We had a very tiring and busy couple of months. Add to that, it was our son’s final exam, it was a bit too much to handle. Soon after, we wanted to take a break and chill out with a few close friends. Well, we did that and somehow, it turned out to be a massive house party. And as usual, my house help went on a break during that time too. House parties are fun but what about the mess that needs to be cleaned up later? Dirty dishes, messy kitchen and so on. And, how to clean a greasy microwave? Well…let me tell you!

The guest list was supposed to be of only 2 friends and the 2 of us at home. We planned for 2-3 finger foods and 2 gravy dishes with rice. Dessert would be a nice rich dark self-saucing chocolate cake. Whenever I have to cook a lot, I plan it in such a way that there is the least amount of hassle in prep. So, between barbecue chicken wings, crushed potatoes with bacon and sour cream and meatballs, all three were more or less baked or grilled. All I had to do was marinate and keep them ready. And then in the last minute, pop them in the oven and voila! They are done.

The curries were fairly simple too. I had a basic chicken curry that was cooked in the microwave, a pulao in the rice cooker and another dal that was cooked in the microwave as well. Pretty simple right?

Recipe of Self-saucing chocolate pudding

This is a fairly simple recipe, as long as you keep a watch over time. It’s a sticky chocolate pudding with the most delicious sauce ever that oozes out as you cut through the pudding.

The ingredients needed are:

• 1 cup (150g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar
• 1/2 cup (50g) cocoa powder, plus extra to dust
• 60g unsalted butter, melted, cooled
• 1/2 cup (125ml) milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Take a mixing bowl and sieve in the flour, half cup sugar and one fourth cup cocoa. Give it a good mix. Now make a well in the centre and set it aside. In another bowl, whisk melted butter, milk, vanilla and egg. Pour this into the well and fold the ingredients to combine into a batter.

Take a baking dish and grease it well with butter. It should be at least one and a half litre baking dish. Then spread the batter into the baking dish. Take another small bowl and mix the rest of the sugar and cocoa powder and spread this evenly on top of the batter. Finally, boil 1 cup of water and pour this boiling water over the pudding, evenly.

Pop this into a pre-heated oven at 160 degrees C for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top is firm. Then take it out and let it cool down slightly. Scoop out the pudding and serve with vanilla ice cream. In case you want to use the microwave, cook uncovered for 10 to 13 minutes on fifty per cent power. Set aside for 1 minute and then serve with ice cream.

The messy disaster!

The disaster happened when the self-saucing chocolate cake overbaked since I got busy playing with my daughter. The microwave was literally burnt with tough stains and grease all over. The bottom of the cake pan was charred. How to clean a greasy microwave, I wondered! And it was no ordinary grease. It had really tough stains.

How to clean a greasy microwave?

Like I said that we had invited 3 friends. But they all brought along plus ones and it became a large house party. The cake got burnt while my guests were at home. The oven was already brown with grease and stains from the barbecue chicken. Chicken always releases juices that are hard to remove from the baking trays. One of my friends came to my rescue. She suggested Cif Perfect Finish for the oven and grill.

Cif Perfect Finish is actually quite easy to use. She instantly helped me in ordering a bottle online and instructed me on how to use the product. She told me how Cif products had helped in in having a clean home and I needed to shift immediately.

Cif Perfect Finish for oven and grill is a specialist spray cleaning liquid that is specifically targeted towards the removal of stains and grease from ovens, grills and hobs. Once the bottle arrived I realised that it has a really powerful formula to remove 100 percent of grease stains and even the tough ones. And you don’t need a lot of arm strength to clean your grills and baking trays.

How to clean a greasy microwave with Cif Perfect Finish oven and grill spray?

The product was so good that I really thought I need to share my experience with more people. Most importantly, I love the design of the bottle and the way the spray nozzle is. It will not leak unless you really press the lever. There is also a safety clasp on top of the trigger. The liquid comes out easily. You have to spray on all the surfaces that are covered in grease and stain completely. After that, just leave it as it is for 30 minutes. Once the time has passed, you have to wipe it with a damp cloth. So, no scrubbing and flexing your muscles over cleaning a baking tray or microwave is required.

All in all, Cif perfect finish oven and grill spray is a great solution to cleaning a microwave or any other greasy baking trays, hobs and grills. Any kind of tough stain is easy to remove and grease is no longer a worry with this magic solution. So, if you’re wondering how to clean a greasy microwave, you can try Cif too!