Clean oven glass without chemicals

I wish I could say the glass inside my oven door is always spotless, that I clean up splatters on the scorchingly-hot window immediately so nothing ever becomes baked on, but I can’t. Nor can I say my kitchen is chemical-free.

Nothing short of running the self-cleaning cycle — an energy hog and an option I didn’t always have — ever made the sometimes-frustrating job of cleaning neglected inside glass effortless until I learned an inexpensive, easy solution: cream of tartar and white vinegar. It works on glass baking dishes too, when baked-on food is a problem.

Simply mix a couple tablespoons of cream of tartar with a small amount of white vinegar. There are no exact amounts; you want to end up with a thin paste. I usually start with about half a capful of vinegar and adjust accordingly. After doing it once you’ll discover the right consistency.

Apply it to the glass with a paper towel, a sponge or your fingers, close the door and wait two to three hours. Remove it — and the gunk — with a damp sponge and dry with a towel. If some stubborn spots remain, just do it again.

This costs mere pennies per application and cream of tartar is one of the few things in the baking aisle with an indefinite shelf life. It will still be good five years from now.

I got this tip years ago from Graham Haley on PBS. His book, Haley’s Cleaning Hints, is still available but I don’t own it. I tried a few other tips from his show and some were effective, others not so much. But this one’s a gem, turning a chore I used to dread into no work at all.