Are you wondering how to clean stove drip pans without smelly chemicals that’ll burn your nose hairs off? I was too.
So, I decided it was time to use my go-to cleaning products in an attempt to tackle cleaning electric stove drip or burner pans on my well-loved (code for lots of boiled-over pots) stove.
As you can see in the after photo, the drip pans don’t look completely brilliant and perfect after cleaning.
I’m okay with the result. I wasn’t after perfection – I just wanted clean burner pans that didn’t involve giving myself a dizzying headache to achieve the end result.
I’m a bit of a worrier – so I know if I used anything stronger, I would’ve worried about being blown to pieces once I turned the stove on.
So, a good old fashioned scrub down with dish soap and baking soda was in order. I’m always surprised at how many household messes this simple combination can address.
How to Clean Drip Pans Naturally
Now, this isn’t a set-it-and-forget it method of cleaning stove drip pans
. You’re going to have to put some elbow grease into this. Not much. Just enough to get most of the gunk out.
Oh man was it gunky. I’m actually slightly embarrassed to show you this. But, I guess I’ll take one for the team just this time. Promise not to judge too harshly?
Here is the hot mess that resides beneath my burners. I’d love to say that I “let it get really bad for the purpose of this blog post” but I can’t. This is the real-life stove of someone that cooks virtually every meal at home.
Here’s the Step by Step Process
Step 1:
Remove burners, lift out the drip pans and shake them into the sink or into a garbage bag to get rid of any loose gunk.
Step 2:
Spray down the stove drip pans. You’ll be surprised at just how much gunk a strong steam of water can remove on its own. It helps if your faucet has a powerful spray so you can get all up into that drip pans face to blast the gunk away.
Step 3:
Combine dish soap and baking soda in a 1:1 ratio in a small bowl. Mix together until it creates a frosting-like consistency with a slightly foamy texture. Here’s what you should see when you have everything all mixed up.
Step 4:
Apply the mixture to your drip pans generously. When I say generously, I mean slathered. Don’t be shy about this. Then, give it a scrub down for a few seconds to loosen things up. I scrubbed for 30 seconds or so on the ones that were in especially bad shape.
Step 5:
Transfer the drip pans to Ziploc bags so they’re out of the way and aren’t soaping up your counters. Let them sit for an hour or more.
If you don’t want to waste “good” bags on this, just use the plastic bags your groceries are bagged in. Actually, I should’ve done that myself but didn’t think of it until right now.
There’s no better time than now to lift up that “hood” and clean whatever this thing is called. Again, a little soap and water does the job just fine.
Step 6:
Remove from bags and scrub away. I didn’t get a picture of this step, but here’s the result.
Note: I scrubbed with a crocheted dish scrubbie. You will have way better results using the tough side of a regular dish sponge.
I’m happy with the results. They aren’t in like new condition but don’t you agree that the after looks much better than the before? Huge improvement in my eyes.
So, if you’re looking for an easy and natural method of learning how to clean clean your drip pans, I highly recommend you give this a try.
The power of baking soda never ceases to amaze me. Thanks for showing how to make it all paste-y!!
Any time, Trisha 🙂
I use baking soda so much that I recently bought it in bulk. Feed soda from a farm supply or mill is the same thing as baking soda but it’s animal feed grade. It’s perfect for cleaning. It was about $12 for 50 pounds!
Ok. This is amazing and I’m probably do this first thing in the morning. How incredible! The stove and I sometimes get mad at each other and go days without speaking because I get so mad it him- er, it for getting so dirty and gross all the time.
Haha the stove can be so frustrating sometimes. I feel like I’m wiping it down at least three or four times per day.
Jazmin you are tooo funny. I feel the exact same way but have never put it in these terms. I’ve learn TWO things today.
I’m always amazed at what simple products that we have in the kitchen or at home can do. Most of the time we run out and buy something when all we have to do is reach for those good old-fashioned products like baking soda, etc. can do. This looks fabulous. My drip pans definitely need cleaning.
The good old-fashioned products always seem to do better than the newest, snazziest cleaner on the market, in my opinion.
I used to just leave them until they where really bad (and had to use oven cleaner on them…) but now I find that I can be super lazy, whenever I use the stove (I love my crock pot…) I just put them in the dishwasher. Takes no time and my stove always looks clean…
That is such a fantastic idea, Ricki!
Do you put them in the top rack or in the bottom rack? I’ve been tempted to put them in the dishwasher too, but I am not sure where… I have black burner pans. Thanks!
I have a sealed top gas stove with unsightly brown “cooking stains”. Not food stains, just cooking stains. I wonder if this would help those? If I use a scouring pad/scrubber it will scratch the paint finish.
