How To Clean Stove Drip Pans

Drip pans on your stove can reveal some frightening things. Oil, crumbs, burned food, and the odd sticky stuff that doesn’t seem to belong in your cupboard.

Each of these things can become stuck in your drip pans.

A filthy and crusted stovetop drip pan is not only unsightly but also potentially dangerous. When heated, a drip pan full of oil or crumbs can catch fire, triggering alarms in your home or, in the worst-case scenario, igniting your entire house on fire.

While you may believe that cleaning these requires a barrow full of toxic chemicals, it is much easier than you think.

In our guide, you can learn far more than how to clean stove burner pans. You will see all the things you have around the home that you can use when you know how to clean electric stove burners. (Learn How To Clean Whirlpool Dishwasher Filter)

Can You Use Oven Cleaner on Stove Drip Pans?

When looking at how to clean drip pans, you can often wonder if you can use oven cleaner. Luckily, it is possible to use this powerful spray.

Using a generous amount of oven cleaner, you can clean burned-on oil and food debris from stove drip pans.

Stove-top drip pans quickly build a thick layer of food residue with use, and the use of filthy stove drip pans can cause a smoky and smelly kitchen or a fire. Unlike some methods used to clean burner pans, these oven cleaners can be classed as harsh chemicals.

1. Lift all heating elements and drip pans once your stove is completely cool.
2. Set your heating elements aside and lower the drip pans into your sink.
3. Pour concentrated liquid dish soap onto your drip pans and fill the sink with hot water until they are fully submerged.
4. Let the pans soak for at least an hour, and then drain the sink of the soapy water.
5. Shake your oven cleaner as recommended and apply a thick layer across all surfaces of your drip pans.
6. Allow the stove top drip pans to sit in the sink covered in the oven cleaner for a further hour.
7. Scrub at any loose gunk and food debris with medium pressure using a nonabrasive, nylon scouring sponge.
8. Rinse your drip pans in hot water and check. If they were filthy, they could require a second soak in hot water and oven cleaner.
9. Slide your electric stove drip pans onto your stove and reconnect your heating elements.

How Do You Clean Drip Pans on Electric Stove Without Vinegar?

Kitchen surfaces get messy from meal prep, but none more than your stove.

You can cover drip pans for every stovetop burner in spaghetti sauce, fat and oil, and scrambled eggs, which flipped from your pan and are now forming a concrete-like coating.

Here are a few ways to clean stovetop drip pans with household items and a bit of elbow grease for burner cleaning. By the end of these tips, you will achieve sparkling cooktops and a more efficient burner. (Learn How To Clean Garbage Disposal With Baking Soda And Vinegar)

Baking Soda and Dish Soap

If you are in a hurry to clean your stovetop drip pans? You can use this effective method for cleaning stove drip pans.

• What You Need
• Liquid dish soap
• Baking soda
• Trash bag
• Bowl
• Pastry brush (optional)
• Sponge
• Rag and Dishcloth
• Scrub brush

1. Remove your drip pans.
2. Shake off loose crumbs into your garbage bag.
3. Rinse the pans in the hottest water your sink delivers.
4. In a small mixing bowl, add liquid dish soap and baking soda to a 1:1 ratio. Use fingers or your pastry brush to coat each drip pan with your soap and baking soda cleaning solution and rub it into the pans. Some gunk may loosen right away, but don’t panic if it doesn’t.
5. Let the drip plates sit in your sink for about an hour.
6. While waiting, scrub your stove top using a damp sponge dipped in baking soda. Wipe the baking soda using a clean damp rag, and then dry your stove using a clean and dry dishcloth.
7. Wash your drip pans in hot water to remove the soap mixture. Use a scrub brush to tackle dirty spots, or use a sponge dipped in baking soda.
8. Dry your drip pans using a dish towel and put them back on your stovetop. Replace the burners before you need to cook with your new drip pans.

How Do You Get Gunk Off Stove Burners?

If neither of the above worked, even if you applied sufficient elbow grease to clean your stove burners, there’s another method using minimal effort to clean stubborn burner pans.

1. Place a quarter-cup of household ammonia in each of the burners’ plastic bags. Seal the bags and make sure the seal does not let out any ammonia smell.
2. The idea is for cleaning stove drip pans and burners inside the bag with ammonia fumes rather than soaking them in ammonia and letting the fumes fill your home.
3. Let the plastic bags sit in your sink overnight, and hopefully, they won’t leak. Open the bags allowing for lots of ventilation. Toss the plastic bag in the trash after draining any liquid.
4. Rinse off the household ammonia in the sink using a wet sponge.
5. Remove traces of ammonia with hot soapy water and dry your burners by wiping them down using clean clothes or paper towels.
6. Place them back on your stove before you turn on the power.
7. How Do You Clean a Stove Plate with Baking Soda?
8. Make sure the burners on your electric stove are turned off before cleaning the stove drip pans. Before attempting to remove the drip pans beneath the burners, be sure they are absolutely cool.
9. Remove the drip pans as soon as possible to clean them after a boiled-over pot or other food has soiled the pans.
10. If you’re only dealing with a minor mess, you may clean stove drip pans with a paste made of baking soda and dish soap. Discard any crumbs or loose particles in the trash bag. Rinse the pans with hot water from your tap.
11. Combine equal parts baking soda and liquid dish soap to make a paste. With a soft cleaning rag or a pastry brush, apply your paste onto your drip pans and sit them in the sink for an hour.
12. You can use crumpled aluminum foil or steel wool to get rid of stubborn marks.
13. After rinsing the paste off the drip pans using hot running water, remove the remaining grime with a soft cloth or a non-abrasive scrubbing brush, such as an old toothbrush.
14. If your drip pans aren’t completely clean, you can try a second stovetop cleaning method using white vinegar and allowing homeowners to get sparkling cooking areas.

Cleaning Drip Pans with Vinegar

It is often recommended to use baking soda to clean stove drip pans, yet couple this with but in tandem with vinegar, and you have a far more effective cleaner. (Learn How To Clean Couch With Baking Soda)

1. Place the pans in the kitchen sink then cover in distilled white vinegar.
2. Let your pans soak for 30 minutes.
3. Without draining, sprinkle baking soda on top of the vinegar, then rub the baking soda across the top of your pans.
4. It will fizz on the drip pan, but don’t panic as it’s harmless.
5. Let each drip pan sit for 15 minutes before rinsing under hot water.
6. If stains or burnt-on food persist, scrub the drip pan using more baking soda before rinsing.