How To Clean An Electric Griddle And Remove All That Stuck-On Food

Electric griddles, or flat-top griddles, are the type of kitchen appliance you never know you needed until you get one. They're fantastic for preparing everything from pancakes to fajitas to burgers to omelets, a true multipurpose machine that really amps up your cooking game. The only problem is they tend to get real dirty real fast — which isn't surprising considering they're literally just a big metal plate onto which you dump food to make it more delicious.

The good news, though, is that you don't need any special equipment to get your flat-top griddle nice and clean. In fact, you specifically don't want things like abrasive scrubbers, heavy cleaning materials, or (depending on the type of griddle) even soap. Much like cleaning an outdoor griddle, the answer to getting a griddle clean isvery simple, and just involves letting the griddle itself do a lot of the work for you. All you need to do is heat up the griddle, pour on some water, and let it gently wash all the grime away. You'll need a sponge, some kitchen towels, and, (surprisingly) a wooden spatula, but that's it.

It may seem weird that cleaning a griddle doesn't involve chemical cleaning products of any kind, but one of the great things about electric griddles is how easy they are to clean. If you're working with a non-stick griddle, you can add a little soap into the process, but if your griddle is chrome-infused, water is all you'll need.

The key is you want the griddle to be warm, but not actually hot. Don't clean the griddle while the burners are on (this seems self-explanatory for cleaning pretty much any appliance that generates this much heat), but get it while it still has some residual warmth (typically around 300 degrees Fahrenheit). It's best to do so right after cooking, but sometimes that's not possible if you're, for example, busy eating the food you just cooked. If you've waited and it's totally cooled down, it's fine to fire it back up to let it get warm again before cleaning.

When you've reached the right temperature, pour a cup of water on the dirty parts of the griddle and gently scrub using the kitchen sponge. If you have a non-stick griddle, this is where a little bit of dish soap can come into the process. The heat and water are going to solve most of the problem for you, and the grime and food residue should come right off as you scrub. The most important thing here is the wooden spatula: use it to manipulate and scrub with the sponge, because otherwise you're likely to burn your hand.

From there, all you need to do is take a damp kitchen towel and use it to clean the dirty water and food debris, still using the spatula to manipulate it around. Then, just wait for the griddle to fully cool and wipe it down with a clean towel. You can also buff it with a microfiber cloth for a nice polish. If you see streaks, you can heat the griddle back up and repeat the process using a mixture of one part white vinegar to two parts water, but this is really for appearance rather than sanitation. That's all you need to get your griddle nice and clean.