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Smoking Pizzas and Exploding Potatoes

 
I have this problem…I can’t bake any number of potatoes without at least one of them exploding in my oven.  This is true. 
Here are the facts:
1.  We have baked potatoes with our dinner at least once a week.
2.  I always cook at least one extra potato because I KNOW that at least one of my little spuds is bound to turn itself inside out all over the interior of my oven.
3.  I am forever cleaning potato guts out of my oven.
4.  No, I don’t wrap my potatoes in aluminum foil…but I know I should…it would help contain my catastrophes.
 
Now that you know my, um, potato problem let’s move onto the smoking pizza.
 
Awhile back my husband and I invited all my siblings over for a pizza and game night.  Two of my siblings were bringing their “significant others” over for the first time and I wanted the night to be perfect. 
 
I selected a pile of games to choose from, a variety of drinks, a selection of treats…and of course the pizza.  That would be perfect to.  Everyone was going to make their own…I had the dough and the sauce ready…several different cheeses, and every topping I could think of.
 
There were so many choices of what to eat and things to do I just knew that everyone would be happy and the night would go off without a hitch. 
 
Everyone arrived, chatted and got busy making their pizzas…creating them just so.  It was a lot of fun.  Once we were finished I loaded them into the oven and we started with games.  Everything was indeed going perfectly until my sister checked on the pizzas….
 
As soon as she opened the door the kitchen filled with smoke and inside my oven…right there on the bottom…my poor pathetic attempts at baked potatoes were going up in flames, literally.
 
Doors and windows were opened.  Fire alarms went off.  Flames were dowsed.  And our perfectly planned and executed pizzas were destroyed.
 
Since then “smoking pizzas” have become a regular tradition around here…and one of the significant others from that night is now a beloved sister in law.  (She’s obviously a brave soul.)
 
My only regret is that I didn’t (and still don’t) have an LG’s EasyClean™ Double Oven Range…after everyone went home that night all I would have had to do is spray the interior with water and then twenty minutes later just wipe away the grime.  Instead…well…let’s just say the cleanup took a lot longer than twenty minutes!
 
We’re messy around here.  We just are…between the exploding potatoes, rouge pizza toppings, bubbly lasagnas, and kid filled muffin cups our oven gets down right messy.  And that’s OK.  That’s part of the program…but I wouldn’t mind one of those LG EasyClean Ovens…the idea of twenty minutes and no chemicals is oh so appealing. 
 
(And if it sounds appealing to you—you can read all about them right HERE!)

Now it’s your turn to tell me – what is YOUR favorite recipe that leaves your oven messy? Let me know in the comments for your chance to win your own LG EasyClean™ Double Oven Range!

 

Sweepstakes Rules:
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  4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winner  will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

 

BlogHer will pool entries from participating blogs and select a sweepstakes winner at random and will contact the winner with details about fulfilling the prize. 

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/22/13 – 7/15/13.

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Comments

  2. Mam says

    Wow! I’d love a new LG EasyClean™ Double Oven Range! Our oven door keeps trying to come off. 🙂

  3. christina says

    we had a similar mishap on thanksgiving. thankfully the fire department didn’t have to come but sadly we weren’t able to have any turkey and our ears were ringing for the rest of the day. it ended up being the most memorable thanksgiving ever!

  5. Melinda says

    Any new recipe I try invariably makes a mess. My dad has told me since I was little that “Mess” should have been my middle name.

  7. Mmmmm...cookies! says

    For some reason anytime I cook scallop potatoes, blop! bubble over right onto the oven floor. (This happens sometimes even if I do remember to put a baking sheet underneath.)

  9. Vanessa says

    Wow.. this would be awesome! Try stabbing your potato 3-4 times first. I wash my potatoes, stab them then rub them with lard or shortening. It keeps them soft and you don’t need the aluminum foil!
    The recipe that makes a mess in my oven?? Homemade cherry pie! every single time!!

  10. Mie Brindle says

    WHAT?? I have NEVER tried or heard of exploding potatoes….and I LOVE baked potatoes and I don’t wrap them in foil…..but I DO cut a small cross on top because that is what my Mom always did (does)….but I never knew why…..now I do 😉
    Have a lovely day ladies!

