I grew up lining oven floors with aluminum foil to catch the nasty spills from casseroles and sweet potatoes. My mother did it and so did I.
Not anymore.
Our built-in Thermador double oven that graced out La Costa home for years gave out recently–or at least the top oven did. The problem became finding an oven that had the same dimensions as out old one so that it would fit in the custom cabinet. We eventually found one that that did–a Kenmore Elite that seems very nice and well-constructed. I love it…
Except for the embossed warning on the floor of both ovens: DO NOT USE FOIL
How can this be? It’s been a lifelong practice and besides, I think everyone lines their oven with aluminum foil.
Don’t they?
For grim starters, lining your oven with aluminum foil can void the warranty. Immediately. It can also melt, cause the oven to catch fire and mess with the temperature when cooking foods.
That embossed warning sent me to a manual that I would otherwise not read and to the internet as well. And sure enough, right there in Consumer Reports is an article dedicated to this very subject. There, I am advised that instead of lining the floor of the oven with aluminum foil, I might lay a sheet only slightly larger that the pan with which I am cooking on the rack below the cooking dish.
This is going to be hard. The oven is self cleaning, but that is another hassle. I want something to catch the oven spills as they happen.
IDEA BOOM!
Why doesn’t someone invent and take to Shark Tank an easy-clean silicon pad that goes under baking dishes?
That would keep warranties intact, keep ovens from catching fire, and keep stinky messes off my oven floor!