Porcelain enamel cooktop
An enamelled cooktop is cleaned differently from a glass-ceramic one. Whirlpool keeps gritty washcloths and abrasive paper towels off it, as well as steel wool.
Precautions
- Do not apply to a hot surface
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
Made from
What tends to go wrong
Fats and oils, which water alone cannot lift. Removed by surfactants, by heat, by solvents, or by alkalis that convert the fat into soap.
Why it is difficult: Why oil resists water, Emulsification
Part of Hob.
In detail
Whirlpool's range guidance treats a porcelain cooktop and a ceramic glass cooktop as two different surfaces with different instructions, and that difference is the main thing to know. A ceramic top is cleaned with a cooktop scraper and a ceramic cooktop cleaner. A porcelain top gets neither. Its method is soap, water and a soft cloth. If that is not enough, Whirlpool names glass cleaner, a mild liquid detergent or an all-purpose cleaner as the alternatives. The list of things to keep off it is longer than most people expect: soap-filled scouring pads, abrasive cleaners, steel wool pads, gritty washcloths and abrasive paper towels. GE's manual for an electric range adds a limit on acids. Porcelain enamel is acid-resistant, not acid-proof. Fruit juice, tomato and vinegar should not be left on the finish, and acid spilled on a hot surface should be wiped dry at once and washed only after the surface has cooled. On models with drip pans, the same manual warns that soil under the pans, especially grease, may catch fire, so the area beneath them needs cleaning as well as the visible top. Both are makers' instructions for their own ranges.
Related
- Porcelain enamel cooktop is made from Vitreous enamel
- Porcelain enamel cooktop is commonly affected by Grease
Sources for this page
Sources
Cleaning and Maintenance of Range
Whirlpool Corporation · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That a porcelain cooktop takes soap, water and a soft cloth, or glass cleaner, mild liquid detergent or all-purpose cleaner, and must not meet soap-filled scouring pads, abrasive cleaners, steel wool pads, gritty washcloths or abrasive paper towels, while a ceramic top takes a scraper and ceramic cooktop cleaner. (states this directly)
Use and Care & Installation Guide: Self-Cleaning Electric Range
GE Appliances · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That porcelain enamel is acid-resistant rather than acid-proof, that acid spilled on a hot surface is wiped dry at once and washed after cooling, and that soil under the drip pans, especially grease, may catch fire. (states this directly)