Can I heat this?

January 29, 2015 5:22 AM

I accidentally put one of those plastic sheet protector things (with paper in it) onto an electric burner that was switched off but still hot. I didn't realise it at the time and came back to a neat hole in the sheet protector, some scorch marks on the paper and some of the plastic melted onto the burner. Thankfully it didn't catch fire. It's a coil burner. My question is: what's the best way to deal with it?

There is less plastic residue around than there is plastic missing, so presumably some has melted/burned off already. Would it be safe to turn the coil on to burn the rest off or should I scrape the plastic off the coil? It's pretty well stuck on there, so while not impossible, would take a while and I'm not entirely sure I could get it all off. Any tips for removing the plastic stuff would be much appreciated.

posted by pianissimo to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

I've done this more than once (bread bag, tupperware lid, butter container, etc). You can probably take the coil off the stove and scrape the bigger part off. After I do this, I put it back together and turned the stove (and vent) on. Getting it hot will let you scrape a little more off, and I just let the rest burn away. If it's not freezing cold, I open a window.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 5:32 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I don't think there's a cook alive who hasn't melted something plastic on a burner at some point in their lives. I'd suggest scraping what you can off with a dull knife and then burning off the remainder. I wouldn't recommend standing right over the burning plastic and inhaling deeply, but turn on the extractor fan if you've got one and stand back and you'll be fine.
posted by drlith at 5:59 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you can't clean it well enough to your liking, coil burners are fairly inexpensive at hardware stores. Heck, I think I've even seen them at my drugstore.
posted by stowaway at 6:14 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

If you have birds you might want to put them outside. They're susceptible to fumes.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 6:17 AM on January 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Just buy a new burner. It's safer and less hassle. They are not expensive and they are relatively easy to find.
posted by myselfasme at 6:22 AM on January 29, 2015 [3 favorites]

Nthing buy a new burner. They come out easily, they're each plugged into a weird plug socket under the cover of the stove. You should be able to pull it out of its plug socket without even lifting the hinged cover up. Take the old one with you to the hardware store to make sure you get the right replacement.
posted by mareli at 7:59 AM on January 29, 2015

I buy new burners regularly, because they tend to heat weirdly in spots after a lot of use. They're super-cheap and easy to remove and install.
posted by xingcat at 8:03 AM on January 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Apologies for the very late followup (maybe my next Ask will be about procrastination...). I did the scrape and heat thing and the burner is cleaner than ever. Thanks for all your answers!
posted by pianissimo at 12:58 AM on March 2, 2015