I develop recipes for a living, which means my stovetop is basically always a disaster. Cleaning sucks, and even though I know it creates more work in the long run, I’ll find any excuse to avoid wiping oil spatters off my stove.
Recently, I’ve started wiping down my stove while I’m baking something — or before my oven has had a chance to cool down — and it’s a game-changer.
Surfactant-based cleansers usually need to sit for 10 or 15 minutes to even have a shot at dissolving built-up grime, but the heat from the oven accelerates the process. Gunk that I’d just accepted as part of my stove’s topography came away with the barest scrub.
Is this how everyone cleans their stove? If so, where have I been, and why have you been holding out on me?
There’s one obvious caveat to this trick, which is that you should never try it with flammable cleaning products. Even if your oven is turned off and rapidly cooling, spraying an aerosol cleanser onto a hot surface is a bad move.
Stick to detergent-based products or good old vinegar, keeping in mind that heat has a way of dispersing aromas — so don’t spray anything you really hate the smell of.
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