Oven racks- how many do you need and do you clean them?

[Fantastic Mr Fox]

I recently moved into a house and inherited an old (about 10 years) Wolf commercial range with oven.

The oven is "professional size" and has two movable racks. The are a little rusty and don't slide in and out

fluidly, especially under the weight of whatever is cooking.

In my past apartment, I managed to survive with "standard" oven that only had a single rack.

My question is how many oven racks are ideal or really necessary? Also, how do you keep (or clean) the racks so they

stay nice and "slidey"? I figure WD-40 or Slick50 in the oven is probably a bad idea.

[budrichard]

My Viking has three racks. For a really big turkey, I have to remove one rack, other wise the three racks handle whatever I want to do. A commercial oven cleaner is then applied to the racks every few years or so in the garage . The sides of the Viking are removable so all cleaning is done exterior to the actual oven.-Dick

Edited November 24, 2010 by budrichard (log)

[Wholemeal Crank]

Have never had to clean oven racks. I keep both racks in my oven with bricks on them at all times, unless I have a specific reason to not want the bricks there:

I regularly bake two sheets of stuff at once and shift them top/bottom and flip front/back once during baking.

Edited November 24, 2010 by Wholemeal Crank (log)

[LindaK]

Mine came with three, two standard and one full-extension rack. That has always seemed like one too many for me. I keep two in the oven at all times (one regular and the full-extension), moving them around as necessary. The third sits sad and alone in my pantry.

As for cleaning, I have yet to clean them (they've been in residence two years now). That doesn't mean they don't need it.

[Marlene]

  On 11/25/2010 at 12:17 AM, LindaK said:

Mine came with three, two standard and one full-extension rack. That has always seemed like one too many for me. I keep two in the oven at all times (one regular and the full-extension), moving them around as necessary. The third sits sad and alone in my pantry.

As for cleaning, I have yet to clean them (they've been in residence two years now). That doesn't mean they don't need it.

I also keep one rack in my pantry, and use one rack and the full extension glide. I clean my racks every time I clean my oven. And a little veg oil rubbed on the sides will help them glide smoothly again

[Edward J]

Clean your racks.

When I was catering I had a heck-uva-time getting clients to pay for tents/canopies for outdoor events. "It won't rain" was the standard response.

I responded with "It's a health regulation", which was almost always met with a "HUH?"

Leaves fall in, tree debris, and of course the birds aren't potty trained.

If you use both racks and move one, you're guaranteed to have baked on crud scrape off the first rack and fall into the food down below. "Those are natural vanilla flecks" may work for baked goods, but not for gratins or savoury dishes.

[Pierogi]

Two came with the range, and two is what I use. Never seen the need for more. I leave them in when I run the "clean" cycle, and any accumulated crud (which, honestly, isn't much, it mostly collects on the bottom) is incinerated.

Although, I have heard/read that leaving the racks in during the "clean" cycle leads to sticking along the slides.

However, as Marlene said, a little veg or mineral oil (like you use to oil your cutting boards) rubbed along the edges that fit into the guides takes care of any sticking. NOTE: key words there...."a little" !

[RobertCollins]

Although the high heat makes them blue like a Harley's exhaust pipes, I leave them in when I clean the ovens. After cleaning I use mineral oil, it seems to me to last better than olive oil. I have three, use two.