Clean Burnt Residue from a Non-Stick Griddle Plate

A dishwasher safe non-stick griddle plate will accumulate a film of burnt-on food residue, no matter how careful you are. And the gunk seems to sneak up — the griddle looks clean, until one day it suddenly isn’t.

That’s the situation I found myself in recently. So I got out the cleaning tool that came with the non-stick griddle and started to scrape. And scrape. And scrape.

The burnt-on gunk wouldn’t budge.

Then I did a keyword search and found all manner of great advice for cleaning non-stick griddle plates. They variously suggested using:

• soap and water
• dryer sheets
• vinegar
• cream of tartar
• vinegar and cream of tartar
• baking soda
• hydrogen peroxide
• ketchup

A Method that Works

Well, none of those suggestions made the gunk any easier to scrape off. Then I got the bright idea that regular dishwashing detergent is designed to cut grease, so maybe it would come to the rescue here. And it did.

I poured Ivory liquid over each griddle plate, worked it around with my finger so it covered evenly, then let it sit for about five minutes. Then I scraped with short strokes, starting at the edges of the plate and working toward the middle. The black gunk peeled right off.

I suppose any dishwasher detergent would work, I just happen to have Ivory on hand. After all the gunk was scraped away, I sprayed off the Ivory liquid at the sink, then towel dried my nice clean griddle plates.

Non-Stick Griddle Cleaning Tips

If you are faced with having to clean a non-stick griddle plate, first make sure the plates have cooled down, which takes about 30 minutes from the previous use. Then remove the plates from the heating unit and lay them on a flat surface covered with a towel.

Second, do not use a metal scraper, knife, scouring pad, abrasive sponge, or anything else that might scratch the surface of the plates. Use the scraping tool that came with the griddle, or some similar item — such as a pan scraper — with a hard plastic edge. My kitchen collection includes a hard plastic, flat edge spatula that would work. If I didn’t have anything else, I’d try an expired bank card.