Caring for Your Stove

Your stove range is one of the most important pieces of equipment in your kitchen. You do a lot of cooking and food preparation on and near it, so it is vital that this area is kept in good working order. It is important that you properly maintain your stove area so that everything can work properly. By caring for your stove you, will help it to work longer and also prevent accidents. For example, crumbs and food particles left beneath the grates or around them could pose a fire hazard.

There is no need to feel overwhelmed by stove range maintenance. There are simple and easy ways that you can help keep the area cleaner, safer and ready to cook with. Use these simple guidelines for keeping your stove at its best:

• Clean the Burner Grates Regularly. If you do not have a glass stovetop, then you will probably need to remove the burner grates from the range in order to get them clean. Once you have removed them, either scrub them or submerge them in soapy water. It can help to let them soak if there are stuck-on food stains or spills that have been burned on. Once they are clean and dry, replace them and you will be ready to cook again. You might need to read the manual for your oven range to be sure how to go about cleaning the grates.
• Clean Under the Burners. As you cook, it is inevitable that crumbs and spills will find their way under the burner grates. Although it may be a pain, these spills need to be cleaned up often. Remove the burner grates and wipe up any spills and food particles that you may find there. You may need to take apart the various removable parts of the burner in order to get everything cleaned thoroughly. Do this several times a month, or whenever you have a major spill.
• Wipe Up Messes when They Happen. This is probably the best way to keep your stove looking clean. It can be easy to ignore a spill or splash from cooking food, but these messes become hard and cooked on to the stove area over time. Instead of fussing over scrubbing later on, just wipe the mess up with a damp rag as soon as it happens.

By using these guidelines, keeping your oven properly maintained should be easy and fast.