Key Steps:
- 1
Using soap and water can oversaturate the burners. Alternatively, use a commercial cleaning spray, following the directions on the bottle.
- 2
Sprays are great for cleaning your hob as you can target stains directly and have easy control over how much liquid you use.
- 3
Protect your hands from nasty grease and grime when scrubbing the hob by putting on a pair of rubber gloves.
Keeping your gas hob clean and free from old food residue is a very important task, but not many of us understand just how vital it really is. A clean hob can prevent the odours of old, burnt on food from infusing into new dishes, it can help elongate the life of your pots and pans by ensuring an even heat distribution across the bottom, and it can even increase your kitchen safety by making sure anything that’s likely to catch on fire is removed before cooking.
Many homeowners, however, don’t know how to clean a hob or see it as a long, boring, and arduous task. The good news is that it’s actually really easy. For even extra ease, cleaning a gas hob can be broken down into two stages – cleaning the rings, and cleaning the burners. Here’s how to clean a gas hob quickly and easily:
Remember to always turn off all the burners on your gas hob and leave to cool before cleaning – you don’t want any nasty burns!
How to Clean Gas Hob Rings
The rings of your gas hob can easily be removed from the hob itself, which means that it’s simple to get them clean and fresh. Simply lift the rings from the cooker top, and they should come straight off. If your hob rings are attached to the hob, be sure to read the manufacturers instructions to see how to remove them without risking damage to the cooker. Just ensure that the hob is completely cool before touching – you don’t want to burn yourself.
To clean the rings, allow them to soak in a bowl of warm water and dishwashing liquid and then use a cloth to wipe away any dirt and grease. For those fiddly nooks and crannies, an old toothbrush works well. Remove the rings from the bowl, rinse under cold, clean water, and allow to dry thoroughly before placing back onto the hob.
How to Clean Gas Hob Burners
Now that you know how to clean hob rings, it’s time to look at the burners, and the main body of the hob. The good news is that it’s even easier to clean this part of the cooker. While some people like to use warm water and soap, this isn’t recommended. The reason is that using soap and water can oversaturate the burners. If this happens, it can become very difficult to light the burner due to excess moisture. Obviously this isn’t an issue with electric hobs, but with gas hobs you do need to take a little extra care.
Instead of using soap and water, a good option is to use a specially designed kitchen cleaner, such as Cif Power & Shine Kitchen. There are two reasons for using such a cleaner. Firstly, only a small amount of the product is required, so it’s very hard to oversaturate the burners. Secondly, a product like this is designed specifically to cut through grease and tackle stains such as dried sauces and over boiled milk – the sorts of things that can make your hob look (and smell) disgusting. Remember to always test any cleaning product on a small area first and follow the instructions on the product’s label.
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When your cooker is completely cool, use your hands to remove as much loose food and dirt from the hob as possible. It may be best to wear gloves here to protect your hands.
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Apply your dedicated hob cleaner. You may find it best to opt for a spray cleaner, rather than a pouring cleaner as it’s much easier to apply the desired amount when it’s in spray form, and it helps you prevent oversaturation of the burners. Be sure to follow the instructions on your product.
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Leave the cleaner on the hob for just a few minutes – this is all the time it needs to loosen those stains and start to break down the grease particles, making them easy to wipe away. Make sure not to leave the cleaner on for too long or it could begin to dry, making extra work for you.
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Use a clean cloth to wipe away the cleaning solution, which should bring off all those dirty stains, greasy marks, and old food residues with it. Keep wiping until your hob looks like new – it won’t take long.
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Believe it or not, that’s all you need to do. There’s no need to rinse or buff for hours, as with a spray cleaner like Cif Power & Shine Kitchen you should get streak-free results, even on stainless steel hobs.
Cleaning a gas hob can be a nuisance if you use the wrong products and the wrong techniques – it can take hours, and it could even damage the cooker. So why make more work for yourself? By soaking your hob rings in a simple solution of warm water and dishwashing soap, and by using a dedicated hob cleaner for the main body of the cooker and for the burners, you can have that hob looking clean in minutes!
For more information on the ingredients in products mentioned in this tip, visit What’s in Unilever Products here.
