- 5 days ago
The hidden grease inside a gas cooktop is often the real reason a kitchen still smells dirty, and the fix is simpler than most people think: take it apart and clean what the cloth can’t reach. This tutorial walks through a careful, step-by-step gas cooktop cleaning method that removes burnt-on food, stubborn grease, and grime from the grates, burner caps, and burner heads, then cleans the surface underneath for a truly fresh result.
The process begins with safety: the cooktop must be completely cool and the gas turned off. A photo is taken first so every piece can go back exactly where it belongs, then the removable parts are lifted out and soaked in hot, soapy water while the surface is cleaned separately with dish soap, warm water, baking soda for tough spots, and careful attention around the igniter and gas openings. The video also explains what not to do, including avoiding water or cleaner inside the burner ports.
For the cast iron grates, the final step matters just as much as the wash: dry them fully and wipe on a thin layer of oil to help prevent rust. It’s a practical kitchen cleaning guide for deep cleaning a gas stove, refreshing a greasy cooktop, and learning the old-fashioned home care method of cleaning by disassembly.
SEO: Perfect for gas cooktop cleaning, stove top cleaning, deep kitchen cleaning, burnt-on grease removal, and cast iron grate care. A useful how-to for anyone searching for gas stove cleaning tips, burner cleaning, baking soda cleaning, and safe home cleaning methods.
The process begins with safety: the cooktop must be completely cool and the gas turned off. A photo is taken first so every piece can go back exactly where it belongs, then the removable parts are lifted out and soaked in hot, soapy water while the surface is cleaned separately with dish soap, warm water, baking soda for tough spots, and careful attention around the igniter and gas openings. The video also explains what not to do, including avoiding water or cleaner inside the burner ports.
For the cast iron grates, the final step matters just as much as the wash: dry them fully and wipe on a thin layer of oil to help prevent rust. It’s a practical kitchen cleaning guide for deep cleaning a gas stove, refreshing a greasy cooktop, and learning the old-fashioned home care method of cleaning by disassembly.
SEO: Perfect for gas cooktop cleaning, stove top cleaning, deep kitchen cleaning, burnt-on grease removal, and cast iron grate care. A useful how-to for anyone searching for gas stove cleaning tips, burner cleaning, baking soda cleaning, and safe home cleaning methods.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00For those of you with the gas cooktops, that faint smell of old stale grease in your kitchen,
00:06the one you can never quite find the source of, the one that lingers no matter how you scrub the
00:11stovetop, I am going to tell you exactly where it is hiding. It is not on the surface you keep
00:18wiping. It is down inside the cooktop itself, in the burner parts and the crevices your cloth has
00:24never once touched. A hidden crust of old grease you did not know was there, sitting right under
00:31where you cook your family's food. And you could wipe that shiny top every day for a year and never
00:37reach it. But there is a right way and it is simple once you know the secret. A gas cooktop
00:43does not
00:44get wiped clean, it comes apart to be cleaned. So today I am going to show you how to take
00:49it apart,
00:50reach that hidden grease at last and do it safely. Let me show you. Here is the thing to understand
00:56first, for it is the whole reason your wiping never worked. A gas cooktop is made of pieces that lift
01:03off and the grease hides beneath them. Unlike a flat glass top that is one smooth surface you simply wipe,
01:10a gas top has the grates you set your pots on, under those the burner caps and under those the
01:16burner
01:16heads, all lifting off. And the grease and the boiled over food and the crumbs work their way
01:22down under and into all those pieces, into every crack and crevice and hollow, where no cloth on the
01:29surface can reach. And here is why it matters beyond the look. That hidden old grease down in the parts
01:36is what makes your kitchen smell of old stale food, a stink you cannot find the source of because it
01:42is
01:42hidden in the parts. So the whole secret of truly cleaning a gas top is this. You take off all
01:49those pieces
01:50and clean them apart, reaching the hidden grease, then clean the surface beneath. Take it apart to clean it,
01:56that is the whole of it. Now let me show you the way. Quick word before we go further. My
02:02name is Esther Yoder
02:03and the old household ways handed down to me, the kind I am sharing today, and a great many more
02:09besides,
02:09are far more than I could ever fit into one video. I have gathered the whole of them into a
02:15book,
02:15and you will find it at EliasYoder.com. If today's tips serve you, that is where the rest of what
02:22my
02:22mother and grandmother taught me lives, all in the one place. Now, to the cooktop. Now, I will tell you
02:28plainly, I do not cook on a gas cooktop myself. My own cooking is done on a different sort of
02:34stove.
