Our kitchen stove gets a LOT of use. Inevitably, something either boils over or splatters and even if we get to it quickly--it's a nightmare to clean.

My inlaws have this habit of cleaning down their entire cooktop after cooking a large meal. Without question, this is the number one thing you can do to make maintenance of your cooktop easier and less time consuming. It takes approximately 10 minutes and they generally use the soft side of a sponge and VERY hot water. If it can be done before they sit to eat--while the cooktop is hot--they do. And because the dirt on the cooktop isn't dried on yet, cleaning it is much easier (this also goes for cleaning your cookware, by the way--even if you just rinse it in hot water and actually wash it later).

But while you work on building that into your cooking routine, you may get some built-up residue that needs to be dealt with. Here's how to handle those.


Remove the grates if you have them

If you have a gas stove, remove the grates that keep your pots elevated. If these are really dirty, either set them in the kitchen sink to soak. If you don't have room there, try a bathtub. Fill with hot water and regular dish soap. If they are severely encrusted with cooked on dirt, set them in the sink or tub in very hot water with a fabric softener sheet or two and let them soak overnight. The fabric softener sheet should soak into the cooked on grime, soften it, and help remove most (if not all) of it in the morning.


Get rid of the loose dirt

I am forever surprised at how much loose dirt there is on my stovetop. Ideally, a vacuum does this job best (and only if your stovetop is absolutely cool/cold and nothing on it is even a hint warm). If you can't do that, a soft handbroom and a subsequent vacuuming or cleaning of your kitchen floor will do the trick. Don't forget the areas you don't associate with cooking--like the top of any raised back of your stove (the area that often displays a clock or timer, etc.)


Dig in to the cooked on dirt

I have to say that the best product I have ever seen for dealing with the top of a stove is Easy Off One Step. In fact, it handled my stovetop so well that I went on to use it on my range hood to remove the built up grease there... and then on to my cabinets above the stove. The bottle says it is recommended for enamel, glass-ceramic and stainless steel; but I have only used it on enamel. Again--FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS! You can also use these on your grates (which gets messy).

If you're looking for a more natural way to deal with the problem, try a mixture of 1 part salt to 3 parts baking soda and enough water to make a paste. Put it on your trouble spots overnight and remove it in the morning.

If you are STILL left with cooked on problems, it's time to break out the big guns. WARNING: at this point you need to decide if removing this grime is worth the potential of scratching your stove surface.

The last two items to help take off the dirt are a pumice stone and a razor blade. Razor blades need to be kept away from the kids and handled with extreme care. They have great potential to scratch your stovetop surface if not handled carefully--but they are effective cooked-on dirt removers.

The pumice stone is less likely to cause damage, but can absolutely put fine scratches in your stovetop finish--even moreso with stainless steel. If you can control the stone so that it is only scratching the dirt and you stop as soon as you get through to the stovetop (something that is very hard to determine on a black stovetop), then you may avoid ANY scratches at all. For me, the fine scratches it put in my black stovetop were worth it as they were less noticeable than the cooked on dirt. I've recently found a cleaning pumice stone in WalMart under the name BioStone in the section where they sell mops and scrub brushes.


Maintain

Whether you had to clean built up dirt or you're just trying to prevent it, maintenance is the key. Be sure to wipe up spills as they happen--as soon as they happen. A good wipe down each week is critical. Hot water and a soft sponge should be enough, but Easy Off also puts out a 3-in-1 spray that can help if you're getting significant dirt that you can't keep up with.


Keeping your stove clean is a huge step to feeling like your kitchen is clean... and doing a little each day and week will make the task manageable!