The Aluminum Foil Hack To Save Your Stovetop From Becoming A Mess

Stovetops can be a pain to keep clean. And if you wait too long to get the gunk off of them, it feels like no matter how hard you scrub, it's there permanently. But depending on how many burners you're using, there's a simple trick to keep the stovetop as clean as possible — cover any unused burners with aluminum foil. Of course, the method won't work if you need to use every burner, but if you're cooking bacon on one quarter of the stove and want to prevent as much grease on your stovetop as possible, aluminum foil will solve the problem. And thankfully, it's a perfectly safe method.

Rather than having to wipe down the entire stove from the inevitable grease splatter, you can focus on cleaning just one of your stove's burners. It's about the closest you'll come to a mess-free, easy-to-clean stovetop — any home cook's greatest wish.

According to Paint the Kitchen Red, the aluminum foil trick is easy, and the foil can be reused time and time again. Food blogger Neena says to "quadruple layer" the foil (likely to make it nice and sturdy), then shape it to cover one burner. You can also do a second version and make that piece large enough to cover two burners. 

Then, just wipe the foil down when you're done, and you can reuse the foil; you don't have to replace it every time you cook. Depending on the brand of foil you use, it's safe in temperatures up to 650 degrees Fahrenheit, which means it's perfectly safe to use on a stovetop, as long as the foil isn't touching the open flame.

Foil has plenty of other effortless hacks up its sleeve in the kitchen, too. If you find that some grease has stuck to your stovetop grates, you can ball up the foil and use it as a makeshift sponge; the material will help remove the grease.

Even with the aluminum foil hack in place, you'll still have to clean at least one burner, as you can't line the area that's near the open flame or hot surface with foil. In this case, you want to clean the surface as soon as it's completely cooled. The longer you wait, the more that grease has a chance to stick.

If you have a gas stove, make a paste with water and baking soda; scrub the burners, and let the paste sit for about 30 minutes before using a microfiber cloth to clean the paste off. If you have electric burners, use a soft kitchen sponge rather than a tooth brush. And if you have electric coil burners, don't use baking soda at all. Just use dish soap and water, and brush the coils with a bristle brush. 

Once you've cleaned your stovetop, prevent buildup in the future. Kathy Cohoon, director of operations at cleaning company Two Maids, told Martha Stewart to wipe a solution of vinegar and water on your burners after every use; leave it for 15 minutes, then wipe it off. This makes it easier to clean the burners in the future because grease has trouble sticking to the vinegar-laden burners.