Kelly's Korner - Cleaning the top of your Electric Stove

(Flickr User Horia Varlan/CC)

Hey, All,

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about cleaning your oven.  Today we will concentrate on the top.

With everyday cooking you get spills, spatters and boil overs and you wipe them up as they happen, right?  Well, what about underneath those burners?

Yes, there are drip pans under the burners, and even though you may wipe the out, they may be looking pretty sad.  Best bet - toss them and come down to W L May and get replacements (bring your model number as all pans are not the same!)  Then you have nice bright, shiny pans for the holidays.

But as you may notice, mose of these pans have a hole at the bottom.  And your spillovers have dripped down to the liner.  Take your elements and pans out (tip the elements up and pull out - most conventional coils will do this - and look.  This may be a big ICK!  Spray your cleaner in there and let sit a while and wipe out.  It may be a bit tricky getting in there through the holes but unless you know how to raise the top, I suggest just reaching in there through the holes.  We get a lot of calls from people who have tried to raise the tops and have torn out wiring and damaged the coils, so be careful!

I would be very careful, also, about cleaning your control panel.  If your panel is all electronic just use a damp sponge and do not spray cleaner on them - it could get into the electronics and short things out and then you're in real trouble.  If your panel is mechanical (knobs to turn things on) you can very carefully pull those knobs straight off and clean them and underneath.  Do not use abrasive cleaners or steel wool type scrubbers - you can take any markings right off, then you would have to buy another panel and that may be tricky with an older stove - may not be available any longer.  Your best bet before starting any cleaning of your appliances will be consulting your use and care guide.  Don't have one?  You can usually go to your manufacturer's website and download them.

If you have a solid glass top, most of this advice is unneccesary but you still need to use care.  W L May has some cleaning kits made especially for glass tops.  And we have several lines of different cleaners - for regular finishes and stainless steel - and some are eco-friendly.

Don't forget your range hoods, also - may be time for a new filter and W L May can help you get the correct one for your hoods.

Next week, I'll talk about cleaning your gas ranges - I'll have to do some research into this as I know very little about the care of these - we'll both learn something!

Have a great week!