As you all know by now, I’ve learned most of my best cleaning secrets from people whom, for whatever reason, discovered, or figured out the single best way, to clean something. I’ve always counted the secret formula the NY window washers use, as my best discovery ever. (Soliax+vinegar+water). If you have a gas range with those giant black iron grates, get comfortable; I’m here to change your stove cleaning future.

Now in order to understand how I come by this info, you need to get a fix on the sort of person who knows such things. In my experience, super-hyper perfection oriented experts of any kind, will all have an endless litany of trifle to share, regarding their given area of expertise. The bug guy will explain exactly how the mice traverse the foundation, what the ants prefer to eat, why the fleas are disturbed by the vacuum, and so on. The landscaper will spend an entire afternoon, explaining the complexities of soil, what it means to have your soil “lock up”, how the Walnut tress send out their message of murder to nearby evergreens. This sort of exchange can last for hours. I catch the din of a relentless stream of useless information in my own ears now and then-wanna talk paint, color, design, kitchens?

The kind word for this behavior is Zealot. A more accurate description, which may be more old fashioned but definitely more precise; we’re kooks. The good news is, people who fall into this distinctive category, ALL know their stuff. And so was the case, with  “Stove man.”

When my entire house smelled of gas, and my BlueStar range would no longer light, I nearly blew myself up with the matches, and then gave myself a rather alarming electric shock (don’t whack the ignit0rs with a metal spoon).  I called everybody. The plumber, the propane guy, and the stove guy. Propane guy said I needed propane-check. Plumber said maybe I needed a gas adjustment and never hit the stove with a spoon again, ever–check. Stove man however, said much much much more. I’ll give you the cliff notes;

Did you know that all gas stoves are delivered with an orifice to burn natural gas or bottled gas but the orifice is not different because of the gas pressure but because of the inherently different burn characteristic of each type of gas? Bottled gas has a higher moisture content, so it doesn’t burn as hot, and it will create a layer of moisture that will eventually render all the parts of your six thousand dollar gas range beyond repair from a build up of rust and there’s nothing you can do about that except disturb the gas as it sits in the tank by kicking the tank but it can’t be done with buried tanks and therefore a regular replacement of the very sensitive $200.00 porcelain ignitors which you should never hit with a spoon while lighting but should hit with a spoon to knock the rust out of when not in use will need to be replaced because they, and the inside of the oven and your broiler too, is all going to rust from the high moisture content of the gas

……Whew.…….

So now, to keep the iron grates of my quickly decomposing gas range clean, and as a best effort to ward off the deterioration caused by the rust, Stove man said, I should take the entire range top apart, and soak it overnight, in a bucket of hot water and Dip-it coffee pot cleaner. I can’t say if it will help the guts of the range, and I didn’t dare ask the Stove man any more questions.   I can say, those beastly black iron grates, have never looked cleaner!

To sum up; Bucket+hot water+Dip-It=clean range parts. How easy is that? If you’d like more info about why it’s a good thing to “disturb” your gas tank from time to time, give me a few days to get it typed up, and I’ll fill you in!

P.S. Wolf gas ranges are now built to withstand this anomaly-others may be as well-ask your distributor!

As you all know by now, I’ve learned most of my best cleaning secrets from people whom, for whatever reason, discovered, or figured out the single best way, to clean something. I’ve always counted the secret formula the NY window washers use, as my best discovery ever. (Soliax+vinegar+water). If you have a gas range with those giant black iron grates, get comfortable; I’m here to change your stove cleaning future.

Now in order to understand how I come by this info, you need to get a fix on the sort of person who knows such things. In my experience, super-hyper perfection oriented experts of any kind, will all have an endless litany of trifle to share, regarding their given area of expertise. The bug guy will explain exactly how the mice traverse the foundation, what the ants prefer to eat, why the fleas are disturbed by the vacuum, and so on. The landscaper will spend an entire afternoon, explaining the complexities of soil, what it means to have your soil “lock up”, how the Walnut tress send out their message of murder to nearby evergreens. This sort of exchange can last for hours. I catch the din of a relentless stream of useless information in my own ears now and then-wanna talk paint, color, design, kitchens?

The kind word for this behavior is Zealot. A more accurate description, which may be more old fashioned but definitely more precise; we’re kooks. The good news is, people who fall into this distinctive category, ALL know their stuff. And so was the case, with  “Stove man.”

