here's my cleaning experience so far:
until i started deep frying on this thing, i never had any issues with cleaning. i just cleaned with a sponge and soap and water. no problem.
but the CF is imo a very nice deep frying tool. loving the probe control.
if any oil dribbles down the side of the pan, immediately stop what you're doing and wipe off the oil thoroughly from the pan side, bottom, and the CF glass surface. this will save you later on some cleanup effort.
but still, any oil residue that ends up on the pan bottom or CF surface under the pan will polymerize into a difficult-to-remove substance very quickly.
and so began my cleaning troubles.
i haven't tried acetone, but 90%+ alcohol softens it a bit. not enough to dissolve it, but it softens up for easier mechanical removal. not very effective though.
i finally broke down and used a razor blade to scrape it up. this worked fine, but i slipped up and left a couple of small scratches on the glass.
i also stupidly used a green scotchbrite on part of the surface. this did a great job on the residue, but it obviously left some fine micro scratches on the surface.
finally, i used baking soda paste (baking soda with a bit of water) and a paper towel. this gentle abrasive -- with some elbow grease -- will remove polymerized oil and doesn't seem to scratch the glass. or if it does scratch the glass, the scratches are too tiny to see. i wish i would've tried that first. but now that there's a few scratches on the surface, i know i won't give a shit about future scratches. so i've got that going for me.
anyone have a better technique?