Fill a bowl with water, drop in half a lemon, and hit start. That is basically the whole trick, but let me walk through it, because there is one step that saves you from a sticky mess.

I will be honest: I let my microwave get bad. There was a stretch where I kept reheating chili without a cover, and the ceiling looked like a crime scene. I told myself I would clean it on the weekend, and then the weekend came and went for about three weeks. When I finally looked up, I could not see the little light anymore.

What you need

• One lemon, cut in half
• A microwave-safe bowl (I use a big glass measuring cup)
• About a cup of water

How to do it

1. Fill the bowl with water and squeeze both lemon halves into it. Drop the rinds in too, they carry most of the oils.
2. Microwave on high for five minutes. The water should be boiling hard by the end.
3. Leave the door shut for another two or three minutes. Let the steam do its work.
4. Open the door carefully, steam is hot. Take the bowl out and wipe everything down with a damp cloth.

The steam loosens baked-on food, so the gunk wipes off instead of needing to be scraped. The citric acid in the lemon cuts grease, and the smell replaces whatever old-food odor was hanging in there.

The one thing I almost skipped: do not use cold water. Cold water does not steam enough, and you will end up wiping for twenty minutes. Boiling water is the difference between a quick wipe and a full scrub.

Why this beats chemical spray

No fumes. I used to spray cleaner in there and then feel like I was cleaning with my eyes closed, because opening the door right after is awful. With lemon, the worst thing that happens is the kitchen smells like citrus for a while, which is not exactly a problem.

That is it. I have not scrubbed a microwave with cleaner in months.