  11. AliciaM says

    I have to say my worst mishap with baking I was making chicken and dumplings. I forgot the biscuits always expand and raise to the top, as I hadn’t made them b4. The rest of the pan was filled to the top with the remaining ingredients and low and behold I had drippings all over the bottom of the oven. We always have mishaps with dripping pans so having and oven that is easy to clean would be awesome. Thanks for the opportunity to try and win one. =)

  12. Burton Family says

    I make pizza on Naan bread. I don’t use regular pizza sauce, rather olive oil with fresh garlic on the Naan and then add my toppings. It usually covers my oven in a thin film of oily mess that causes a lot of smoking next time I use the oven. But the pizza is amazing!

  13. vwlady says

    I would have to say baking sweet potatoes ALWAYS leaves a mess in the bottom of my oven. I do put foil under them but there always seems to be some pin hole or something that lets the sugar seep out onto the bottom in a black, burnt sugar mess. I’d love this win this LG Easy Clean range! I’m just getting too old to crawl into the oven every time I make baked sweet potaoes! Thanks for the chance!

  14. zac says

    My Shepherd’s Pie tends to boil over. I’ve started cooking it with a cookie sheet underneath to catch the overflow. I do the same with lasagna.

  15. JJones says

    Cleaning up an exploded potato is the worst! As someone already posted, poke it deeply with a fork first. Wrapping it in foil will make the skin soft, baking with nothing makes the skin crispy, or for the best results poke with a fork, swipe with vegetable shortening, roll in kosher salt and any dried seasonings and then bake!

  16. Michal says

    I love making pizza in the oven…but they often burn if I don’t set a timer…they sure are good though. I should make some tonight! Better go start the dough.

  17. Ida says

    My lasagna always causes a mess in the oven! It’s not going to stop me from making lasagna though! 🙂 Oh and yes if you stab the potato 3-4 times, it should help control the explosions!

  19. Tammy says

    It would definitely be frozen pizza. I like to cook it on the rack so the bottom gets nice and crispy, but it makes such a mess. Would love to win the LG each clean double oven range.

  20. Dianna says

    My pies run over sometimes. I try to remember to set them on a cookie sheet, but sometimes I forget. The burnt sugar is terrible to clean up.

    I cook my baked potatoes in the crock pot. 🙂

  23. Lexie says

    Mine is yams (or sweet potatoes as some like to call them). I poke them and wrap them in foil and they still end up oozing out and all over the bottom of the oven. I sometimes for forget to clean the oven right away because I have to wait for it to cool and the next day I will get a wonderful burning smell wafting through my kitchen as I am cooking something else.

  24. Paola says

    I bake my potatoes on my microwave and they come out just perfect. Use the “baked potato” option every microwave comes with. No need to prick them with a fork.
    You just have to wrap them in a wet paper towel after wash them all through. Do not pat dry them, just leave them wet and put them on a plate. Wrap them separately. When on the plate, put your hand under the water and spill water on them to completely wet the sheets. Please note that no water should fall from the plate.
    Some microwaves ask for weight, others for number of potatoes. Place your option and wait for a “beep” to turn them over. If your towels are dry at this point, put some water on them again.
    Hope you try this method. It really works for me =D

  26. Joelle says

    Roast chicken sputter grease all over my overn but it cleans itself at high temp. I have never had a potatoe explode- I prick them with a fork or stab them with a knife before baking.

  29. Momma J says

    I think we are a household like yours, pretty much everything boils over. I have been lucky so far that the next “baking” usually burns up the spill lol

  31. rickie says

    yams. my husband always forgets to put them on a cookie sheet. they do NOT work like potatoes. that sticky burnt juice is always on the bottom of my oven.

  35. Jude @ threadheadTV says

    I hope they give YOU a free LG Easy Clean Double Oven Range for this amazing endorsement. Good stories. Keep us posted if they do. I can’t really use one unless they have a model that fits into the wall – just the way our kitchen is configured. Go figure.

  38. Chris & Krysta McRae says

    Never had an exploding potato, I always stab mine a few times with a fork a few times before popping them in the oven. If my hubby found our, he would try to do it on purpose!
    Yogurt is my mess maker, I culture it in the oven and end up spilling a little bit :P. sometimes a lot!

  39. Chris & Krysta McRae says

    Never had an exploding potato, I always stab mine a few times with a fork a few times before popping them in the oven. If my hubby found our, he would try to do it on purpose!
    Yogurt is my mess maker, I culture it in the oven and end up spilling a little bit :P. sometimes a lot!

  40. kristel says

    I’d love a new oven! We have a double wall oven that is about 30 years old….not excited to think of the day that goes out on us!