Try laying a softener sheet on the spot with a very hot wet washcloth to soak for a while. Then it should come clean.I clean bAked on pans that way when needed. It WORKS!
Soft scrub works well to
I line them with foil and just replace the foil.
Exactly.
My mother always did this, and I did too.. Until I realized that part of the gunk I was trying to get off the drip pan while replacing the aluminum foil was the melted aluminum foil. It can trap heat, your temperature readings won’t be accurate (what the dial equates) and it could potentially burn your elements out faster. It’s highly recommended against.
To Anonymous above, try Bon Ami. It’s a powder like Ajax, but is made to prevent scratching. I haven’t tried it on metal, but it’s great on my ceramic dishes – 40 years old and look (almost) like new.
Well, starting this afternoon, I’ll be using the method that you described and also using it for the few spots on the inside of the oven. I was never satisfied with how the dishwasher didn’t work even though I’d scrubbed them as thoroughly as possible before putting them in the dishwasher. I didn’t try oven cleaner on the drip pans because they seemed like the kind of metal that the oven cleaner warned you not to use it on – I’ll want to kick myself if I find out that I could have actually used that oven cleaner on the drip pans at the same time I was cleaning the oven! Ha ha! However, I haven’t used the typical oven cleaner for years and years because it seems so lethal and I’ve been battling health problems for decades. Now, for the past 9 years, the service dog that I have is allergic to the world and can be very sensitive to some odors, chemicals, and a lot of environmental factors so I’m very careful what I expose her to. She is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (commonly called pit bull) Phoebe, she takes care of me 24/7 by herself, is my best friend and I trust her with my very life so it’s very important that I do whatever I can to create a safe and comfortable environment for her, also. Most recently, I’d been cleaning such messes with a mix of vinegar and baking soda and I’ve been rather pleased with those results. For just the last couple of weeks, I’ve been incorporating hydrogen peroxide into my cleaning routines (especially laundry, soaking kitchen scrubbers, combs, hair brushes & toothbrushes). I really like the fresh smell and brightness of my laundry and I do like the way that it cleans, but I don’t know that I’d be comfortable using it if I still had kids in the home – or even other people who don’t listen well. As it is, I only have a personal care giver who comes in and helps me with housekeeping, laundry, some shopping, some cooking, etc. or more correctly, does those things while I get the extra sleep that I need, & she’s so very careful and conscientious that even though she could always have an accident, that would be no different than what could happen to me! Thanks for providing such a great site for us to use!
Magic Erasers do wonders on ovens. I haven’t tried on drip pans though.
Love the eraser pads for many different cleaning tasks, but learned the hard way their not so “magical” on anything that’s highly polished or glossy! I was amazed at how quick they cleaned the soap scum from my circa 1970 cave-like fiberglass tub-shower until I noticed the haze it left behind. They are way more abrasive than they look…
I actually do use oven cleaner on mine, just not indoors. Take them outside, and place one in a plastic grocery bag,and layer them spraying each one well as you stack inside the bag. Then just tie bag closed and about an hour later just rinse the grime away,, no scrubbing needed! Works great on porcelain as well as chrome, which most are. The only metal you have to be careful with really is aluminum. If it stays on too long it can discolor or pit. But I even used it on aluminum bake-ware for 5-10 minutes with great results, they were pretty much a lost cause to start with anyway, so why not!
If you wanna stick with something a little less lethal though, try a combo paste of baking soda and automatic dish detergent, bagged up overnight, then run through the pots and pans dishwasher cycle. Another method that works really well is a long soak in Simple green… I had a house fire several years ago and it was the only thing I found that would remove the smoky burnt grunge, it dissolved it almost instantly!
And a great tip for those with glass cook tops, I recently discovered a way to get mine looking the best it has in quite awhile just by using window cleaner and newspaper, Just as you do with windows (nothing works better than newspaper) . And although I know many people swear by vinegar, but I’ve never been a fan due to the smell, and the fact I’ve seen it ruin the finish on a friends granite counters! So if you want really good window cleaner dirt cheap, you can get a gallon of the Zep ammonia-free concentrate at H-depot for about 10 bucks, makes 32 GALLONS!, and works great in your home as well as in your cars windshield washer!
This worked great! Thanks for the tip!
Daniel
You could also try with vinegar and baking soda – the effect is remarkable.
I use Barkeepers Friend (the powdered version) even on my stainless steel pans. It works wonderful and never scratches
Oh! Nice! Another method for me to try out for myself. I had tried out four different methods and none really made the drip pans come out sparkling – http://www.whatsupfagans.com/2014/03/how-to-clean-stove-drip-pans-pinterest-experiment/ though this one is different! Thank you!
I read your post and LOVED how detailed it was!
I use this method to clean the inside of the oven, but for some reason I never thought to use it on the drip pans! Thank you for knocking some sense in to me!
