A non-toxic (and fun) way to clean your stove top

When you’ve got grime on your grime in your stove top burning pans and then you manage to boil over milk on top of that grime, it is time for a life change: Clean the darned stove top!

Yes, you could buy some of that toxic-smelling oven cleaner, spray it on, and wipe it off. Your kitchen will smell like a toxic wasteland and your burner pans won’t be much cleaner than they will be with this “volcano” method. Every science fair has a variant of this cleaning project: pour vinegar over baking soda and watch it bubble and fizz.

Stove Top Cleaning Steps

1. Simply remove your burner pans and place them on a cookie sheet or in some container that will hold a bit of vinegar.
2. Sprinkle the burner pans with baking soda.
3. Pour regular white vinegar over the soda and pans.
4. Watch it fizz and say “Oooooo!” (Do it while your kids are away if you want the job all to yourself.)
5. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes and, at best, some hours.
6. Scrub with a metal scrubber or good abrasive scrubber.
7. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

The burner in the picture was treated two times and allowed to soak about 30 minutes each — a short time because of the anxiousness of the helper in the picture. After two scrubbings, there was still a bit of black on the pans but the pans more than met my standard. Your standards may vary. 🙂