How do I clean under this grody gas stove top?

May 16, 2009 10:05 AM

How do I safely clean under the cook top of my gas range?

We have this high quality Tappan stove in our apartment. The range top lifts up to reveal two little open flames and a lot of crumbs and assorted grossness. How do I clean that without setting myself on fire or putting out the pilot lights and asphyxiating myself?

(I don't have an owner's manual and I can't find one online, but manuals for similar stoves aren't very helpful.)

posted by jennyb to home & garden (8 answers total)

Just clean it as you would the surface. Don't spray flammable spray. If the pilot goes out, just relight it. It's not as scary as it looks :)
posted by zerokey at 10:32 AM on May 16, 2009

you might also find that there is a gas valve behind the stove, perhaps even accessible if you pull the bottom drawer out... if you would be more comfortable if the pilot flame is out...

also, the link you provide is to a Pilotless stove....
posted by HuronBob at 10:44 AM on May 16, 2009

Shows you what I know about stoves. Well, it looks just like the stove I linked except it's got pilot lights.

But while I have your attention, is it normal for the stove top over the pilot lights (which are vertically centered between the burners) to be super hot, like untouchably so?
posted by jennyb at 10:51 AM on May 16, 2009

It's really not very dangerous under there. Vacuum out the crumbs, and use a spray cleaner (409, Fantastic, etc) and paper towels to remove grease. Don't spray cleaning agents on electrical parts (ignitors. or behind the burner knobs) and don't apply great force to anything, and you'll be fine. If it has pilots, relight them when you're done.
posted by jon1270 at 10:54 AM on May 16, 2009

is it normal for the stove top over the pilot lights (which are vertically centered between the burners) to be super hot, like untouchably so?

Yes.
posted by jon1270 at 10:55 AM on May 16, 2009

Thanks. You are a bastion of sanity in my pilot light-phobic existence.
posted by jennyb at 10:58 AM on May 16, 2009

Just don't burn yourself, and don't turn on a burner while you're working. The amount of gas that escapes from an extinguished pilot light is tiny, so don't worry that you're going to cause an explosion or asphyxiate yourself.
posted by jon1270 at 11:58 AM on May 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

The amount of gas that escapes from an extinguished pilot light is tiny

...but non-zero.
posted by GPF at 5:09 PM on May 16, 2009