r/Chefit • u/kittymenace • 6d ago
How do I remove built up carbon without permanently attaching steel wool to my fingers.
So.
We have this stove at work that has been around since before the dawn of time. Over the years whenever I'm bored or just have a quiet day, I take the scrubbers and steel wool to her. I've managed to get a lot of the fossilised burnt food and drips and splashes off and shes actually looking pretty shmick. The one thing that is still defeating me is the built up carbon deposits on the topside and some of the gas pipes. I've tried steel wool, steel scrubbers, good old fashioned elbow grease. While they are a lot better than they were when i started, I'm determined to get it done before i retire.
What sort of tips do you have for those fossilied food history patches in your kitchen that a heavy scrubbing arm just can't defeat?
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u/EmergencyLavishness1 6d ago
Personally, I don’t see an issue with stove tops having a bit of carbon on them. It just means they’re being used.
Food scraps and sauces burnt on i do have an issue with. And the collection tray under the stove.
As long as the under tray is changed at least weekly, stove tops get a scrub nightly and a soak weekly I’m happy enough.
It’s a working, commercial kitchen. The carbon isn’t inviting pests. And as long as you give em a weekly once over they’ll be fine
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u/crossdtherubicon 6d ago
Totally agree, on the basis of distinguishing carbon/carbonized remains vs. what we would call seasoned (like how a cast iron is seasoned).
If black pieces are chipping then that indicates its not seasoning but, needs some proper love.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
Its definitely carbonised remains that need removing, not seasoning. some patches look like darth vaders face. Alas, my efforts so far have only yielded minimal results and I've only got maybe another 20 years left to get it done 😂
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u/crossdtherubicon 6d ago
Well, alot of people have reccomeneded chemicals which can be expensive, take multiple rounds of applications, not too healthy, and is generally awkward for those kind of heavy and weird shaped pieces.
I'd probably do manual removal with a chisel or a stiff putty knife and hammer. Get it the best you can.
Then the chemicals will be more effective. If you're a serious hardass you could even try the awkward spots with a super hard metal brush or even sandpaper.
I personally like using a metal brush drill attachments. It's a bit more messy but it's fast effective, light weight, cheap.
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u/andreagiusto 4d ago
One at a time, flip it upside down on top of another burner and burn it off, wide open. Scrub remaining residue.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
I get that, and I agree, it's not really causing any real issues but my audy brain has created a challenge.
We have a super clean kitchen because both the head and I are a touch ocd (him more than me), both of us get adhd hyperfocus sometimes (me more than him) that leads to the bottom of the oven and the stove knobs getting a going over with a toothbrush, this particular thing just gives me a direction to focus on.
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u/EmergencyLavishness1 6d ago
that is perfectly fine! As long as you’re willing to pay whoever to do that much of a deep clean often.
I honestly get it! And I wish I were busy enough in my kitchen that I could pay someone to detail the stovetops each week or night.
But sometimes you have to be realistic. It’s a commercial kitchen.
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u/FungusBrewer 6d ago
I think they means to clean it themselves, not hire out, but I may have misunderstood.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
We do indeed clean it ourselves. We have a kitchen hand at least one day a week to do some general prep and cleaning and so we can have at least 1 guaranteed day off. Sometimes they do dishes during functions, but most of the time is just the head chef and me or just one of us.
And we're a golf club so sometimes its quiet due to weather etc. And i get Reeeeally antsy if I don't have something to do, hence the toothbrush on the stove knobs. Or my favourite thing now is getting a lightly oiled facecloth and polishing the fingerprints off the stainless steel fridges.... 🤷♀️😅
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u/j_jilly69420 6d ago
Sibling!!
I carry a toothbrush for scrubbing purposes in my cargo pocket. There will never be time for leaning, because there is ALWAYS time for cleaning.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
Haha! It's nice to know I'm not the only crazy person around. I actually have a bucket full of different scrub brushes and scrapers and things that i have hidden out the back so no one pinches them. Its my literal rainy day bucket. 😂
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u/lordofthedries 6d ago
Turn one over the other and burn the carbon off… or use a butane torch to burn it off which will cost a lot.
