How to Clean a Burnt Electric Hob

It’s easy to overlook stains on your electric hob until you go to wipe the surface and realise there are weeks of burnt food and oil piled up on the glass.

If you’re still finding your washcloth coated in brown muck, no matter how much you wipe, try these tricks!

• Use a liquid hob cleaner and a microfibre cloth.
• Pour white vinegar onto the hob, and then sprinkle it with bicarbonate of soda. Cover the hob with a warm, damp towel, and leave it for 20 minutes. Wipe the hob clean.
• Pour dish soap onto the burnt area, then douse it in white vinegar. Leave it for 30 minutes, then chisel the dirt off with a razor or hob scraper. Wipe the hob.
• Dampen the bottom of a dishwasher tablet in warm water and rub it on the hob, then wipe off any filth with paper towels or cloth.

I’ll now go into a little more detail about these hob cleaning methods, and then discuss some burning questions about ceramic and glass hob-cleaning.

Let’s get cooking (but not literally; please make sure you turn your hob off before cleaning it!)

 

Cleaning an Electric Hob with Hob Cleaner

Liquid hob cleaner is specially formulated to remove burnt food that’s caked onto your hob, making it a go-to for this task. It says it in the name, so that must mean something.

How to use hob cleaner on an electric hob

To clean your electric hob with a hob cleaner, just follow these basic steps:

1. Clear away any loose scraps of food on your hob.
2. Pour some hob cleaner onto a microfibre cloth and rub the liquid onto your hob, focusing on the burnt food.
3. Let the fluid sit on your hob for a couple of minutes. The dirt will soften, making it easier to remove.
4. (Optional) If your hob has a lot of encrusted food, you can use a ceramic hob scraper at this point. Gently scrape any burnt food patches with the scraper. Try to chip away at the dirt instead of using long strokes – you don’t want to scratch the ceramic.
5. Use the microfibre cloth to rub the solution around your hob, removing any stains.
6. Wipe the hob with a different cloth soaked in warm water to rinse off the excess fluid, then use a clean microfibre cloth to polish the ceramic.

If your hob is still looking crusty, you can repeat this process.

If you’re not getting the results you want, try one of my other methods below!

 

 

 

 

Cleaning an Electric Hob with Vinegar

Prefer to concoct your own cleaning solution with basic household items? This one is for you. Vinegar has long been a popular multipurpose cleaner due to its strong acidity and easy availability – just make sure you’re not using it on corrodible surfaces.

There are two other everyday household items you can combine with vinegar to create an electric hob cleaner. Take your pick from the solutions below!

Cleaning an electric hob with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda

This method works best with a spray bottle of white vinegar and a shaker of bicarbonate of soda. Follow these quick steps to achieve clean ceramic.

1. Pour or spray white vinegar onto the surface of your hob, applying more generously around very burnt areas.
2. Sprinkle enough bicarbonate of soda onto the vinegar to make the soda bubble.
3. Soak a bath towel in warm water, then wring it out until it’s damp.
4. Cover your bubbling hob with the warm towel for 20 minutes, letting the vinegar and soda eat away the dirt.
5. (Optional) You can use a hob scraper or the corner of a razor to chip away at burnt food if you think it’s necessary.
6. Remove the towel and wipe off the hob, using water to rinse away the leftover mixture.
7. Buff your hob with a clean microfibre cloth and watch it sparkle!

 

Cleaning an electric hob with vinegar and dish soap

If you don’t have any bicarbonate of soda lying around, or you just don’t like the idea of a bubbling hob, you can swap soda for soap. Just check out this video and see the steps below:

1. Squeeze some washing-up liquid onto your hob, pouring liberally onto burnt areas.
2. Spray or pour white vinegar onto the dish soap.
3. Leave the mixture to work into your dirty hob for 30 minutes. The dirt will loosen and become easier to remove.
4. (Optional) If the burnt food on your hob is hard to budge, chip away at the hardened dirt with a hob scraper or the corner of a razor.
5. Wipe your hob with a warm, wet cloth.
6. Use a dry microfibre cloth to buff your electric hob, and let it glow!

If trusty white vinegar didn’t get rid of your hob grime, there’s one more trick you could try.

 

Cleaning an Electric Hob with a Dishwasher Tablet

This trick went viral for its amazing ability to de-grease glass oven doors, but Mumsnet users found it also works a treat with greasy, food-encrusted electric hobs.

If you’ve already got dishwasher tablets, it’s worth sparing one to try this on your ceramic hob.

Just follow these easy instructions.

1. Grab an ordinary dishwasher tablet. Check out UK dishwasher tablet recommendations on In The Wash if you need help making a choice on which one to buy.
2. Fill a bowl with warm water and use it to dampen the edge of the dishwasher tablet. Use a paper towel or cloth to grip the other side of the tablet to avoid getting too much on your hands.
3. Rub the dishwasher tablet on your dirty hob. It will break apart during this process, but you should see the grime coming off. Use the whole tablet until it completely disintegrates.
4. Wipe off the dirt and tablet particles with a warm, damp cloth.
5. Use a clean microfibre cloth to polish your (hopefully shiny and clean) hob.

This method is messy, so be sure to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards, even if you were careful with the tablet.

 

Conclusion

From the old faithful white vinegar to specialist hob cleaners, there are several ways to clean your ceramic or glass electric hob.

If the burnt food isn’t budging, you should use a hob scraper alongside these methods. Be sure to scrape with short, sharp movements so as not to scratch the surface.

You can also repeat methods as needed or try multiple until you find one that works. Your hob will be looking new again in no time!