Stove/Cooktop Cleaning

My cooktop was filthy.  Again.  Since around here we cook at least twice a day, every day, it tends to get nasty looking pretty quickly.

So, I removed the grates and burner control knobs in preparation for cleaning the cooktop.

ewww, gross!

Then, I hauled out my trusty rusty handy dandy all purpose cleaning supplies and tackled the job.

Baking Soda
Vinegar

Yep. That's it.  No secret chemical concoctions to make the cooktop clean and sparkly in no time.  Just plain old baking soda and vinegar.

First, I took a damp cloth over the whole thing to remove any crumbs or other loose solids (an elbow macaroni, a very dried up piece of summer squash, some garlic powder. . . ).  Then I sprinkled on the baking soda--light in the clean looking spots, heavy on anything crusty.

baking soda on anything that didn't belong on the cooktop

To that, I sprayed on vinegar.  Enough to wet the baking soda and start it fizzing.  Ah, the cleaning power of effervescence! 

fizzing baking soda and vinegar loosen up cooked on crud

After letting the baking soda and vinegar solution fizz for several minutes, I wiped it up with a damp cloth.  Some areas were a bit crusty yet, and needed a second application or a little scrubbing, but overall, in less than ten minutes, I had a much much cleaner cooktop.

much better!

The best part?  (other than having a clean shiny cooktop again. . .)

Everything I used to clean it was food grade.  Baking soda, the same baking soda I use in cookies, pumpkin bread, etc.  Vinegar, the same vinegar I use in pickles.  Completely edible, non harmful, always on hand, and cheap.