02:34But the wisdom of this, that the real dirt is the hidden dirt and you must take a thing apart
02:40to
02:40reach it, and the care of the cast iron, are things every woman who kept a kitchen knows.
02:45And my grandmother had a saying for it, that you cannot clean what you cannot reach. So you take
02:51the thing apart, clean the hidden part, and put it back better than you found it. She meant that half
02:57of what folk give up on as uncleanable is only hidden in the parts. And the answer is not to
03:03scrub
03:03harder at the outside, but to come apart and reach the real dirt. And a gas cooktop, grimy in its
03:10hidden
03:10parts, is the very picture of it. So here is her kind of take-it-apart cleaning, step-by-step,
03:16with the safety in every step. But before the very first step, the safety that comes before all.
03:22Make sure the cooktop is completely cold, every part of it stone cold, and the gas turned off
03:29before you touch a thing, so there is no burning yourself and no danger with the gas. Cold and off
03:35first, always. Now the steps. The first step is to take it apart. And here is a clever thing to
03:41do
03:41first that saves you much grief. Before you move a single piece, take a picture of the cooktop as it
03:47is, so you know exactly how it all goes back together. For a gas top has a good many pieces,
03:54and they can be a puzzle to put back right, especially your first time, and a picture saves
03:59you standing there later, wondering where each thing went. So picture first, then lift off all
04:05the loose pieces, the grates you cook on, then the burner caps atop the burners, then the burner heads
04:11under those, setting every removable piece aside. Take a picture, then remove the grates, the caps,
04:19and the heads. Now, the second step, where the soak does your work for you. You set all those pieces
04:26to soak in hot soapy water. Fill your sink, or a plastic tub if your sink is too small, with
04:33hot water
04:33and a good squirt of plain dish soap, the grease cutter, and put all the grimy pieces down into it
04:40to soak while you go and clean the surface. And there they sit, the hot soapy water loosening the
04:46grease off them while you do other work, so that when you come back to scrub them, most of the
04:52grime
04:52has already let go. Set all the pieces to soak in hot soapy water while you clean the surface. Let
05:00the soak
05:00do the work. Now, while they soak, you clean the surface. And first, before any water, clear off
05:08the loose dry crumbs, the same rule I gave you for the trim, dust before you wet. Sweep or brush
05:16off
05:16all the loose crumbs first, dry, so you do not turn them to mud when you wet it. Then wash
05:23the surface with
05:24your grease cutter. Warm water and dish soap on a soft, non-scratch pad or cloth. And for the baked
05:31on
05:31spots the soap alone will not lift, use a paste of baking soda and a little water, rubbed on and
05:38given a
05:39moment, then scrubbed gently, which lifts the baked on grease without scratching. Sweep the crumbs dry,
05:46then wash with dish soap and a soft pad, baking soda paste for the baked on. But now, here is
05:53the great
05:54safety of a gas top, the one thing you must never do, so heat it above all. You must never
06:00spray your
06:01cleaner nor pour water down into the gas holes, the little openings where the flame comes up, nor down
06:07onto the igniter, the starter that lights the gas. For water and cleaner down in those gas ports and on
06:14that
06:14igniter can clog them and stop the burner lighting, or worse, those must be kept clear and dry. So when
06:22you clean around the burners, you keep your cleaner and your water away from those gas openings and the
06:27starter, wiping around them careful and dry, not into them. And for the grime that gathers right down by
06:34the starter and around those openings, take a dry or barely damp old toothbrush and gently work it out,
06:41not a wet spray. Never spray or wet the gas holes and the igniter. Clean around them dry and careful.