  42. Tracy T says

    I love it when my husband tries to make divinity but it doesn’t always succeed and then you’re left with a hard sugary mess everywhere to clean and no reward. 🙁

  43. Matt and Cristin says

    Any holiday around here usually ends with some catastrophe happening in the oven like a FIRE!! Yep…growing up and into married life…doesn’t matter whose house we are at (my parents – repeated offenders!, my sister’s or mine) there is always something goin’ down and usually it’s a fire.
    This past Thanksgiving the only major hiccup, very mild this year, was not having a little plastic cover on my black pepper and i went to put a couple shakes in the gravy and the whole thing dumped in!

  44. Shauna says

    wow would love to win. I think the thing I fix that makes the biggest mess is cobbler, I don’t do it often and some how always over fill the pan which means overflowing fruit…yuck-ola!!!!

  45. TiffyJean says

    My oven is still a mess after my sister and I tried to make Bacon Wrapped Shrimp… not thinking, we put them on one of those flat cookie sheets with no lip and the bacon grease spilled all over the oven bottom. Nastiness!

  46. Rachael says

    We make a brownie pudding cake that tends to bubble up and leave chocolate-sugar crisp all over the bottom of the oven. I USUALLY remember to put a cookie sheet or sheet of aluminum foil on the lower rack, but not always…

    rachaelclayson at gmail

  47. Connie Haack says

    The family gets together to make pierogi. We have rollers, pinchers, and the cooks. The whole kitchen ends up a big mess. Flour from one end to the other. And the stove top is an incredible mess. But it is something we all look forward to every year. Nothing better than homemade pierogi for Christmas dinner

  49. shellyrae says

    My mishap is VERY embarrassing…but true. Many years ago, I decided to bake a store bought pie. The directions said to take the pie out of the container. Well, I took the pie out of the container…ALL of the “containers”….including the pie tin. You can imagine the mess that ensued! The laughter from my household can still be heard today…;-)

  52. Jennifer Weiland says

    Sweer potatoes! I always forget to put rhem on a pan. Ialso eecently exploded an egg in my oven. It was in there a little too long apparently….:-)

  53. Kelly says

    For me, it’s always pie — especially berry! I can never seem to remember to put a cookie sheet underneath to catch drips. So an easy clean oven would be amazing!

  56. sunny5597 says

    My oven messes are my baked Sweet Potatoes. I wrap them in foil, but no matter what, I always have giant black bubbles laying in the bottom of my oven. I get the same thing when I bake pies too. I should lay foil below to catch the mess. Sure would be great to win this awesome oven!

  58. Traci says

    Homemade pizza…always seems to drip, but there are random spills that I’m not sure of, teenage daughters 😉

  59. kjorz99 says

    I would love to win this oven. Everytime I bake in my oven I set the smoke alarms off. I have cleaned my oven, it looks clean but still sets the smoke alarms off no matter what I am cooking.

  61. Lisa Brown says

    It never fails that my berry or peach cobblers always overflow and drip down the sides of the baking dish, making the worst sticky messes in my oven.
    jslbrown_03 at yahoo dot com

  63. Lawana says

    Really need a new oven…dropped a pan of spaghetti sauce onto the inside of the door and broke the glass…..

  68. Juanita Ramirez says

    I’ve baked apple pies and used a foil cheapy liner underneath. It had a small bend/hole and it leaked sticky juices all over the oven floor. 🙁

  69. Snowbound says

    It seems that anything that I bake in my oven that’s juicy and bubbly spills over, turns into charred black mini mountains. I’ve been told, or read, or seen somewhere, not to put a pan directly underneath the baking dish, as this diverts even heating. Is this true?? Aluminum foil on the bottom of the oven works too, but sometimes I forget to do this; hence the mess!!

  70. Linda Lee Steaples says

    Oh my goodness this would be such a blessing. My stove died 2 weeks ago and I can’t aford one yet because of a hail storm that badly damaged OUR ROOF SO FUNDS WENT TO THAT AND THEN I CAN START SAVING for something to cook on besides a borrowed grill !!!!! Thanks Linda

  72. Falafel and the Bee says

    Oh goodness. I think the question is “what do I cook that ISN’T messy!”. LOL
    Roast chicken seems to splatter nicely and my oldest likes to make nachos and somehow manages to drip cheese everywhere every time.
    A new oven that cleans itself? YES please.

