I spilled some sauce, cheese, and pepperoni in the oven last night while trying to transfer some homemade pizza from the pizza peel onto the pizza stone, so I decided to clean it today.
I wiped the bottom and glass door, but the rest of the stuff was crusty and stuck to the bottom of the oven. I started the cycle and went about my business.
About 15 minutes later I hear a loud POP and I run over to find little flames dancing at the bottom of the oven. I freak out, turn off the self-cleaning feature, grab the fire extinguisher and try to open the door, which wouldn't open (which I later found out was a safety feature because the temperature inside was close to 900 degrees, whew!)
Anyway, now my kitchen and living room are filled with light smoke that I'm trying to ventilate, and I am terrified to run the self-clean again for fear of my house bursting into flames unless I watch it (which I don't particularly want to, since the smoke is nasty).
So, were these little dancing flames and the resulting smoke safe and normal in the operation of the self-clean cycle? If not, what can I do before running the cycle again to minimize flames and smoke?