06:48That is the great safety of the gas top. Now, for a really bad surface with burnt on food that
06:53will not
06:54scrub away, there is the razor scraper. The same tool and the same three rules I gave you for the
07:00glass
07:00cooktop, so mind them. A razor blade scraper works wonders on a baked on spot, but first, always wet the
07:07spot with your cleaner and scrape on the wet. Never scrape a dry surface, for a dry scrape gouges.
07:14Second, always a fresh, sharp, clean blade, never a rusty one, for a rusty or dull blade scratches the
07:21surface. And third, a low angle and a light hand, letting the sharp blade do the work, not force.
07:28Lubricate first, fresh blade, light hand. Then the razor lifts the worst spots clean. Then you rinse
07:35the surface well, getting all the soap off, for soap left behind dries sticky and streaky and only
07:41gathers more grime, especially on a dark top. And then you wipe and buff it dry with a clean dry
07:47cloth,
07:48so it comes up clean and streak free. Rinse off all the soap, buff it dry. Now, back to those
07:54pieces that
07:55have been soaking, and here is the honest word. This part wants the elbow grease, but the soak has done
08:00the most of it. You scrub each piece with your soft, non-scratch pad or a brush, and for the
08:06burner
08:06heads and caps with all their little holes, that old toothbrush gets into every one, and most of it,
08:12being soaked, comes clean easily. But for the stubborn, baked on grease that will not come off,
08:17even soaked, do not reach first for a harsh steel scour, which scratches. Instead, give those pieces
08:25a longer soak in hotter water, a scrub with the baking soda paste, or for the very worst, a good
08:32soak
08:32in hot water with a scoop of washing soda, the stronger soak I showed you for the crusted pan,
08:38which loosens the baked on grease off cast iron safely. Patience and the longer soak beat a harsh,
08:45scratching scour. Scrub the soaked pieces gentle, toothbrush the holes, and soak the stubborn ones
08:53longer, rather than scratch them. And now, the most important step for those pieces, and the one folk
08:59skip and regret, and it is the very same wisdom I gave you for the pan and the grill, for
09:05those grates
09:06are cast iron. You must dry them thoroughly, and then oil them. For cast iron left wet will rust,
09:13and rust ruins the grates and undoes all your cleaning. So the moment they are scrubbed and
09:20rinsed, you dry every piece completely with a clean dry towel, leaving no water on them. And then,
09:27to keep them from rusting, and to make them look their best, you wipe a thin coat of cooking oil
09:32over
09:33all the cast iron pieces, with a bit of paper towel or cloth, a thin coat mind, which seals them
09:40against
09:40rust and brings up a good finish. Dry the cast iron pieces bone dry, and wipe them with a thin
09:47coat
09:47of oil. That keeps them from rusting. Then the last step, putting it back together. And here is where that
09:54picture you took earns its keep. You look at the photo from the start, and set every piece back just
10:00where it was. The heads, then the caps, then the grates, and you are done. And it goes back right
10:07the first time. Reassemble from your photo. Every piece back where it belongs. And a plain word of safety,
10:15gather it up. The cooktop cold and the gas off before you start, always. Never spray nor wet the gas
10:22holes
10:22and the igniter, the great rule. Keep to your plain safe cleaners, the dish soap and the baking soda.
