cleaning after air frying

Sylvia_Bejm_973377

How do you guys clean your toaster oven (in our case we just got the Breville 900 Smart Air Fryer one) after air frying and getting fat splatters?

My Other Half tried plain chicken quarters for our first air fry. Lots of fat spattered on the back top two heating elements. Smoke alarm went off. He wiped with dry paper towels when the oven cooled off, but we just know it's going to stink next time we try using the oven.

Would putting the toaster oven outside and letting it bake at 480F for an hour do the trick, you think?

Sylvia_Bejm_973377

OK, reading online, I tried the tip of mixing a lot of water with some white vinegar and dish soap (no amounts specified, so I just guessed). Used a scrubby sponge made for cleaning teflon cookware. I wasn't impressed. Could still see residue. I didn't have all day to keep cleaning. Maybe a microfiber cloth would have been better than the sponge.

Though I then moved the oven into the garage and turned it to 480F (highest temp) and Air Fry setting. It stank from the chicken fat that was still in there that I couldn't quite clean out. I noticed that the top, two, center elements weren't heating up, so I ran that Air Fry setting for half an hour, then came back later and ran (I think it was) the Roast setting to get the two center elements heating. When I came to check on the oven right after the Roast half hour cycle, I could tell the oven smelled significantly less than when I first turned it on to 480F. Not perfect, but possibly doable. From prior experience with our older model Breville, baking at something like 325F won't stink up the whole house now, but cooking at 425+F might. We'll find out the hard way any day now when we get around to broiling the salmon.

Side notes: I did take out the rack and crumb tray and put those in the dishwasher to clean. No problem getting those clean. Our kitchen has poor ventilation, and cooking can stink up the whole home, hence cooking smells being a bit of an issue for us.