How To: Get Gunky Stove Burners & Grill Grates Clean Without Any Scrubbing

Though you may scrub every inch of your kitchen, there are plenty of trouble areas that are nearly impossible to get clean: gunked-up tile grout, rust in the sink, and caked-on burners and grates on the stove. As far as burners and grates go, you're in luck, because there's a simple solution to returning even the grossest ones back to their original shine.

The Key Is Ammonia

Ammonia is a colorless gas that when dissolved in water creates a powerful alkaline cleaning solution that is mostly used to clean glass and stainless steel, due to its streak-free shine. But it's also great at removing burned on gunk from stove burners and grill grates that have accumulated over the months—maybe even years.

All you need is a store-bought cleaning solution that features a light percentage of ammonia in its ingredients. Most of these cleaning products will contain between 4 and 10 percent ammonia, which should be more than enough to get stovetop grates and burners clean, as well as your BBQ grill grates. Go for the higher percent if you have a lot of built-up gunk. Anything more than 10 percent will be hard to find, and unsafe to use.

How to Use Ammonia to Clean Burners & Grates

In the video below, YouTuber DIY Super Mom shows off ammonia's cleaning skills on her range grates.

Basically, just place your grates inside a plastic, self-sealing bag, and give your burners a light spritz of your ammonia solution. There's no need to spray until you've hit every area of the burner or grate, and that's because it's the ammonia fumes that actually do the work here—not the liquid.

Zip the plastic bag up, give it a shake, and leave it to soak overnight.

If you want to clean multiple items at the same time, or a grilling grate try using a large garbage bag instead of a ziplock, but just make sure it's completely sealed during the soak.

After the soak is over, wearing protective cleaning cloves, take out the burners or grates and wipe off with a kitchen sponge. If there are still some areas that need cleaned, throw it back in the bag and reuse the ammonia solution with a little more added in.

Warning: Be Careful with Chemicals

Ammonia works wonders on the dirtiest of stove burners and grates, but keep in mind that it's a strong, tough-working chemical. Keep your newest cleaning solution a safe distance away from your eyes, ensure you use it in a well-ventilated area, and wear gloves whenever touching it with your hands. Also, do NOT mix with bleach, as it creates very toxic fumes.

How to Keep Your Burners & Grates Clean

Instead of waiting for months and months worth of food and grease to pile on your burners and grates again, try gently scrubbing off the gunk with some aluminum foil. Tinfoil is also a great way to clean the grates of your outdoor grill.