How to Clean Gas Stove Top
The gas stove cooktop is one of most abused appliances in the kitchen. Splatter from cooking oil and spills from stews and soups can get plastered on the surface of the stove. Worse, particles can clog the holes of the burner. Learning how to clean gas stove top is important for the upkeep of this appliance. Here’s how.
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Routine Cleaning
All kitchen appliances require cleaning right after every use. The gas stove cooktop is no different. Right after cooking a delicious meal for your family, you should already start cleaning it up. Allow the appliance to cool down a bit, though. Performing gas stove top cleaning right after cooking can burn you if you are not careful.
- Prepare the kitchen sink “bath”
Fill your kitchen sink with warm water. The warm temperature of the water can help “melt” and dissolve any grease or oil that may be present in the different washable components of the cooktop. Add several drops of liquid dish soap in the warm water. Soap can help further dissolve stubborn grease stains. It can also soften particles of food that may be stuck on the surfaces of the stove cooktop parts.
- Soak the grates and burner caps
Remove the burner caps and grates from the gas stove. Put them in the warm soapy water solution and let them soak for about 20 to 30 minutes. This is enough to soften stuck-on particles, allowing you to scrub them off with ease. It is one of the most important steps on how to clean stove grates.
- Remove loose particles
While the burner caps and grates are soaking, start cleaning the surface of the stove. Get a paper towel to remove any loose particles on the stovetop. You don’t need to scrub the stovetop around this time. What you want is to clean the appliance as much as you can by removing loose particles.
- Clean the burners
In learning how to clean stove burners, start by pulling the burner right off the stove. Inspect the holes or fuel ports of the stovetop burners. It is not unusual that burnt food and other particles can get lodged in these ports. Try to dislodge the particles in the ports. You can use a toothpick for this. A better solution will be to use a paper clip that you straighten out. If you notice that there are many food particles blocking the ports, it would be best to use an old toothbrush. This will help remove the debris from the port.
- Clean the stovetop
Once you are done with the burners, you can shift your attention to the gas stove top itself. Wet a sponge and add 2 to 3 drops of liquid dish soap. Squeeze the sponge a bit to distribute the soap. Scrub the surface of the stovetop using circular motion. Rewet and wring the sponge if it gets too dirty.
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- Rinse and dry the stovetop
Part of how to clean gas stove top is rinsing it with a wet sponge. Make sure to rinse the surface using a clean sponge. You can dunk the sponge in water and wring it several times until you see clean water dripping from the sponge. Use this as the final rinse. Dry the stovetop with a clean piece of dish towel.
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- Clean the burner caps and the grates
By the time you are done cleaning the stovetop, the grease and other stubborn particles on the burner caps and grates should be a lot easier to remove. Get a scrubbing sponge and rub clean these parts of the gas stove cooktop. Rinse the grates and burner caps well with water. Towel dry these stovetop parts, making sure that they are completely dry before you put them back on the stove.
Put the grate and the burner caps back into the gas stove cooktop. Make sure that they are placed in their correct position. Put back the burners, too, before you replace the caps.
For Tough Messes
There are instances when the messes on your stovetop are too stubborn to remove the conventional way. In such cases, you will need additional help.
- Use a hot towel “mask”
Warm temperatures may not be enough to “melt” grease and other stubborn particles on your stovetop. That is why you need to crank it up. Moisten a large piece of dish towel and heat it in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Remove the heated towel using tongs. The towel can be steaming hot once you remove it from the microwave. Place the heated towel over the stuck-on grime. Leave it there for about 15 minutes. You can repeat this process several times if it is still difficult to remove the particles. You can then scrub it off using warm soapy solution.
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- Use a paste of baking soda
Baking soda is more abrasive than your liquid dish soap. Also, it is slightly alkaline. This can react with the mild acids found in many caked-on food particles. This combination makes baking soda so much more effective in gas stove top cleaning than ordinary dish soaps. Mix baking soda with a little bit of warm water to achieve a pasty consistency. Apply this over the stubborn mess and leave it for about 20 to 30 minutes. Get a scrub brush and start scrubbing the stubborn mess.
- Use a commercial-grade oven cleaner
There are always instances when even a thick paste of baking soda cannot cut through the stubborn mess. In such cases, it would be wise to purchase a commercial-grade oven cleaner. Many of these products contain special ingredients that can work to remove stubborn grease and caked-on food particles with ease. When using such products, always follow the directions of the manufacturer. You may also want to open the kitchen windows as the cleaning process can release fumes into the air.
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Learning how to clean stove grates, burners, and the stovetop is crucial for keeping the functionality of your gas stove cooktop. Cleaning it as you go is the best way to keep food particles and other substances from sticking to your gas stove cooktop. This makes it easier to clean.
Sources:
- How to Clean a Stove Top: Gas & Glass Stoves – Cleanipedia
- How to Deep Clean Your Gas Stove Burners Using Natural Cleaners – The Maids
