Electric griddles are useful tools that make cooking indoors hassle-free. While the cooking part of using an electric griddle is easy, the cleaning process isn’t always straightforward. Sure, you can clean one like a traditional grill, but some models have more components to worry about. The good news is that we’re here to help. We’re going to take you through a few easy steps to clean your electric griddle. While there will be some variation within the steps depending on the griddle you have, most steps apply to most electric griddles.
Read on to learn more!
What’s An Electric Griddle?
An electric griddle is a kitchen appliance that has a flat cooking surface as well as an electric heating element.
In most cases, electric griddles are designed to be used as tabletop griddles, which means they’re more compact and portable than traditional griddles you find in places like restaurants. The griddle’s flat surface makes it easy to cook many things at the same time.
For this reason, many electric griddles are used for cooking things like breakfast. Electric griddles also benefit from having non-stick surfaces and a ridge on the outside of the griddle that catches things like oil and grease.
What You Need to Clean an Electric Griddle
Cleaning an electric griddle requires a handful of tools. There are also some tools you can use to make your life easier. Plus, having a pair of heat-resistant gloves around can prevent your hands from getting burned. Here’s a look at the tools we recommend:
- Sponge and cloth
- Warm water, soap, and cold water
- Heat protection for your hands (gloves)
- Flat-head spatula
Sponge and Cloth
First and foremost, you need a sponge or cloth. While any cloth or sponge will do, we recommend going with a sponge that provides friction.
This ensures that the sponge will make the most of the heat from the warm water and soap, which will remove more grease and grime than other sponges.
If you’re using a cloth, we recommend one that’s made with a durable material like microfiber to prevent scratching and damage to the cloth. Otherwise, you’ll need to replace the cloth after a few cleaning sessions.
Warm/Cold Water and Soap
Next, you’ll need warm water and soap. You’ll also need cold water to cool the griddle down if it becomes too hot during your cleaning process.
While you can use most types of dish soap, we recommend using a dish soap that doesn’t have abrasive properties. The manual for your electric griddle can also provide insight into what soap works best.
Heat Protection
Heat protection is essential when it comes to cleaning a griddle. There are several ways to protect yourself from the heat but gloves are our favorite choice.
While you can use an oven mitt or towel, we recommend a more flexible glove for cleaning a griddle. This is because you’ll need full control of your hand to clean the griddle effectively.
Flat-Head Spatula
Finally, you need a flat-head spatula. While you can use custom griddle scrapers, most people have a flat-heat spatula in their homes already. The spatula will be used to scrape grease from the grill, so we recommend using a spatula that you don’t plan on using for cooking.
Metal spatulas also work the best but make sure you don’t scratch the surface of the griddle.
With these tools, you’ll have everything you need to clean a griddle effectively.
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5 Easy Steps to Clean Your Electric Griddle
Cleaning an electric griddle can be done in a handful of steps. While some steps differ based on your griddle, most griddles can be cleaned with the steps listed below. We’ll take you through an in-depth breakdown of each.
1). Heat the Griddle
First and foremost, it’s important to heat your griddle. When you heat the griddle it will heat the grease, which makes it looser. With that, you should be careful with how hot you make the griddle.
Turning the griddle up to its hottest setting will cause the grease to burn and can damage the non-stick surface. Therefore, when you heat the griddle to loosen the grease make sure it’s on the low setting. While this takes more time, it preserves your griddle.
2). Get Rid of the Grease
Next, it’s time to get rid of the grease. You can get rid of the Grease by using a griddle cleaning scraper or a spatula. Once the grease is heated up and loose, you can start to scrape it off with the spatula. While you won’t get all of the Grease, this will leave you in a good position to get the rest off after soaking the griddle.
For this step, make sure you wear heat-resistant gloves to keep your hands safe as you scrape. Then, turn the griddle off and give it some time to cool down. Placing a hot griddle into cold water can damage the non-stick surface.
3). Soak the Griddle
Before soaking the griddle, it’s important to unplug the griddle. Whenever you’re working with an electrical appliance, turning it off and unplugging it before submerging it in water is essential. This will prevent electrical injuries and preserve the life of the electric griddle.
Once the griddle is powered down, we recommend soaking the griddle in warm water and using a sponge or cloth to remove the rest of the grease. You should soak the griddle for about 30 minutes with a cleaning solution to loosen and remove the rest of the grease.
4). Remove and Clean the Drip Tray
Once the surface of the griddle is clean, you can move on to the drip tray. The drip tray is responsible for collecting grease and food that slides off the surface of the griddle.
Many electric griddles come with dishwasher-safe dip trays, so you can follow the instructions and place them in the dishwasher.
If your electric griddle doesn’t have a drip tray, we recommend filling the basin with warm water and soap. Then, let it soak for about 20-30 minutes. Once the grease in the basin becomes loose, you can use a sponge or cloth to wipe it down.
5). Cold Water and Cloth Finish
Finally, it’s time to use some cold water and provide your electric griddle with a pristine finish. This will help it look great before the next use. To give your electric griddle a clean finish, soak it in cold water for about 20 minutes.
Then, go over the surface of the griddle with a clean cloth. You can repeat this process between 3 and 5 times for the best results.
If you follow these steps, your griddle will look brand new before each use.
Electric Griddle Maintenance
The best way to maintain your griddle is to clean it after each use. Then, you should make sure you provide it with a nice finish. You should also make sure you prep the griddle before each use if you don’t have a non-stick surface.
That said, maintaining a griddle is all about keeping it clean and reducing the amount of grease on the surface. If you fail to remove grease from the surface, it can damage the non-stick surface and make cleaning the griddle more challenging after each use.
Keep It Clean!
Keeping your electric griddle clean ensures that your food is cooked safely. It also extends the life of the griddle because a build-up of grease and grime leads to the erosion of the non-stick surface. Unfortunately, once the surface is damaged, restoring it is almost impossible. The good news is that keeping your electric griddle clean and properly maintained ensures that it will last for years. Plus, once you know the steps, cleaning an electric griddle is simple.
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