Whether you’re ramping up to produce dozens of cookies, throwing a holiday party, or hosting a family gathering, you rely on your kitchen range to get the work done. As the workhorse of your kitchen, your range takes on a lot of spatters, overflows, spills, and drips—and the result is a lot of cooked-on grime that, if it isn’t cleaned up, can smoke up your kitchen.
Space Makers Junk Removal recommends that you take a day or two now to go beyond your daily wipe down and really clean your kitchen range so it will be up to the job when you need it most during the holidays. Here’s how:
CLEAN A GLASS COOKTOP
If you have a glass cooktop, make sure it’s cool to the touch, then spray vinegar over the surface. Next, sprinkle baking soda over the surface. Soak a dish cloth in hot water, wring it out, and spread it out over the stovetop. Let that work for up to 15 minutes. Then remove the dish cloth and wipe down the stovetop with a microfiber cloth. If you still have spots or streaks, spritz the stovetop with vinegar and wipe it down with another microfiber cloth until all the streaks are gone. Use another, dry cloth to give the stovetop a final buff.
CLEAN AN ELECTRIC STOVE TOP
For an electric stove top, dislodge the burner coils (make sure the stove is cool!), and wipe them down with a sponge dipped in warm, soapy water (don’t get the elective connection wet, however). Rinse the soap off and let the coils dry. Next, remove the drip plates, place them in the sink or in a large tub, and sprinkle baking soda over them. Heat some vinegar in a microwave, and pour that over the plates, and let them soak for 30 minutes. Then, with a damp sponge, wipe them clean and rinse them. With the burner coils removed, take a damp sponge to the stove top. Once everything is dry, return the drip plates and burner coils to the stove top.
CLEAN A GAS STOVE TOP
For a gas stove top, apply a gas-range stove top cleaner to the surface when the stove is cool, then wipe it off with a clean, moist cloth. Remove the grates and clean the burner heads by giving them a wipe-down with a damp cloth or use a small, soft toothbrush to gently dislodge crumbs and gunk from them. Clean the grates by soaking them in warm water and a grease-cutting dish soap in the sink. If you have coated grates, use a sponge to coax any stubborn, cooked-on food from the grates. If your grates aren’t coated, gently run a scouring pad over them. Once they’re clean, dry the grates with a soft, clean cloth.
CLEAN THE STOVE HOOD AND VENT
Because grease, combined with dust, accumulates on a vent hood, you’ll need to wipe down the outside of the hood with paper towels or a cloth soaked in warm water and a de-greasing dish soap like Dawn. Keep wiping down the hood until all the gunk is gone, then finish up by wiping down the hood with a microfiber cloth or paper towels spritzed with a vinegar cleaning solution or another kitchen cleaner (test a spot on your hood, first).
Next, move on to the underside of the hood. Fill a bowl or pan with warm water and de-greasing dish soap or warm water mixed with baking soda (make a paste if your hood undersides are really gunky), and wipe down the undersides until they’re free of sticky residue. Once they’re clean, finish off with a spritz of a cleaning spray and a swipe with a microfiber cloth or paper towels.
Remove the vent filter and let it soak, fully covered, in a sink filled with very hot water, a little de-greasing dish soap, and about ¼ c. baking soda. Soak for about 20 minutes. Using a soft brush, gently scrub the filter, being careful not to damage it. Refill the sink with fresh soapy water as needed, until the vent is completely clean. Rinse it and dry it off completely, then return it to the hood.
CLEAN INSIDE THE OVEN
Before you tackle all that cooked-on grime inside your oven, consult your owner’s manual for recommended techniques, especially if your oven is a self-cleaning one. Even if your oven has a self-cleaning feature, you may not want to use it because it requires heating your oven to its hottest setting, and that heat can produce toxic fumes.
THE LESS TOXIC WAY TO CLEAN THE INSIDE
First, remove the racks from your oven and place a pan filled with water in the center. Then heat your oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and leave it at that setting for about 15 minutes. Turn off your oven and, when it’s cool enough to reach inside, add a little dishwashing soap to the water to create a sudsy mixture. Dip a non-abrasive sponge or pad into the warm water and use it to scrub the inside of your oven.
Once you’ve done this general cleaning, zero in on the places where spills and food bits have likely been baked on. Mix baking soda and water to create a paste you can smear onto those baked-on areas, then spray those areas with vinegar. You can wipe up the resulting foamy mixture after a few minutes or, for tough areas, leave it overnight and wipe it clean the next day with a wet cloth.
CLEAN THE OVEN RACKS
Your racks are probably going to need a soak before cleaning. If they’re small enough, soak them overnight in hot, soapy water in your sink (make sure they’re completely covered). If they’re too big for that, lay some towels down in your bathtub, place the racks on top of them, and fill the tub with hot, soapy water. Let the racks soak overnight, then transfer them to your sink and scrub them with a brush or scouring pad. If your racks are really grimy, sprinkle baking soda over them, and then spritz them with vinegar to create a foam. Scrub them again until you get the grime off. Rinse and dry the racks, and return them to your oven.
CLEAN THE OVEN WINDOW
It’s hard to see your food cooking if your oven window is obscured by cooked-on stains and splashes. To get that gunk off, first spray the inside of the window with an all-purpose spay cleaner and let that sit for a while. Once the gunk is loosened, take a razor blade and very gently scrape the loosened bits off. If some bits just won’t budge, make a water and baking soda paste, spread it over the glass, and let that sit overnight. In the morning, wipe the window clean with a damp rag.