  76. heather says

    I’m with everyone else…. my Apple pie undoubtedly oozes out of my pie dish and leaves a nice mess KB the bottom of my oven. But it tastes so good it is worth it!!

  77. heather says

    I’m with everyone else…. my Apple pie undoubtedly oozes out of my pie dish and leaves a nice mess KB the bottom of my oven. But it tastes so good it is worth it!!

  83. Vanessa says

    Any time I cook a ham I make a huge mess! Luckily that only happens a few times a year on holidays. Thanks for the chance to win!

  86. meke2u says

    lG EASY CLEAN OVEN WOULD BE GREAT, MY MESSIEST RECIPE IS FRENCH ONION SOUP, THE BUBBLY CHHEESE AND BROTH ALWAY GETS INSIDE MY OVEN AND COOKED CHEESE IS THE WORST

  89. The Crafy Senoritas says

    I cooked bacon smokies, which is lil’ smokies wrap in bacon thats been coated with brown sugar, on the wrong type of pan (one with no side) and the grease from the bacon dripped on the bottom of the oven and caught on fire!! Luckily I was right there in the kitchen and I will never be making that mistake again. As if that wasn’t enough, cleaning it after was a bit ridiculous. 🙂

  94. the nayz says

    Mine..Deep Dish upside down apple pie. Very, very tasty, but noisy and chaotic last Thanksgiving with the whole fam 😉
    Not sure if you do this (or if someones told you) bur try poking a few holes in the potatoes with a fork. This helps the steam escape (or something like that)

  96. Unknown says

    I tend to overfill my cake pans so I can level them to get a perfect two inch layer, but sometimes they run over into the oven.

  97. Tamar says

    When I make my pumpkin bread, even if I skimp on the ingredients, it always explodes or overflows in the oven! Stinky, stinky oven.
    tamarsweeps-at-gmail-dot-com

  98. lucy roberts says

    Chicken Pot Pie measurements are never exactly right and it definitely overflows sometimes!
    Not to mention the stovetop heat element or something is going. Imagine how fun it is to switch burners mid-boil while making spaghetti.

  107. Anastasia Fall says

    The recipe that leaves my oven messy is my enchiladas! I stuff the baking dishes full and use lots of cheese and sauce which, even if I cover them, tends to bubble and slosh over the edge when I pull them out 🙂

  122. AnnaZed says

    Ha! I know about the potato shrapnel (as many have said above, stab those bad boys with a fork!). Pizza is the big culprit in our household.

    margueritecore [at] gmail [dot] com

  134. Amy says

    My favorite recipes that’s also messy is my strawberry crisp. It’s really good…but the juices always escape! I would love to have this LG Easy Clean oven in my kitchen!

    amy [at] utry [dot] it

  137. Gerardine Baugh says

    poke holes in the potatoes before you cook them to allow the steam to escape.
    I love to cook lasagna it always over flows and causes a big mess on the bottom of the oven. I haven’t had that problem i a couple of years, that was when a mouse ate some wiring and I couldn’t turn on my oven. -The big bang takes on a whole new meaning when it has to do with an oven, gas and a mouse- If I win this I would be able to cook in an oven again, not just a toaster oven..making a chicken in a toaster oven takes double time.

    http://bit.ly/1232KyU #SweepstakesEntry Win a LG EasyClean Oven Range

  138. Gerardine Baugh says

    Poke holes in the Potatoes to let out the steam. I love lasagna, this dish always leaves a burned mess on the bottom of the oven. for the past two years I cook in a toaster oven, really, a mouse chewed the wires in the oven and ..well the big bang takes on a new meaning when its connected to an mouse and a gas oven. I just cooked a chicken in that toaster oven it takes double the time to cook – I would love to be able to cook again in an oven an LG EasyClean Oven Range would be wonderful!

    bit.ly/1232KyU #SweepstakesEntry Win a LG EasyClean Oven Range https://twitter.com/gerardinebaugh

  150. pauline15 says

    Since I’m realtively new to the baking scene, I haven’t had much in the way of mishaps, but I can tell you that making ice cream cupcakes can get really messy when they tip over!
    pauline15_01(at)Hotmail(dot)com

  154. rache81 says

    One of my many favorites is fruit pie, any kind works for me 🙂 Btw, if you poke your potatoes with a fork that should fix the exploding problem, my mom taught me that after I had one explode 🙂
    racheljeramie(at)hotmail(dot)com

  164. k. says

    Cherry pie always seems to bubble over and make a mess, but I’m going to make it this week anyway.