Metamess Prevention

September 29, 2009 10:04 AM

What are some tips on preventing electric range messes?

I'm not talking cleaning them, but preventing the messes in the first place.

You see, I am buying a new electric range and it is to be delivered tomorrow. I have 5 adults (three are young adults) in this house right now and it's a battle getting them to clean up after themselves, but that's for another post. The point is that I'm trying to come up with creative ways to keep my new stove nice looking and to prevent filth altogether.

I know there are a lot of seriously safety minded folks out there and while I'm not feckless I'm also not overly concerned with it, so ideas such as disposable drip pans, or oven liners, are fine by me.

Are there any other tips out there? Also I'm really looking for stove-top ideas since that appears to be the biggest problem.

posted by magnoliasouth to home & garden (16 comments total)

Keep a tea kettle on the stove and ask folks to put it on burners they've just turned off. Or think they've turned off. The whistle will let them know.
posted by Carol Anne at 10:05 AM on September 29

Get a spoon rest. Line the bottom of the oven with foil. Splatter guards are good. Run the exhaust when frying stuff (I like to believe it sucks up some of the grease flying around, somehow).
posted by runningwithscissors at 10:11 AM on September 29

Are you getting a flat top or one with burner wells?
posted by Kimberly at 10:11 AM on September 29

I used to have a housekeeper who would insist upon foil-wrapping the drip pans under the burners. While this practice kept the drip pans nice and clean, I suspect (suspect mind you, I have no solid proof) that it wasn't a great idea because the coils kept shorting out and I had to replace several. Instead we now put a flat sheet of foil under the drip pan laying on the floor of the stove box. This catches a lot of drips and makes it easy to keep that area clean without an epic scrubbing.

Also, I hate myself for using them because they are so wasteful, but I keep a tub of those single use Clorox (or other brand) pre-moistened wipes nearby and run them around the stove surface after every splattery use. If you wipe up before the stuff bakes on, it's easy to keep it looking clean.
posted by jamaro at 10:17 AM on September 29 [1 favorite has favorites]

Those Mr. Clean Magic Sponges are good too, following up on jamaro and Clorox wipes. The sponge somehow is able to scrub off that oily goo.
posted by chocolatetiara at 10:21 AM on September 29

Wow, excellent idea so far.

@Kimberly: I didn't want a flat top. The reviews I was seeing were indicating that it was taking longer to heat things up, so I went with burner coils. Hopefully I won't regret that. :P
posted by magnoliasouth at 10:24 AM on September 29

Spoon rest and splatter screens.
posted by dersins at 10:27 AM on September 29

Yes, disposable drip pans are good. I usually just spray with multipurpose surface cleaner and wipe with kitchen towel at regular intervals, or after messes. That seems to keep it looking good. I avoid sponges/scouring pads, because they're usually already coated with some sort of kitchen/food gunk.
posted by carter at 10:28 AM on September 29

Splatter screens and glass lids for pots.

In terms of prevention, nothing substitutes for having every person clean up spills immediately. The last step of cooking is washing/stacking dishes and wiping the stove/microwave. If they know they have to clean up, then they'll be more conscientious about using the spoon rest and splatter guard.
posted by 26.2 at 11:19 AM on September 29

Does the range have a self-cleaning oven?
posted by magstheaxe at 12:04 PM on September 29

I use these burner plates that cover the coils. They distribute the heat better and can be removed and washed if necessary (and they look cool).
posted by whiskeyspider at 12:06 PM on September 29 [1 favorite has favorites]

Seconding the Magic Erasers for cleaning baked on goo easily. They create a bit of a moral hazard situation for me, though, because it makes it easy enough to clean that I allow more gunk to build up in the first place.
posted by yarrow at 12:14 PM on September 29

I should have just marked them all as best answers. Thanks to all of you!

I have some great ideas now. The oven will be coming between 1 and 5 today and I'm going to the store, just after, to pick up some of these items. The magic eraser sounds really interesting. You know, I mute the TV during commercials if I'm sitting there so I've never even seen the commercial! I looked it up though and it sounds perfect.

Again, thanks to all.
posted by magnoliasouth at 10:08 AM on September 30

Magic Erasers rock, but what rocks even more is the generic store brand versions work just as well and cost half as much. Since this type of sponge wears out super quickly (it's melamine foam that shreds itself into microscopic abrading bits) you'll end up buying a lot of them if you fall in love with them.

Happy cooking on your new stove.
posted by jamaro at 11:16 AM on September 30

@jamaro: Thanks much! I did buy the Mr. Clean version today, but I will be sure to look for melamine foam in other brands. I didn't know anything about it so... I just got the original.

One thing I do that saves money is cut all sponges in half. After all, you don't need the whole sponge to clean up any mess. When you cut them in half, you're basically getting them at half price! :)
posted by magnoliasouth at 3:49 PM on September 30

Oh and I meant to say... AWESOME link!
posted by magnoliasouth at 3:52 PM on September 30