588620 Sat Jan 17 10:50:47 -0800 2009 6 41 Cookware 0 4334577 I was just reading another thread talking about using oven cleaner on various pans and it made me think how happy I am *NOT* using commercially made oven cleaner anymore. I use this natural recipe and it works really well without the fumes and nasty harsh chemicals. Like ***I can't believe*** how effective it is, and I used it for the first time after making duck (so IOW my oven was exceptionally greasy and smoky). When I searched for the recipe again I noticed that there was a prepared natural oven cleaner available at Planet Natural. I haven't tried that one, but now that I've made my own and realize how unnecessary the ghastly lye stuff is, I'd be a lot more open to trying the one from Planet Natural or another green kind. Here's where the (easy) recipe is: http://www.thegreenscene.com/shows-and-tips_details.cfm?show_tipID=72 Just 4 ingredients! Fast! Cheap! Totally worth doing! Sat Jan 17 10:50:47 -0800 2009 42513 Mawrter 1 4334626 Lye is natural. You may not like using it but it's still natural. Sat Jan 17 11:11:15 -0800 2009 4334577 202198 ferret 2 4335022 But which is more 'natural', washing lye out of wood ashes, or mining borax from old lake beds? :) Sat Jan 17 14:46:27 -0800 2009 4334626 12139 paulj 1 4334788 I did a pretty good job with just the baking soda part of the directions. I also use it on pans and my bathtub. Sat Jan 17 12:32:25 -0800 2009 4334577 117271 Stuffed Monkey 1 4335010 Let me refer you to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_H._Bronner Sat Jan 17 14:40:33 -0800 2009 4334577 154386 JRCann 1 4335038 I always wonder what's behind some of these posts. I am not a chemist and I have forgotten most of my undergrad chem classes, but that "cocktail" may be making some homemade, "that ghastly lye stuff." Lye has a Ph of about 13, Dr. B's Castille soap is about 10... the lye soap my grandma used was "organic and natural" -- in fact nothing came from outside the farm! As Ferret stated lye is natural too. here's some more food for thought. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yogurt_Connection Sat Jan 17 14:55:23 -0800 2009 4334577 154386 JRCann 2 4335457 Borax, one of the ingredients in the all-natural oven cleaner cited in the OP, isn't all that benign: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax I have no idea what happens when it's mixed by a home chemist with vinegar, baking soda and soap and allowed to sit in my oven overnight. Sorry but I'm not about to mix random amounts of sodium tetraborate, acetic acid, sodium bicarbonate, and castille soap and spray it in my oven. At least with commercial oven cleaners, I know there is presumably some scientific knowledge and testing behind the substance, not just a home brewer mixing things from the back closet because they're "natural." Sat Jan 17 18:19:18 -0800 2009 4335038 248284 taos