Self-cleaning ovens?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I gather these can be a problem -- it seems logical that they could be. Do you have one? Do you use it? If so, for how long do you remove your birds from the house? Or do you just close doors, open windows and ventilate?

[Michael]

When I bought my oven I specifically looked for one that does not have self clean. For folks that have one with self clean feature but do not plan to use it, I always recommend to either disable or tape over the control for self cleaning to prevent it from being done by someone else or by accident.

Personally I never really understood the need for a self cleaning oven because mine never gets messy to begin with. I try to cover things in foil or in baking containers when they go in there to avoid the mess to begin with.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Weeeel, some foods do make a bit of a mess. How could I find out how long it takes for the air to return to normal after a self-cleaning cycle? I have written the manufacturer to find out if there are any PTFEs in the oven lining (apparently some self clean ovens do have a nonstick lining). I could take the bird for an outing to my office and run it once or twice a year if a few hours is sufficient to air the house out.

I think I should invent a little alarm that goes off at lower levels of aerosols and gasses than those that bother birds. Like a carbon monoxide alarm but for other things that birds are sensitive to and appropriately calibrated. I'm beginning to feel as if the only safe thing to do is eat raw food and watch the bird anymore! Be good for my waistline, but... not quite what I had in mind for the next 25 years.

[Michael]

BTW, you already have a meter for the threshold of toxic levels but not in the way you'd like. Back in the day, miners would bring canaries with them into the mine shafts as a gauge for toxic gas levels. If the bird keeled over, the miners knew they had limited time to get out or face the same. So unfortunately for parrot owners, our pets are likely to get killed by fumes that are only harmful to us in great quantities.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Right. But who's the canary for the canary?

[Michael]

I think they have an instrument that measure methane and other toxic gases in the air to replace the canary but from what I heard, the bird method was fool proof.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Seriously, if there were a modest cost device that could alert you to any potential presence of dangerous fumes, sooner than they would sicken a bird, wouldn't it enhance your peace of mind? I'd buy such a thing.

[Michael]

I definitely would. I do have a CO alarm though. If you come across one, be sure to report your findings because I think many parrot owners would prefer the peace of mind.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I just wanted to cycle back to this because I'm actually getting a little hot under the collar about it. I was able to contact the manufacturer of my self-cleaning oven and they CONFIRMED that it does contain PTFEs in the oven lining. Since self-cleaning ovens reach around 900°F and the "danger" temperature is around 450-500°F this actually shocked me. It is one thing to argue that properly used nonstick pans are safe -- and they do come with instructions not to overheat them -- but use of the feature for which one presumably bought the thing is GUARANTEED to bring it to a temperature that is unsafe for birds. And while I'm in no way foaming at the mouth about these sort of things, presumably not ideal for humans, either.

I actually wrote a letter to the CPSA.

[Michael]

Not that this makes it acceptable but I thought they only reach 900F when they are self cleaning but only go 300-450 in normal use?