Drip pan
The one component where the manufacturer prescribes an ammonia soak — and forbids the foil lining almost everyone uses.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Wear gloves
- Check the manufacturer's instructions
Start here
What this is, what tends to go wrong with it, and what to do about it.
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 Oven.
In detail
Drip pans sit under electric coil elements and collect everything that boils over, which makes them both the greasiest part of a hob and the part most often 'protected' with a foil lining. The manufacturer forbids that outright and gives a consequence: do not cover the drip pans with foil, because using foil so close to the receptacle could cause shock, fire or damage to the range. The same page carries a second fire warning that is easier to act on — clean the area UNDER the drip pans often, because built-up soil, especially grease, may catch fire. The prescribed cleaning method is the surprising part, because it is a household trick the manufacturer printed in its own manual: for best results clean the pans by hand, placing them in a covered container or a plastic bag with a quarter cup of ammonia to loosen the soil, then scrubbing with a soap-filled scouring pad if necessary, rinsing and polishing with a soft cloth. Note the scope carefully. The same document prohibits ammonia on the range's metal parts. The permission is for the pans, removed from the appliance and enclosed — not for the surfaces around them.
What works
Ammonia is safe on, in specific conditions, Drip pan
Safe only in specific conditions
This is only appropriate within specific limits. Outside those limits, no claim is made.
Only within these limits:
- The pans removed from the appliance and enclosed in a covered container or plastic bag
- A quarter cup of ammonia, to loosen soil, followed by scrubbing, rinsing and polishing
- Never on the range's metal parts, which the same document prohibits
- Never where any bleach or chlorine-based product has been used, before or after
A household trick that appears verbatim in the manufacturer's manual — for this component only. The same document lists ammonia among the things not to use on the range's metal parts, so the permission and the prohibition sit pages apart in one source.
Precautions
- Ventilate the area
- Never mix with other cleaning products
- Wear gloves
- Wear eye protection
- Rinse thoroughly afterwards
Evidence
Supported
Sources
Use and Care & Installation Guide: Self-Cleaning Electric Range
GE Appliances · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That drip pans are best cleaned by hand in a covered container or plastic bag with a quarter cup of ammonia to loosen the soil, and that ammonia must not be used on the range's metal parts. (states this directly)
Right to Know Hazardous Substance Fact Sheet: Ammonia
New Jersey Department of Health · Government or regulator
Relied on for: That ammonia is corrosive and reacts violently with halogens including chlorine and with calcium hypochlorite. (states this directly)
Related
Hacks and claims involving this
- Lining hob drip pans with foil Does not work
- The ammonia bag trick for baked-on grease Supported
Sources for this page
Sources
Use and Care & Installation Guide: Self-Cleaning Electric Range
GE Appliances · Manufacturer documentation
Relied on for: That drip pans must not be covered with foil because foil close to the receptacle could cause shock, fire or damage, that the area under them must be cleaned often because built-up grease may catch fire, and that the pans are best cleaned by hand in a covered container or bag with a quarter cup of ammonia then a soap-filled scouring pad. (states this directly)