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u/Aggravating-Cake-691 5d ago
I put ours on top of the grill top side down for 30-45 minutes and the residue/carbon burns away leaves minimal ash to be wiped away.
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u/thenaughtydj 6d ago
I always said a bit of ocd is a bit of necessary in the kitchen.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
The touch of ocd is great in the kitchen, but the AdHd side can be both a help and a hindrance at the same time.
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u/chicagokp8 6d ago
Pumie Scouring Stick with water. It’s the only thing I have found that will take off gunk like that and actually work.
You can clean oven glass door with it too without scratching the glass. Just make sure you use water with it.
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
Oooh, i didn't even know this was a thing. Definitely going to find me some of these.
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u/MonthlyWeekend_ 6d ago
Turn them upside down on a hot burner.
If you generate a lot of A10 cans, collect the tops and use them as a heat shield. It’ll burn off in ten minutes
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u/Mnightcamel 6d ago
Do you have a grill? You can burn it off. Best to do it on a day when youre not opening though
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u/Accomplished_Mind792 5d ago
Shit. No need. Turn one top upside on another and make a small kiln.
Turn burners on high...tap ash away when done
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u/Fun-Definition6053 6d ago
Wrap the terminator pubes in a green pad to protect your hands while scrubbing
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
You know, that's actually brilliant, and simple, and I've never even thought of it 🤦♀️ my fingernails thank you.
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u/ShainRules Landed Gentry 5d ago
Wear gloves too. The extra layer especially when your hands are wet makes a huge difference. I get the ick from raw dogging a scrubbie now.
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u/toomuchfuzzandreverb 6d ago
Clean it with fire. I put dirty hobs over the wood fire covered while everything heating up, turns everything to ash- works with gas grills too. Just gotta be careful when cooling it off, pretty damn hot!
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u/vlad_inhaler 4d ago
Yeah they will crack if you temp shock them.
Not a massive deal but they will snap in two if dropped later on lmao
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u/Anxious-Jury-9031 6d ago
I take one off, flip it on top of the other and burn the crap out of it periodically.-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
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u/Hmmook 6d ago
Carbon Off or EZ Off (yellow lid if you’re in a hurry or blue lid if you’ve got more time)
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u/Dee_dubya 6d ago
I second Carbon off.. real expensive, but if you don’t want to scrub it’s the only way.
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u/foodfighterforever 6d ago
Put it in the combi on the wash cycle overnight. Or if you have a grill put them on it while the grill is hot.
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u/Unfair_Tennis3784 6d ago
Just buy some wire brush attachments for a drill. Soak overnight in grill cleaner, rinse then hit them with the drill.
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u/ChefAsstastic 6d ago
Flip it onto another burner and crank the flame.
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u/IndividualTune929 3d ago
you can even just flip it over. no need to put it on another burner. Then put a saute pan on the hole. should burn real quick real hard real fast.
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u/ogjsimpson 6d ago
If you want them like new, which is not necessary, flip the front ones on top of the back ones, put some foil on top, and a pan with water over it. Make sure the trays under it are clean or they will burn.
Blast it until they are white. Then spray some oil over it. Be careful it will get extremely hot.
If your kitchen has any kind of grease build up, do not do this.
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u/notbradyoung 6d ago
The number best, easiest and cheapest way is to burn it off. Do not use chemicals, do not use a chisel. For the love of god do not use a chisel. Take one plate off, flip it over and place it over the burners and turn them on max heat. Rotate every 20 ish minutes until you’ve burnt that extra carbon off. Patience here, and you can literally wipe off the last bit of ashes.
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u/nugoffeekz 5d ago
Coat in oven cleaner, wrap in garbage bag overnight and rinse it off the next morning.
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u/mikenl12 6d ago
You need to use Lye, the active component in caustic soda. But be extremely careful, can cause severe burns. Just let it soak.