I can’t believe I didn’t think of baking soda!! Thanks so much 🙂 🙂
🙂
OH!…I can’t believe I JUST spent 2 hours cleaning my stove today, and it STILL looks horrible! I can NOT believe I ran into this article THIS EVENING! TOO FUNNY! I am totally planning on starting completely over this weekend using YOUR method! I think my stove looks WORSE than yours…no doubt in my mind! Any ideas how to get rid of that built up rusty looking ring around the white part the metal rings on the white surface of the stove top? I have a REALLY old model of an electric stove. It looks like a combination of built up grease and some rusty gunky colored stuff…lol…I don’t even KNOW! All I know is I scrubbed, used cleaners and it STILL won’t come off! Any ideas would be appreciated! I will try your mixture on there as well and see if it helps!
That has happened to me as well, Mindy!! While my method did require some scrubbing, I’m okay with a little elbow grease if it gets the desired results. I hope it worked out well for you if you’ve tried it already!
you are amazing! I’m about to go try this myself. thanks!
Thank you 🙂 This is Def a game changer !
🙂
I found your article and I’m doing it RIGHT now! I’m actually using what’s leftover from my mixture to clean other areas of my kitchen, haha. Thanks for the “recipe!” Have a blessed week. 😀
Haha Yay for double duty cleaning!! Enjoy, Carly! 😀
once you get them clean, cover them in foil. that way when they get dirty again you can just take the foil off, and replace. no cleaning.
Good idea!
Can I use baking powder instead of baking soda?
Thanks.
I found this on pinterest. I cannot thank you enough. I’ve been wanting to know how to do this, but I couldn’t think of the words “drip pans” to ask someone. Thank you very much.
How do you clean the burners? When I turn on mine they burn off whatever was spilled on them.
Thanks
I found this on Pinterest too! Worked like a CHARM. Thank you!!
I noticed I got a rash on the skin the was exposed to the pasty solution…I’m assuming the mix of baking soda and dish soap I used (Honest Company) is what caused the reaction. Baking soda is more powerful than I thought!
Thanks for your ideas!
I’m glad it worked for you, but so sorry you experienced a bad skin reaction!
I haven’t seen the word “slathered” for years. I’m an old Kentucky boy (83) and intend to ‘slather’my drip pans as soon as I finish this.
I appreciate all that was written here about how to clean drip pans that catch grease from going down your pipes. My family loves to cook with grease and oils and so we always have to make sure that we dispose of them correctly. They always make a mess in the kitchen and so we will double check and make sure that we are cleaning them properly! Thanks again!
Oh my gosh, this does work but I guess I scrubbed too hard with a stiff toothbrush and there is a hole now a little smaller than a dime!!! Will that be dangerous to use? Do I have to buy a new one after all my scrubbing?
Ah that totally sucks, I’m sorry! 🙁 I’m honestly not sure if it’s ok to use, so I’d probably play it safe just to stay on the safe side.
I do something similar. I just add a bit of vinegar before scrubbing. It really cuts down on the scrubbing. Just do it in you sink.
Oh good idea!
The SOS pads with the soap in them. I use to clean apartments after moveouts and wish I had thought of them. During one of my kitchen cleanups, a tenant had left two boxes under the sink. Decided to give them a try and was glad I did. This tenant would cook meat on the racks in the oven and had a cookie sheet thing on the bottom to catch most of the grease that would drip off. Gross.
Anyway, the SOS pads even cleaned what I thought was rust on the stovetop. Turns out it wasnt. Funny thing is it took every SOS pad he left to clean that place
Love SOS pads! They’re great for cleaning tough messes.
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Got a used stove from hubby boss but the drip pans we’re already rusty. Tried most cleaners did nothing. I decided tried out your baking soda and dish soap idea works really well unlike 2 hours left it overnight since so caked on with rust I know could get some butts GE electric drip pans for some reason it’s hard find regular ones that fit. Hopefully this be last I see if rusty drip pans. Wish me luck.
Thank you for the information. BTW, your stove setup and countertops look exactly like mine. And my drip pans and burners are just as dirty, so no judgment here! 🙂
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design and style it actually stands out.
I am letting mine soak in the water overnight just because I don’t want to scrub tonight but I will definitely do this in the morning! I don’t want to buy new drip pans! Also, I use a pumice stone on the inside of my oven and under the burners/drip pans. It works amazing, a new one of course. Sometimes I use 2 stones but it’s beetrr then the chemicals.
Anna, great thoughts!! Never tried a pumice stone but I’m going to try that! Thanks so much for the tip!
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Thanks so much! Enjoy!!
Amazing post about cleaning drip pans naturally. Thanks for sharing your helpful post.
Thanks so much!!