Best way to clean nonstick cooking rack?

[marvelous_marvin]

Hi all,

I have one of these 12 x 18 nonstick cooking racks, similar to the one seen here on Amazon..

Does anyone have any tricks on how best to clean this thing? I do a lot of broiling on mine, and there are always bits of burned cheese at the corners of each square in the rack that are difficult to clean and do not rinse away. I have been wiping it down with a sponge, but this is kind of time-intensive. Is there a better way to do it, or is this just how it goes?

[kbjesq]

Hi all,

I have one of these 12 x 18 nonstick cooking racks, similar to the one seen here on Amazon..

Does anyone have any tricks on how best to clean this thing? I do a lot of broiling on mine, and there are always bits of burned cheese at the corners of each square in the rack that are difficult to clean and do not rinse away. I have been wiping it down with a sponge, but this is kind of time-intensive. Is there a better way to do it, or is this just how it goes?

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Place the rack upside down in a jelly roll pan (the same size or larger), add soap and hot water and soak overnight. The gunk should wipe right off.

If that doesn't work, use the same procedure but coat the rack with "Dawn Power Dissolver" instead of soap and water. Wait 45-60 minutes, scrub with a plastic scrubber to loosen any stuck bits, and the gunk should rinse off.

If that doesn't work, you've got yourself one heck of a mess and the only other thing that I would try is spray-on oven cleaner. They make "less fume" cleaners now, but they are still pretty bad and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Let us know how this turns out.

[andiesenji]

I can attest to the fact that spray-on oven cleaner will remove much, if not all, of the non-stick coating. I have two rather scruffy appearing racks, now delegated to use only on the outdoor barbecue, which suffered this fate.

I use the Dawn Power Dissolver also, with excellent results, with the aid of an old-fashioned "natural bristle" scrub brush - the kind with a handle. The longer bristles work much better on grids than regular brushes. It will clean in all the corners and where the wires overlap.

This kind of brush.

For dry scrubbing burnt-on stuff, I have a regular flat scrub brush - like this one. - nailed to a heavy slab of wood out by the barbecue. I have found it is easier to hold onto the racks and scrub them back and forth across the bristles and I can see what I am doing.

This idea popped into my head when I was cleaning my garden boots on one of the (very expensive) boot scrubbers I had ordered from a garden supply. - Now I make my own. The grill-cleaning brush is replaced at the beginning of each outdoor cooking season, or when it gets worn down. It is easily cleaned by spraying with the hose and gets an occasional blast with the power washer when the patio is cleaned.

Edited January 31, 2008 by andiesenji (log)