The best stove-top cleaners

Get the Full StorySpills and messes in the kitchen are a natural part of cooking. But the right cleaning products will keep your stove-top gleaming and spotless.

ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser will tackle the worst spills on baked enamel stove-tops, gas or electric.

Whether you can barely boil water or are a gourmet cook, stove-tops can get messy. Food gets dropped and then burned onto the surface, pots boil over, hot grease flies everywhere just preparing one meal can leave quite a problem. Ignore the chore of cleaning up for a couple of days and you've got a real quagmire.

Needless to say, the quicker you clean up a spill or splatter on a stove-top, the easier it will be to remove. It's a good idea to wipe away food and grease from the stove-top after every cooking session. That can usually be done in just a few minutes with the right cleaning tools and product. Then, you can give the stove-top a more thorough cleaning once a week or so depending on how often you cook.

The best product for cleaning a stove-top depends on the surface material: baked paint or porcelain enamel, ceramic often called a glass cooktop , or stainless steel. There are even some differences in how you should safely clean a gas stove-top and an electric coil stove-top with drip pans.

But for every stove-top, there are some basic steps for a thorough cleaning:

Step 1: Always start with a completely cool surface and with everything turned off.

Step 2: Remove as many components like knobs, electric coils, drip pans, gas grates, and burner caps as possible. For gas stove-tops, cover the gas fuel openings with plastic wrap or a coffee cup to prevent splashing any cleaning solution into the opening.

Step 3: Place the loose components with heavy grease and burned-on food, in cleaning solutions to soak. Wipe down knobs and lightly soiled components so they are ready to reinstall.

Step 4: Wipe down the entire surface with a damp cloth to remove crumbs and light soil. Tackle tough stains using the proper cleaning product and tools for the specific type of surface to prevent damage and to leave it streak-free.

Step 5: Reassemble the stove-top and pledge to clean it after every use to make the job easier next time.

After a lifetime of cooking in test labs and at home, I've cleaned every type of stove-top. Because it certainly wasn't my favorite task, I tested dozens of cleaning products and care tips to find the best. Any type of cleaning that requires less elbow grease, appeals to me. I'm always looking for the most effective, easiest to use, and the best value in products for myself and others.

For the simplest cleaning process, I swear by daily wipedowns and then a thorough cleaning after a big cooking session.

Here are the best stove-top cleaners:

Best for baked enamel: ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser

Best for ceramic stove-tops: Weiman Cooktop Cleaner Max

Best for gas grates: Austin's Clear Ammonia Multipurpose Cleaner

Best for electric drip pans: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Updated 8 25 2020. We updated prices and links and added relevant buying guides. We also removed TriNova Stainless Steel Cleaner and Polish as the best option for stainless steel due to stocking issues.The best for baked enamel

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ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser will cut through the greasy film on both gas and electric baked enamel stovetops.

For decades, almost every home stove-top was constructed of baked porcelain enamel, a heavy-duty, heat resistant material that is fused to the steel surface. Today, you can still purchase both gas and electric shiny porcelain enamel stoves as well as matte painted baked enamel finishes.

Both finishes are durable and easy-to-clean once you get rid of the greasy film that can coat the surface. With ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser, there's no need for scouring with abrasive pads. The natural citrus solvents will cut through the grease. Simply spray it on, wait a few minutes and wipe away the sticky messes. Finish up with just a clean cloth or sponge dipped in hot water for a final rinse.

I like to pour some ZEP into a separate spray bottle and dilute it 50 50 with water to use for small everyday messes. It is effective and safe to use on stainless steel, aluminum, and other metal surfaces.

For tough, burned-on food, spray on the ZEP and allow it to work for at least five minutes. You can then use a rubber scraper to loosen the food and wipe it away. If you have a free-standing or built-in stove, be sure to lift the stove-top or remove the drip pans to clean away food that has dripped inside. You may be amazed at what you find.

Pros: Removes grease easily, pleasant citrus odor, available in one-gallon size for easy bottle refills

Cons: Can damage granite countertops and painted wood surfaces, usually only available online or in home improvement stores

The best for ceramic stove-tops

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Ceramic stove tops are prone to scratching. So how do you get rid of burned-on food safely? Weiman Cooktop Cleaner Max can tackle the worst problems and still leave your stove-top streak and scratch-free.

After years of cleaning enamel and stainless steel cooktops that stood up to scrubbing from a steel wool pad, I encountered a smooth ceramic stove-top. It looked sleek and conducted heat well, but removing the overflow from a boiling pot was difficult until I found Weiman Cooktop Cleaner Max.

The micro-bead technology in the formula provides just the right amount of abrasive power to remove burned-on food and grease but doesn't scratch the surface. After cleaning with the lemon-scented paste and enclosed pad that conveniently stores in the lid of the container and rinsing, there are no streaks or watermarks at all.

Pros: Removes the worst burned-on messes and grease effectively, will not scratch ceramic surfaces, comes with a scrubbing pad

Cons: Does not remove scratches caused by knives, pots and pans, not readily found in all mass-market stores

The best for gas grates

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There's no scrubbing needed to clean grungy gas stove-top grates and burner heads with Austin's Clear Ammonia Multipurpose Cleaner.

I think we have established that we all love any type of cleaning that requires very little effort. If you own a gas stove-top, I can offer just that type of cleaning for filthy grates and grease-clogged burner heads: Austin's Clear Ammonia Multipurpose Cleaner.

All you need is a sealable plastic bag or container and Austin's. Simply place the grates and burner heads in the container and pour in just enough ammonia to cover the pieces. Seal up the container and let them "soak" for about eight hours or overnight. Remove the pieces, sponge them off with a bit of soapy water, rinse well with hot water, and they are sparkling clean! Just dry them and reinstall.

As with any too-easy-to-believe hack, there are a couple of things you should note. Ammonia has a very potent odor and should be used in a well-ventilated space. NEVER mix ammonia with other cleaning products, especially chlorine bleach, that can cause deadly gases. You should use tongs or wear protective gloves when removing stove-top pieces from the soaking solution to prevent skin irritation. Luckily, the ammonia can be safely disposed of down the drain.

Once you discover the cleaning potential of household ammonia, you'll find plenty of uses in the kitchen, laundry room, and throughout the house.

Pros: One-step cleaning, cuts through heavy grease and burned-on build up, works well to remove smudges

Cons: Powerful odor, potential skin irritant

See the rest of the story at Business InsiderSee Also:The best KitchenAid attachmentsThe best camping stovesThe best kitchen faucets

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