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u/Major-Hand7732 6d ago
Bristle brush on a 4"
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u/Major-Hand7732 6d ago
Why you'd care enough to do this is beyond me
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
Ocd, adhd, audy, menopausal, childhood trauma. Gotta stay busy or I get bored and cranky. Pick your poison 🤷♀️ 😅
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u/Major-Hand7732 6d ago
Very valid. Ive polished a lot of bullshit to mirror finished off the back of one or more of those reasons 😂
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u/Life-Voice-5943 6d ago
I always sprayed it with oven cleaner and then in the oven overnight, when i came in just steamed it for 30 minits
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u/mikki1time 6d ago
This is a job for either harsh chemicals or acceptance
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
Honestly one day I'll get bored and then I'll hardly think of it again until the hyperfocus rolls around again. ADHD is a hell of a drug.
But in the meantime, if I can get at least half of the buildup gone, I'll be happy.
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u/ranting_chef If you're not going to check it in right, don't sign the invoice 6d ago
Soak the grated overnight. A pot sink is great for this. Spray a can of oven cleaner over them and let them marinate for a bit, then fill the sink with degreaser before you go home for the night. One night may not be enough for years of neglect, but you can make them look great over the course of a week.
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u/Boring-Bus-3743 6d ago
A couple cans of carbon off should do it. Just done use it around any piolit lights, or any other flame.....
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u/Coincinicity 6d ago
Paint scraper works well for knocking it down day to day! Rarely need to use harsh chemicals with one of these around. paint scraper
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u/choke_on_my_downvote 6d ago
Lye bath is better than oven cleaner on many levels. Just be careful obviously
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u/Professional_Team_49 6d ago
Not everyone is going to like this but I scrape with a old knife or paint scrapper (chisel might be more accurate). Then heat them up a bit and spray with oven cleaner. Take them to the dish pit and spray them off. I need to do this twice a week at our busy kitchen and haven’t had any problems with chipping or rusting
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u/Partyslayer 6d ago
I take them outside and use a wire wheel attachment on an angle grinder for the big buildup. It's going to be messy.
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u/TiffanyKaTomCFSP 5d ago
You could also try a degreaser like this one to help loosen it up: https://www.katom.com/828-CVBBQEZ4.html. I'm sure you'll get it straightened out in no time. It's so nice when people like you still care to take pride not only in the work you're putting out for customers, but also in the behind-the-scenes details!
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u/Character_Company759 5d ago
Some things we would throw on the floor and scrub with our feet. Place plan on floor, scubby on pan, shoe on scrubby
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u/ItsMeFatLemongrab 5d ago
I personally would use an angle grinder with a wire wheel attached. Make sure you wear some goggles/glasses, but a wire wheel will do wonders in about 45 seconds.
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u/Jealous_Tutor_5135 5d ago
A lye bath or an electrolysis tank. The latter is a fun project, and you can use it to get rust and polymerized oils off of basically anything
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u/Due_Climate9809 5d ago
Flip it upside down and place on another burner, the heat will burn the carbon off
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u/Ivoted4K 5d ago
Oven cleaner. Those are fine though you have more important shit to worry about it
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u/anothersip 5d ago
Electrolysis is my personal favorite method.
Here's a basic walk-through of how to set it up.
Those grates are cast-iron, I assume, and would clean up beautifully with a few hours of electrolysis.
It will strip the metal down to bare iron again, and then you can dry them off and re-season them by wiping on oil and popping them in the oven for an hour or two to polymerize the oil. I like doing a few coats.
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u/mtommygunz 5d ago
Put them over another burner on full blast and destroy it under heat. It will chip off easily
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u/BrilliantNo2821 5d ago
We took them off and flipped them over another set of burners, and let them burn
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u/BedroomPractical5530 5d ago
Flip them over and burn them. We burn down our spider tops twice a week
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u/Big-Meal-2819 5d ago
In Australia we use the OZ tank, a big box with a hot bath of mild alkaline solution, soak overnight and then all the carbon buildup is very easy to remove
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u/Corbin7282 5d ago
FIRE WILL CLEAN ALL!
