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Stove Cleaning & Care - pg3

Range Cleaning

Wash exterior surfaces after they have cooled with detergent and warm to hot water. A paste of water and baking soda can be used on difficult spots. Rinse and wipe dry. The same materials can be used on chrome trim, or stainless steel parts. Never use scouring powder or harsh abrasive pads. Plastic or nylon pads may be used for difficult spots.

Creamy appliance wax can be used on painted surfaces for protection and ease of cleaning, but is not needed on porcelain enamel surfaces.

Check owners manual to see if other cleaning materials are safe to use.

Range Hood Cleaning

Range hoods and fans remove grease and moisture from cooking, and so collect dirt that needs regular cleaning. Often wash exposed metal with warm suds solution and rinse. If very greasy, use ammonia and water and rinse. Never use abrasive pads or scouring powders as they can scratch the finish. Wash light bulb when cool with suds and rinse and dry to keep the light bright.

Occasionally clean fan blades of dirt and grease, which can restrict air flow, and cause motor over-heating and fire hazard. Wash the hood with warm, soapy water often. Wash the inside and outside. Rinse the hood and wipe it dry. Occasionally take the metal filter out of the hood. Put the filter in warm, soapy water. Let it soak for a few minutes. Wash and rinse it. Dry the filter and put it back in the hood.

Some hoods have charcoal filters. These cannot be cleaned. They should be replaced about once a year. You can buy charcoal filters from the store that sells hoods.

Check manual directions for cleaning your hood and fan. If instead you have electronic air cleaners in place of a ducted system, follow manual instructions for regular cleaning of filters.

Self-Cleaning Oven Cleaning

Follow directions in your manual exactly, as oven models and brands vary.

Pre-clean the areas not reached in the self-cleaning cycle: the frame around the oven opening, and the edge of the door outside the gasket. NEVER clean the gasket with anything!

Use hot water and detergent or a paste of baking soda and hot water on difficult spots; rinse well with vinegar water to remove all residue. This prevents this soil from being baked on during the high heat of the cleaning cycle. Re-clean these areas after the cleaning cycle is used.

If your range manual recommends it, you may leave the oven racks in for the cleaning cycle; however, they will discolor, lose their shine, and become hard to slide in and out. If you do leave them in, afterward rub the edges of the racks and of guides on oven walls with soapy-steel wool pad, wipe off, and then rub few drops of salad oil on edges for easier sliding. It's probably better to take racks out before cleaning cycle and clean them by hand.

If your range manual recommends it, you may put burner drip bowls in oven for self-cleaning cycle; however, high heat will permanently discolor chrome rings--a bluish hue.

If your manual recommends it, you may put broiler pan in during self-cleaning cycle, but wipe off all excess grease else it may catch fire.

At end of cycle and after oven has cooled down, wipe out small amount of fine ash left inside with a damp cloth.

NEVER use chemical oven cleaners in a self-cleaning oven. Some residue may remain, and be changed by the high heat into compounds that etch the porcelain enamel.

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Author:

Anne Field, Extension Specialist, with credit to MSU Extension

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