeds, reduce the time you cook tomatoes, or add them to a dish raw. [Edit]Using Baking Soda - Cut the tomatoes into pieces. Most dishes will require you to cut up the tomatoes anyway. You can choose how large or small you want the chunks to be depending on what you are making.
- Note that smaller pieces will heat through more quickly.
- Simmer the tomato chunks at medium heat for about 10 minutes. If you are going to add the tomatoes into another hot dish, you may not need to cook them for as long. If you cut bigger chunks, you may need to cook them a little longer.[1]
- Be sure to watch the tomatoes carefully so that you can remove them from heat if they start to burn or become too crispy.
- Remove the pan from the burner and stir in 1/4 tsp of baking soda. This amount works well for six medium tomatoes, so for more or less tomatoes you can adjust the amount of baking soda.[2] Stir the baking soda so that all the pieces of tomato get a slight coating.[3]
- The baking soda will fizz as it reacts with the acid of the tomatoes.
- Add the rest of your ingredients and finish cooking the dish. Once the fizzing has stopped, which may take a minute or so, finish cooking the dish. The baking soda will reduce the overall acid content of the dish and does not usually alter the taste of the dish.[4]
[Edit]Deseeding and Shortening Cook Times - Remove the seeds from the tomato. Carefully slice the tomato in half around what would be the equator line so that one half has the stem and one half has the bottom. Then use a ¼ teaspoon, or another small spoon, and scoop the tomato seeds out and discard them. Don't scrape too deeply into the flesh of the tomato.[5]
- The seeds carry much of the acid content of the tomato plant, so removing them altogether is a great way to reduce the acidity.
- Some dishes are enhanced by cooking the seeds along with the flesh of the tomato, so take this into account before you remove the seeds.
- Reduce the cooking time of tomatoes. Tomatoes become more acidic as they cook longer, so reducing the cook time to the least amount possible can help keep the acid level lower. Sauces and other dishes that require long simmering may make this difficult, but it is recommended that you don't cook tomatoes for longer than 1 ½ hours.
- You may have to get used to using tomatoes that are less cooked, but if you deal with problems stemming from acidic foods it may be worth the effort.
- Add tomatoes last. If you dish includes tomatoes, but tomatoes are not the main ingredient, add them after everything else has cooked for the majority of the necessary time. Doing this is another way of reducing the cook time, while still cooking them briefly.
- If a dish calls for you to simmer the ingredients for one hour, put the tomatoes in for the last 10 minutes. They'll have time to warm up and soak into the dish a little bit, but not become overly acidic.
- Use raw tomatoes in the dish. In the same way that reducing the cooking time can reduce the acid content, foregoing cooking the tomatoes altogether will reduce the acidity. Raw tomatoes are far less acidic than cooked tomatoes. If you can include the tomatoes in the dish raw without significantly affecting the dish, this will make them less acidic.[6]
- If you are putting the tomatoes into a hot dish, the other ingredients will most likely heat the tomatoes up enough to even out the temperature of the dish.
[Edit]Choosing Tomatoes to Use - Look for the ripest tomatoes. Tomatoes lose some of their acidity as they ripen, so avoid tomatoes that appear to be less that fully ripe. Two good ways to check the ripeness of a tomato is to feel the weight and gently squeeze the tomato. Choose heavier tomatoes and softer tomatoes.[7][8]
- Heavier means more juice, which means more ripe. Tomatoes that are soft but not mushy are more ripe than hard tomatoes.
- You can also learn the smell of a ripe tomato versus the smell of an unripe tomato.
- Cook with fresh tomatoes. The process of canning tomatoes ends up increasing the acidity, so you can reduce acid in your dishes by only cooking with fresh tomatoes. You'll have to buy fresh tomatoes more frequently than canned ones as they will not last as long.[9]
- Choose non-red tomatoes. Tomatoes come in red, green, yellow, orange, and combinations of these, and in most cases non-red varieties of tomatoes are said to be lower in acidity. The next time you make your favorite tomato dish, try out some non-red tomatoes and see if you notice a difference in the acidity.[10]
- This is not a hard and fast rule as there are red varieties that are low-acid and non-red varieties that are high-acid.
- Some varieties to keep an eye out for are Yellow pear, a tomato similar to cherry varieties, Georgia Streak, a yellow heirloom variety, and Big Rainbow, a golden-red tomato.
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