Guest Blogger: Pyrolytic Ovens – A Worthwhile Investment for your Kitchen?

Guest Blogger #458, Entry #1084, April 11, 2012

Let’s face it, nobody looks forward to cleaning their oven in the kitchen. Indeed, this most thankless of all household chores is usually put off until such time as it becomes absolutely necessary. Either that or pay somebody else to do it!

There is, however, a solution to this perennial problem in the shape of pyrolytic cleaning …

Save time cleaning with a pyrolytic oven

What is pyrolytic cleaning?

Pyrolytic cleaning technology was developed by high end appliance manufacturer De Dietrich. In a nutshell pyrolytic cleaning involves selecting a function on your cooker, letting it do its thing over the space of a couple of hours, then opening the oven door to a shiny, spotless oven cavity!

How does it work?

When the pyrolytic function is selected, the oven door is locked and the temperature inside the cavity increases to around 500 degrees Celsius for a set amount of time, usually around 90 minutes. This sustained, intensive heat is enough to penetrate and carbonise all of the built up grease and spattered food residue, burning it from the smooth enamel of the cavity lining and reducing it to ash in the bottom of the oven. This process leaves the oven walls and oven furniture – shelves, runners etc – spotlessly clean with the absolute minimum of effort!

Many manufacturers offer higher-end cookers with a choice of pyrolytic cleaning cycles that can be selected depending on the intensity of cleaning required.

Avoid cleaning by hand!

Is it safe to use?

As mentioned above, when the pyrolytic function is selected the oven door is automatically locked and only unlocked once the cycle is complete and everything has cooled.

What about running costs?

One of the often overlooked advantages of pyrolytic cleaning is the cost saving. Consider it like this – a typical pyrolytic cycle takes around 90 minutes and costs in the region of 40p. When this is compared to the cost of oven cleaners, scrubbing pads and the time spent on this most disliked of household chores, the extra expense of a pyrolytic function doesn’t seem such a bad investment – especially when one considers the extra efficiency a cooker gains when air is allowed to circulate correctly and unhindered around a clean oven cavity.

See the advantages of using a pyrolytic… oven

Which manufacturers utilise pyrolytic cleaning?

An increasing number of built in ovens are available with pyrolytic technology – Hotpoint, Smeg, Bosch and De Dietrich all offer such a feature on their upper end models. When it comes to range cookers, the choice is greatly reduced however. Rangemaster and Rosieres both utilise the technology, Rangemaster with their excellent Professional Plus FX model and Rosieres with the old favourite Paul Bocuse RBC127. More and more manufacturers are investigating the application of pyrolytic cleaning so the choice of models should increase significantly.
Rangecookers.co.uk are renowned as the UK’s range cooker experts and offer a comprehensive collection of cookers from premium manufacturers such as Rangemaster, Stoves, Britannia and Lacanche, among others. Click here to view range cookers.

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