Stove Grates BLACK? Remove It Overnight With This Filipino Trick

The top of your stove grate gets wiped every week, but I will bet you the side facing the flame is black and slick, like an old pan, and steel wool hardly moves it. That black began as cooking oil. Each time the kawali, the frying pan, spits onto the grate, the fire underneath heats it again, and one thin layer at a time it turns into a hard finish much like the one people build on a cast iron skillet on purpose. My mother in Batangas had no time to stand there scrubbing it. She left her grates in a batya, a wash tub, every Sunday night, and here in America I do the same job with a sealed bag, one night and a rinse the next morning. This is how I clean stove grates, and you can start tonight once the stove is cool. 1. READ YOUR MANUAL FIRST - Some makers say never soak their grates. Bosch writes that long soaking can damage the finish, Wolf says not to soak its grates or put them under water, and Whirlpool says cast iron grates should not be soaked unless they are coated or seasoned. If yours says any of that, the grates stay out of the bag and you follow your own manual, even if it is the slow way. If it gives a soak of its own, you are ready. If it says nothing about soaking, call the number in it and ask before the grates go near the bag. 2. THE BAG - A care page from GE says to place the grates and caps in a sealed bag or covered container with 1/4 cup of ammonia and let them sit 3 hours, up to overnight, to loosen the soil. Wait until the grates are cool. If your caps are brass, I keep them out of the ammonia, and GE's page gives brass caps a vinegar and water soak instead. - My bag goes outside on the back step, and I wear my dish gloves. - The Centers for Disease Control says never mix bleach with ammonia or with any other cleaner. No bleach in the bag, on the grates beforehand, or in the sink you rinse them in. 3. THE BURNER HEAD, THE PIECE THAT NEVER GOES IN THE BAG - GE's page on burner heads says do not use ammonia on them, because it will discolor them. If yours lifts off, soak it upside down in hot water with a little dish soap for 20 to 30 minutes. If it does not lift off, clean it where it sits, the way your manual says. - Keep water out of the burner base (Samsung). Clear each slot with a straight pin or an opened paper clip. Never a wooden toothpick, which Maytag says can break off and stop the gas from flowing the way it should, and do not make the holes any bigger. - Every piece dries completely, and the head goes back sitting level with the cap flat on top. - Thinking of the dishwasher? Samsung's page says none of its cooktop parts go in one, and GE only allows it for grates that are enamel coated on the bottom, so that is another question for your manual. 4. THREE SMALL HABITS - A lid or a splatter screen on the kawali when you fry. - The fan on before the oil goes in the pan. - A damp cloth on the grate as soon as it is cool, after that one dinner, before the flame gets a second night to bake it on. 5. THE MORNING - Open the bag outside and rinse the grates thoroughly, as GE's page says. Any stubborn corner gets a soft plastic pad and dish soap, and Samsung warns that steel wool pads can damage your cooktop. - Dry with a soft, clean cloth, and on cast iron rub a light coat of cooking oil on the bottom so it does not rust (GE). No wet cap goes back on a burner (Whirlpool). Turn one grate over tonight and put the colour of yours in the comments, just one word. SOURCES: Lodge, How to Season. GE Appliances support 17275 (grates and burner caps) and 17278 (burner heads). Bosch gas cooktop care. Sub-Zero Wolf, How to clean burner grates. Whirlpool blog and Whirlpool Product Help. Samsung support ANS10006924. Maytag Product Help, burner ports. CDC, bleach safety.