10:29And never mix any cleaner with bleach, for that makes a poison gas. And I will tell you plainly,
10:35I would leave off the harsh ammonia trick some folk use on the worst grates. For ammonia is harsh,
10:42and its fumes are not good, and it must never come near bleach. And a longer hot soak with washing
10:48soda
10:48does the same job far safer. And dry and oil the cast iron so it does not rust. Those cares,
10:56and the whole job is safe and sound. Now think a moment about why we came to believe a grimy
11:02gas
11:03cooktop wants a shelf of special sprays and degreasers and even harsh ammonia. Or a new cooktop when it looks
11:10bad enough. When taking it apart and soaking the pieces in plain dish soap reaches the real hidden grease
11:17for pennies. It is worse than a plot, for no one had to arrange it. There is money in the
11:23special
11:23cleaners and degreasers sold for the one job. And none at all in teaching folk that the grease is
11:29hidden in the parts, and you take it apart and soak it clean with plain soap. So the plain old
11:35sense of
11:36it, that you take a thing apart to clean the hidden dirt, and dry and oil your cast iron, just
11:42stopped
11:43being handed down. Because no one profits by your cleaning your own cooktop with soap and a soak.
11:48My grandmother took apart and cleaned whatever could be taken apart, and never gave up on a thing
11:54as uncleanable for want of reaching it. And somewhere between her day and ours, we were taught to spray the
12:01surface and give up on the rest. The mending of it is a soak, some dish soap, and the reaching
12:07of the
12:07hidden dirt. You make sure it is cold and the gas off, take a picture, then take off the grates
12:14and
12:14caps and heads. You set them to soak in hot soapy water while you clean the surface, sweeping the crumbs
12:21dry first, washing with dish soap and a soft pad and a baking soda paste for the baked on, and
12:27never ever
12:28wetting the gas holes or the igniter. You scrub the soaked pieces gentle, soaking the stubborn ones longer
12:35rather than scratching them, and dry the cast iron grates bone dry, and oil them so they do not rust.
12:42And you put it all back from your photo, and your gas cooktop comes up truly clean, the hidden grease
12:49gone,
12:50and the stale smell with it, for pennies and no harsh chemical. That is how it comes home, one soaked
12:58grate,
12:58one reached crevice at a time, the keeping of your own kitchen back in your own hands.
13:05So here is what I would ask of you. This week, if your gas cooktop is grimy, do not just
13:12wipe the top
13:13again. Take it apart the way I showed you, cold and careful. Soak the pieces, clean the hidden grease,
13:21and dry and oil your grates, and come back and tell me in the comments, how much grease was hiding
13:27down
13:28in the parts where you never saw it, and whether the stale smell lifted with it, for I do love
13:34to hear
13:35of a hidden grime finally reached. And tell me too, while you were there, your county and the age of
13:42your
13:42house, for I learn from every one of you how the keeping goes where you live. And if your own
13:48mother
13:49or grandmother had a way of cleaning a stove, or reaching a hidden dirt that I have not named here,
13:55tell me that most of all, for that is how this goes. We share what we were given. I read
14:02every comment,
14:03and I learn from you the way the old women learned from one another across the fence line,
14:09one kitchen and one season at a time. Next time, I will show you the old ways of keeping the
14:16whole
14:16of your stove and your good iron cookware clean and cared free and rust free, the pots and the pans
14:24and
14:25the grates, dried and oiled and kept the old way, so that between the cooktop and these, all your cooking
14:33iron lasts a lifetime and never goes to rust nor grime. There is a right and an old way to
14:41keep a stove
14:41and its iron that runs on reaching the hidden dirt and drying and oiling the iron rather than a shelf
14:49of harsh sprays. But this week, you start with the gas top. You take it apart and soak the pieces,
14:57clean the
14:58surface and the hidden grease with plain soap, never wetting the gas ports, and dry and oil the cast iron
15:06grates, and put it back from your photo. And you will understand, as my grandmother did, that you cannot
15:13clean what you cannot reach, so you take the thing apart and clean the hidden part, that the real grease
15:21on a gas top hides down in the pieces where no cloth reaches, and that cast iron must be dried
15:29and
15:29oiled or it rusts. The household kept the plain old way is the one that remembers to take a thing
15:37apart
15:37and reach the hidden dirt and care for its iron, and so cleans truly and keeps its cookware sound for
15:46a
15:46lifetime. And that is a thing we are only just starting to remember.