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!

Are You Ready For Aunt Inga's Secret Thanksgiving Recipe? Is Your Range Hood Ready?

Creative Commons license on image.

As we get closer to Thanksgiving and the rest of the holiday season, it seems like a good time to bring up an often overlooked part of kitchen prep. It seems obvious to consider the range and the dishwasher. It might even come to mind to make sure the icemaker is working. When was the last time the range hood filter was checked? If its been a while, then it might be time to give it once over. When Aunt Inga starts warming up her secret Thanksgiving recipe on the stovetop, you'll want to make sure you're getting the best ventilation possible.

Range hood filters need maintenance like most other types of filters do. Range hoods typically will have one of three styles of filter. They all deserve a little attention and the all are cared for differently.

The professional style or commercial range hoods often will have a baffle type filter. According to Broan, a leading manufacturer of range hoods, this style of filters are designed to handle high grease environments like might be found in a commercial kitchen. As a result they can go longer between cleanings. Broan suggests that these should be cleaned when they become dirty and unsightly. They are usually washable in a dishwasher.

Most home kitchens do not have professional style range hoods. For these more common hoods, the big difference is whether the hood vents to outside of the home or not. As a side note, Broan advocates the vented range hood as a superior product, because in a non-vented hood many particulates are extracted from any smoke, but some gets past the filter then can recirculate into the home.

When your hood vents to the outside of the home, you should have a relatively easy fix. The filter will likely be an aluminum mesh within a frame. Being all aluminum this can be washed in the dishwasher. Some other cleaning methods I have heard of include soaking the filter in hot water to loosen any cooked on grease, then scrub vigorously. I have also seen recommendations to warm the filter in the oven over low heat to loosen grease. If you take this approach be very careful not to burn yourself cleaning the hot filter. Some degreasing oven cleaner might also be good for breaking down any build up. Broan recommends cleaning these types of filter on a monthly basis.

If your range hoods does not duct outside of the home, you might be happy to hear that you can go 3-6 months before having to deal with the filter. The downside is that at that point the filter cannot be cleaned. It must actually be replaced. The carbon used to extract smoke particles become saturated and the filter loses it effectiveness at that point.

W.L. May stocks many of the most common sizes of filters, both the aluminum mesh type as well as the carbon type used for ductless range hoods. There are a wide variety of sizes used though. If it turns out your hood has a filter of an unusual size we can still help you. The filter manufacturer will make any size filter by dimension.

Only a few more weeks to go until Thanksgiving. I think I will pass on Aunt Inga's dish, but bring on the pumpkin pie!

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Tuesday Tips: Range Hood Filters

Did you know? There are a wide variety of grease filters used on range hoods. We stock many of them in the most common sizes. Just call us with the dimensions, including the thickness of the filter. If the filter you are looking for is an unusual size, we can have them made to order to meet your needs.