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Electric skillets come in all designs and shapes from many different brands on the market. You can call a skillet an electric frying pan because it’s used mostly to fry food in the kitchen.
But you might wonder how to clean electric skillets since they generally shouldn’t be submerged in water like other dishes!
Cleaning an electric skillet is not that complicated once you understand the tools and routine of cleaning them after use. It’s especially easy to clean an electric skillet with a nonstick surface!
Many people buy electric skillets but later find themselves in a tricky situation when it’s time to clean the skillet. This article will show you how to clean an electric skillet in a simple way without compromising the nonstick coating surface.
How To Clean Electric Skillets
Cleaning an electric skillet is a bit different than cleaning normal frying pans due to the electrical components. Water and electricity should not be mixed and also handling electric appliances needs high safety adherence.
Cleaning electric skillet is not that complicated because they all look fairly similar to each other and have similar components regardless of the brand.
Many modern electric skillets come with the option of being able to be washed in a dishwasher, but not all models do, and not all parts may be dishwasher-safe. Any electric skillets that do offer dishwasher-safe parts are a great option because no one needs more cumbersome cleaning to do!
The same basic methods apply to all brands to get a clean electric skillet. Follow the steps below to use the various methods to get your skillet clean and ready to reuse!
Hand Washing An Electric Skillet
Some electric skillets can only be cleaned by hand washing.
There is no big difference in washing with hands versus a dishwasher, other than time, so it mostly depends on your preference. Most households prefer the dishwasher safe electric skillet options because it just plain saves time for a busy family!
Preparation and Tools Needed
To clean your electric skillet, you’ll need the following pieces of equipment for a complete cleaning process.
- Dish Soap
- A Dish Towel
- Quality Non-Scratching Dish Sponge
- Wooden Spoon
- Nylon Scraper
- Clean Water
The first thing you may need to do is to heat up the skillet, this enables you to scrape the leftovers sticking on the skillet’s cooking surface and remove excess grease more easily. This step can be skipped if you’ve just turned it off immediately after cooking; but a reheat may help remove the grime if the skillet has sat for the entire day, for example.
1. Safety first! Remove the power source.
Unplug the cable of the electric skillet from the power socket after heating it up. We all know how electricity and water definitely don’t mix! You can wait for few minutes for the skillet to cool down and then transfer it to the kitchen sink for cleaning.
2. Wash the skillet with warm water.
Before cleaning in the water, do make sure the electric plug/connector is not in contact with water. Take the dish sponge and clean the interior and exterior of the skillet carefully until you are satisfied it’s clean, taking care to not submerge any exposed heating elements.
If the leftovers are hard to remove by using the sponge, then you can use the nylon scraper to gently scrub and remove the gunk.
3. Rinse the skillet, avoiding water on any electrical components.
After rubbing and scrubbing to remove grease and leftover food pieces, you can rinse the skillet with warm water until all the soap residue is removed. Warm but not hot water is the best for rinsing. Nonstick coatings can be damaged with high heat exposure, so too hot of water exposure over time may damage the surface.
4. Dry the skillet.
You can use the dish towel to dry the skillet or opt for drying in a dish rack. Towel dry any and all electrical components immediately after rinsing to ensure no water remains before the next use.
It’s a good idea to allow the skillet to air dry following towel drying, to ensure that even the parts the towel cannot touch will be dry before use. Air drying ensures all the water evaporates and ensure the electric skillet is completely dry.
Dishwasher Safe Cleaning Of Electric Skillets
Electric skillet which is dishwasher safe is the most reliable and convenient to use and clean afterward. The following steps apply to clean a dishwasher safe electric skillet.
Follow the same preparation steps from above for removing stuck-on grease and foods.
1. Disconnect the plug.
This is the first thing to do in both dishwasher safe electric skillet and hand-washed skillets. This will ensure your safety from an accident in case of electric shock when it comes into contact with water.
2. Reduce the leftovers or extra grease.
For the dishwasher to clean efficiently, it’s better to reduce the grease and leftovers from the skillet. Rinse the skillet with warm water before tossing it to the dishwasher, even if you can’t see anything, to ensure nothing gets set on the cooking surface from the heat in the dishwasher.
3. Put it in the dishwasher.
After successfully preparing the electric skillet for a wash, it’s time to put it in the dishwasher. You can put it at the bottom of the dishwasher rack for greater results, but do double check that your model and its components aren’t labeled for top rack only. This simple way will make your cleaning process efficient and hassle-free.
Other Cleaning Methods For Electric Skillets
For truly tough, stuck on or burn ton grease and scorched food, some deeper and tougher cleaning may be warranted. Here are some other successful methods you can try:
Boiling Water
If your electric skillet has a basin shape, you can often simply boil water within the pan itself and this will lift off the stuck on food.
Baking Soda
For a tougher yet still non-scratching scour, you rinse the pan in warm water and dump it out. Sprinkle a fair amount of baking soda onto the troublesome area, and use your sponge or other non-scratching dish scrubber to “scour” the area.
Since the baking soda is water soluble, you won’t have a harsh, unyielding roughness like steel wool would offer, so you can scrub the food with a rough method without risk of scratching the skillet surface.
Powdered Cleansers
This is the same idea as baking soda, but you’ll use a store-bought powdered cleanser. Just make sure it does not contain bleach, since that’s not a chemical you’d want to risk getting into the micro-gaps in your cooking surface, to get into your food!
Use a gentle, circular motion with your non-marking scrubber or sponge to life the stuck on food.
Tips To Maintain An Electric Skillet
- Wash electric skillet before your first use. You can do this by rinsing in warm and soapy water and then dry it.
- Clean the electric skillet after every use.
- Avoid the electric connectors getting in contact with water.
- Always use nylon, plastic and wooden utensils to wipe food off the nonstick surface of the skillet. Metal utensil scratch the nonstick coating.
- Ensure the skillet cools down before you deep it into cold water.
Final Thoughts
These are simple methods to clean electric skillet every time you use to fry meals. Cleaning your electric skillet the right way will increase its durability and also maintain hygiene in the kitchen. Cleaning an electric skillet nowadays doesn’t have to be complicated since there is dishwasher safe electric skillet.
An electric skillet is a very important appliance to have in the kitchen and cleaning won’t be a problem reflecting the benefits they bring. It’s time you make an electric skillet a priority if maybe you think cleaning is hard, it makes cooking easy.
