I was going to make a blueberry cobbler to take to a 4th of July celebration. I put the ingredients together in the pan and placed the pan in the pre-heated oven. Half way through the baking time I smelled smoke. When I opened the oven door, I realized the cobbler had bubbled over and over and over. There was a blackened mess on the bottom of the oven. Uh-oh. If I continued to bake, the smoke detector would go off, so I turned the oven off and removed the cobbler to the refrigerator. I wish I could say the oven is clean, but because there is a problem with the interior light I dare not use the self clean feature and have resorted to spray oven cleaner. Twice.
On my way to the cook out, I stopped at the store and purchased an apple pie and a carton of ice cream. I took the only dessert, can you believe it? It was a hit and I didn't bring any home. In fact, I didn't even get a piece of pie.
There is a silver lining: the oven is now clean enough to call a repairman to fix the light. Yeah!
It is hard to tell when something is going to bubble over and make a mess. My self-clean feature creates toxic fumes that drive me out of the house, so I don't use it. I've resorted to a silicone sheet for the bottom of the oven. It works like a charm.
ReplyDeleteI am a major purchaser of the extra wide, heavy duty foil, which then gors on a large baking sheet and under anything that even looks like it mighy boil over. Saved my ass more times than I can count. I've also discovered that Maggie the Wonder Dog (heart of gold, brains of dust) loves cleaning up the clotted up stuff on the foil -- lucky for me because I don't think she'd fit in the oven.
ReplyDeleteOh my... I feel your pain! Nothing like trying to get baked-on sugary stuff off the bottom of one's oven.
ReplyDeleteI do the "tin foil on a larger pan on a lower rack" thing myself with fruit pies and cobblers, which love to bubble over...
I don't do desserts very often any more but in the past I've put my pies inside a brown grocery bag. Believe it or not, it doesn't catch fire and you can just throw the bag in the garbage. Clean up is easy-peasy. I learned this trick from my mother who baked every week and always put her apple pie in the brown paper bag.
ReplyDeleteWhen I got my new double oven last summer I bought some of those oven liners that can be washed and then put back to protect against those kinds spills. The bottom is always protected. I love them!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a pain! Sorry about having to clean your oven by hand, which must be on the most hated things to do list.
ReplyDeleteSo, is the half-baked blueberry cobbler salvageable? Maybe with a lot of ice-cream? 8-))
ReplyDelete*bummer* on many levels. I hope you were able to save at least a little of the cobbler for yourselves. I find that some of my ugliest disasters end up being the tastiest.
ReplyDeleteSometimes the worst looking dishes are the yummiest! Sounds like you had a good time!
ReplyDeleteVicki