How to Keep your Indoor Griddle/Grill Clean or At Least Presentable
Do you have a range or cooktop with a built-in or integrated griddle? I was lucky enough to buy a house with a chef-style range, but it’s becoming more common for modern ovens to have lots of bells and whistles, like different types of griddles and grills.
My oven or range has a griddle in the middle and I’ve recently discovered how many different things I can do with a flat top griddle. I kept the griddle covered up for a few years before giving it a try. Now there is no going back, it’s great for lots of things.
The only downside is that I didn’t know how the cleaning process. I went in search of videos that gave me lots of different cleaning methods. I tried a few techniques and this is the best way I found to get the griddle clean.
Materials Needed to Clean Indoor Griddle
To clean your griddle top you need a few tools. You might not need the brick if your griddle’s surface has been cleaned on a regular basis. The pumice is for deep cleaning more than regular cleaning. You will note that there is NO SOAP listed. You aren’t supposed to put soap on your griddle. More on that below.
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- Metal Spatula with fine edge or griddle scraper
- Nylon scruber or scouring pads
- Cooking oil or vegetable oil
- Griddle cleaning brick (if your griddle is really dirty)
- An apron (or clothes that might get a little dirty)
Easy Steps to Clean an Integrated Griddle
All of these steps might not be necessary if you keep your griddle clean after each use. I scrape mine down while it’s hot (step 1), but I hadn’t truly cleaned it because I didn’t know how to. Now that I’ve learned the process, I probably won’t need to do the last step very often.
- The first thing to do is heat up the griddle to loosen up the leftover grease and remaining debris. You don’t need high heat, low heat will be enough. Once it’s warm, turn it off.
- Use your metal spatula to scrape off as much food residue and burnt-on food as you can. Wipe the debris on paper towels. Wipe down the griddle with a paper towel. This is not eco-friendly, but I don’t like to wash greasy towels.
- Apply some cooking oil to a nylon sponge and scrub the surface of the griddle. If your griddle plate is pretty clean, you can stop here.
- If you still have lots of dark areas on the griddle pan as I did, use a pumice/brick on the darker spots. This creates a lot of chalky dust and debris.
- Scrape the debris with your metal scraper.
- Reapply oil oil with your nylon scrubber.
Don’t expect the surface of your griddle to be shiny and new. It’s not supposed to be. The manufacturer for my griddle (Blue Star) said “with time and use, your griddle will darken and develop a rich blue/black color, which is normal.”
If your griddle has a grease trough, be sure you investigate where the grease goes, newer models have a removable drip tray. I avoided using my trap because I didn’t know how to empty it. It’s a good thing because the hole on mine went directly to the mechanics of my range. I was SUPPOSED TO USE SOMETHING TO CATCH GREASE. Now I have a metal cup to catch the food particles and excess grease that goes down the hole.
Little Known Facts About Cleaning Integrated Griddles
You are NOT SUPPOSED TO USE SOAP. I encourage you to read the manufacturer’s manual. The manual for mine says “Do NOT use soap directly on griddle surface.”
Treat your griddle like you would a cast iron skillet that you want to keep seasoned.
So now you see how easy it is to keep your griddle in tip-top shape. With the proper care of your griddle it should last you a good long time.
