Skip to main content
Home for the holidays. Make sure your oven is ready to fix your family’s favorites.
turkey

Cooking for the holidays is about more than sugar cravings. It’s passing along family traditions, singing holiday tunes between batches, and delivering fresh-baked cheer to friends and neighbors.

Whether this is your first time hosting, or you’re a pro with the butter-stained recipe cards to prove it, make sure your range is ready for the festivities.

.

  1. Clean the inside. If you have a self-cleaning oven, check your owner’s manual for detailed instructions. Make sure to wipe off any spillover like juices or liquid grease that aren’t baked on first to avoid smoke during the cycle.  If you’re cleaning the interior yourself, you can make your own oven cleaner with vinegar, baking soda and water. Just make sure to unplug your oven first.
  2. Deep clean the grates. Sometimes a simple wipe down just doesn’t cut it. If your grates need some extra attention, spray them with oven cleaner, put them in a plastic bag, and let them sit overnight. Then give them a final rinse with soap and water.
  3. Be careful with the knobs. Don’t spray cleaning fluid or water under your range’s knobs. It can seep into your oven’s electrical system and cause major problems. And trust us, no one wants to explain to grandpa why we couldn’t cook any gravy for the turkey.
  4. Give yourself a break. A wise chef once told us that if you’re not making a mess, you’re not cooking. Ok, so it was Trisha Yearwood on Food Network, but she knows her stuff. Don’t stress if your oven isn’t spotless. Focus on the warm memories and cherished traditions made in your kitchen, and the loved ones gathered around your table.

Make sure to follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter for the latest tips!

 

Black Hills Energy Blog

cooking
      Home is more than the place you live. It’s that warm feeling when you smell banana bread baking in the oven. It’s snuggling up for just one more bedtime book after the nightly bath routine. It’s the peace of knowing that no matter what, there’s someone there to help. In a…
summer electric safety
May is National Electric Safety Month and sunny days are ahead of us. And we could all use a little sunshine in our lives right now. As you venture out for your favorite summer projects and activities, make sure to stay safe with these electric safety tips. 1. Look up Always look up before…
planting
Current events have us all experiencing more anxiety than usual. But if you can get out to enjoy the fresh air of your yard, you have a mood booster right at your fingertips: nature. There’s something about digging in the cool dirt on a warm spring day that can lift your spirit. In the book “The…
wfh
“Do I need to unplug my laptop at night?” All your work-from-home energy efficiency questions answered If your dining room table looks like this, chances are you’ve been working from home. And that means that you likely have more electronics around than usual. Here’s your guide to making sure you…
data center
Did you know? More information has been shared online in the past 2 years than in all of human history! And now, with many professionals and students working from home, data centers are more critical than ever. You can click here to see how we are actively monitoring the coronavirus (COVID-…
Spring cleaning
We've almost made it to spring! Sure, there might still be snow in the forecast, but the evenings are getting longer and the kids have started to count down to the last day of school. One of our favorite traditions is spring cleaning. Filling the house with fresh air and purging it of the winter…
changing furnace filter
February. The longest short month of the year. It’s only 29 days, but it’s hard not to look longingly at next month’s promise of the first day of Spring and longer sun-lit evenings. The seasonal limbo has us wearing sweaters but dreaming of swimming pools. Your furnace is in limbo too. It’s been…
Be cyber safe
A lot of life happens online. Shopping. Banking. Socializing. Discovering time-intensive crafts to feel guilty for not doing with your kids because who has time to clean up a kitchen covered in Elmer’s glue and food coloring anyway? Whether you’re conducting serious business or simply trying to…
nest thermostat
When the temperature outside drops, the temperature inside tends to rise. But that doesn’t mean utility bills need to rise, too. A programmable thermostat is a simple tool that homeowners can use throughout the winter to help save energy and money in their homes. Programmable thermostats are…
Energy efficiency
We’ve all needed to create a new normal this year, and that means our habits and New Year’s resolutions may look a little different as we eagerly welcome 2021. Habits can be tricky things. Sometimes they’re easy to establish and stick to. Other times, it seems like no matter how hard you try, they…
black hills energy family
Put a new twist on this holiday tradition (and save money and energy while you’re at it). I love a good office Secret Santa. Your coworkers go from friendly team members to covert agents, sneaking around with gift bags of coffee, gourmet chocolate, bath bombs and sports memorabilia. Megan from…
holiday lights
When it came to lighting up his home for the holidays, Clark Griswold stopped it nothing to make sure his place was the brightest on the block. Griswold, who was the star of the 1989 holiday classic National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, was determined to have a “fun, old-fashioned, family…

Share the love with those you love

During this time of thanksgiving, you can share the peace-of-mind of Service Guard with your friends and family through our share and save referral program. You’ll get $50 in credit toward your existing Service Guard repair plan account, and the person you refer will get a month of Service Guard free.

SHARE AND SAVE