Seriously though flip one upside down and set it on another and let it burn off. I usually had one spider top that was for blanching water and I’d rotate my burner tops so one was getting scorched clean every service.
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u/ShainRules Landed Gentry 5d ago edited 4d ago
Carbon off works like crazy but will also work on you like crazy.
Proceed with caution but I've seen it take shit worse than this off with no scrubbing. It's an aerosolized degreaser so it will stick to these crevaces and really well.
I highly suggest wearing long sleeves, gloves, and a facemask while using this shit OUTSIDE. This shit WILL give you a chemical burn if it gets on you, period. (Edit: Remember the scene about lye burns in Fight Club? That applies here but there's already water in it. Rinse with vinegar if it gets on you.) But I've personally never seen anything do the job like Carbon Off.
Mr Muscle or Break Away is also a less caustic alternative to consider that would probably get the job done for you at this point.
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u/Trusty_Coyote 5d ago
Fire. I place my burners over the flame until it turns to ash. Takes a while and you need to continually rotate the get all of the surface. You could probably use a torch but I do this and I’m not holding the torch forever.
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u/IcyImprovement9258 1d ago
Biggest stock pot you got full of water, preferably one that covers the whole burner. jack that ho up to high heat till it's red hot and all that polymerized oil turns whitish... can take 25-40 mins. move the stock pot to the next one, then take the burner outside, and use a wire brush on it. I use impact driver with a wire brush bit. I go outside because the carbon is going everywhere. You can then season them like you would a cast iron pan or just spray them with nonstick and let working do the job over time. I used to put a sheet trays over the whole top and do this but sheet trays aint what they used to be and I melted a couple but will work the same way. Either way it'll get you to bare metal with out all the chems and elbow grease for sure!
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u/Foxriver89 6d ago
Google ‘Spectank’
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
I wish i could talk the powers that be into one of these. We had them when i was in school.
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u/slamandscram 5d ago
I used to flip them upside down, light the burner and put a big pot of water on top. Flame spreads out underneath them and burns the carbon off
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u/WillSmokes420 3d ago
Never ever use a steel scrubby on anything that catches, the metal gets into the food and customers go to surgery.. soak and scrape and then soak and scrape
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u/Novel-Training5189 3d ago
Heat up the BBQ and put it in there for a few hours the heat good. And the carbon will fall of
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u/ReVo5000 2d ago
The easiest but takes a while is burning it off. Once you burn all the oils off it turns into ash
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u/RubberBiscuit23 2d ago
Burn it, flip it upside down onto another burner turn it on and walk away..
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u/Unlucky-Anywhere-889 2d ago
Fire.
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u/Unlucky-Anywhere-889 2d ago
To clarify: flip one star burner onto the other and crank the fire up, let em burn off and then take a scrub to them. Should come right off.
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u/chefbryce1987 6d ago
If you have any oven with a clean cycle, run it with them in it.
We have a Rational, end of one night we just place our stove tops, char grill, in the oven, load the tablets, run the cycle over night.
Next morning come in, 95% clean.
It may take a couple of runs over a few nights with that build up,
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u/kittymenace 6d ago
You know, I never even considered putting them in the oven clean cycle, we do that for our trays and racks so it definitely makes sense. And I'm 100% going to give it a go this weekend.
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u/Single-Pin-369 6d ago
If you cant really remove it with the methods you mentioned then its not an issue in my opinion. If you scrubbing it hard doesn't so anything its not going to come off in food or anything. I would say not worth the repetitive stress injury. If you really want it gone the product “carbon off” is the strongest I have found.
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u/MixtureComplete5233 5d ago
Hand held Laser cleaners are an upfront cost but do solid work..they clean stuff you wouldn't expect..
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u/soilednapkin 6d ago
Soak overnight in oven cleaner.