Unless you've mastered the clean-as-you-go approach to hosting, the aftermath of a dinner party can feel a lot like the hangover that comes with it -- fond memories of a great time overshadowed by the stomach-churning odor of dirty dishes in your kitchen sink. And let's not talk about that molten mess you left crystalizing behind your oven door.

Short of hiring someone to clean for you, there's only one other way to handle this madness: By keeping that door shut and letting your oven clean itself. But how does that self-cleaning mechanism work, anyway?

We went to an appliance pro, Consumer Reports' deputy home editor, Celia Kuperszmid-Lehrman, for answers.

HuffPost Home: How exactly does the feature work?
Celia Kuperszmid-Lehrman: Typically, this cycle uses high heat to burn off spills and spatters in the oven. An automatic safety lock on self-cleaning models prevents the oven door from being opened until the oven has cooled. Some models have a countdown display that shows the time left in the cycle.

More at source: Huffington Post

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