When my entire house smelled of gas, and my BlueStar range would no longer light, I nearly blew myself up with the matches, and then gave myself a rather alarming electric shock (don’t whack the ignit0rs with a metal spoon).  I called everybody. The plumber, the propane guy, and the stove guy. Propane guy said I needed propane-check. Plumber said maybe I needed a gas adjustment and never hit the stove with a spoon again, ever–check. Stove man however, said much much much more. I’ll give you the cliff notes;

Did you know that all gas stoves are delivered with an orifice to burn natural gas or bottled gas but the orifice is not different because of the gas pressure but because of the inherently different burn characteristic of each type of gas? Bottled gas has a higher moisture content, so it doesn’t burn as hot, and it will create a layer of moisture that will eventually render all the parts of your six thousand dollar gas range beyond repair from a build up of rust and there’s nothing you can do about that except disturb the gas as it sits in the tank by kicking the tank but it can’t be done with buried tanks and therefore a regular replacement of the very sensitive $200.00 porcelain ignitors which you should never hit with a spoon while lighting but should hit with a spoon to knock the rust out of when not in use will need to be replaced because they, and the inside of the oven and your broiler too, is all going to rust from the high moisture content of the gas

……Whew.…….

So now, to keep the iron grates of my quickly decomposing gas range clean, and as a best effort to ward off the deterioration caused by the rust, Stove man said, I should take the entire range top apart, and soak it overnight, in a bucket of hot water and Dip-it coffee pot cleaner. I can’t say if it will help the guts of the range, and I didn’t dare ask the Stove man any more questions.   I can say, those beastly black iron grates, have never looked cleaner!

To sum up; Bucket+hot water+Dip-It=clean range parts. How easy is that? If you’d like more info about why it’s a good thing to “disturb” your gas tank from time to time, give me a few days to get it typed up, and I’ll fill you in!

P.S. Wolf gas ranges are now built to withstand this anomaly-others may be as well-ask your distributor!

As you all know by now, I’ve learned most of my best cleaning secrets from people whom, for whatever reason, discovered, or figured out the single best way, to clean something. I’ve always counted the secret formula the NY window washers use, as my best discovery ever. (Soliax+vinegar+water). If you have a gas range with those giant black iron grates, get comfortable; I’m here to change your stove cleaning future.

Now in order to understand how I come by this info, you need to get a fix on the sort of person who knows such things. In my experience, super-hyper perfection oriented experts of any kind, will all have an endless litany of trifle to share, regarding their given area of expertise. The bug guy will explain exactly how the mice traverse the foundation, what the ants prefer to eat, why the fleas are disturbed by the vacuum, and so on. The landscaper will spend an entire afternoon, explaining the complexities of soil, what it means to have your soil “lock up”, how the Walnut tress send out their message of murder to nearby evergreens. This sort of exchange can last for hours. I catch the din of a relentless stream of useless information in my own ears now and then-wanna talk paint, color, design, kitchens?

The kind word for this behavior is Zealot. A more accurate description, which may be more old fashioned but definitely more precise; we’re kooks. The good news is, people who fall into this distinctive category, ALL know their stuff. And so was the case, with  “Stove man.”

When my entire house smelled of gas, and my BlueStar range would no longer light, I nearly blew myself up with the matches, and then gave myself a rather alarming electric shock (don’t whack the ignit0rs with a metal spoon).  I called everybody. The plumber, the propane guy, and the stove guy. Propane guy said I needed propane-check. Plumber said maybe I needed a gas adjustment and never hit the stove with a spoon again, ever–check. Stove man however, said much much much more. I’ll give you the cliff notes;

Did you know that all gas stoves are delivered with an orifice to burn natural gas or bottled gas but the orifice is not different because of the gas pressure but because of the inherently different burn characteristic of each type of gas? Bottled gas has a higher moisture content, so it doesn’t burn as hot, and it will create a layer of moisture that will eventually render all the parts of your six thousand dollar gas range beyond repair from a build up of rust and there’s nothing you can do about that except disturb the gas as it sits in the tank by kicking the tank but it can’t be done with buried tanks and therefore a regular replacement of the very sensitive $200.00 porcelain ignitors which you should never hit with a spoon while lighting but should hit with a spoon to knock the rust out of when not in use will need to be replaced because they, and the inside of the oven and your broiler too, is all going to rust from the high moisture content of the gas

……Whew.…….

So now, to keep the iron grates of my quickly decomposing gas range clean, and as a best effort to ward off the deterioration caused by the rust, Stove man said, I should take the entire range top apart, and soak it overnight, in a bucket of hot water and Dip-it coffee pot cleaner. I can’t say if it will help the guts of the range, and I didn’t dare ask the Stove man any more questions.   I can say, those beastly black iron grates, have never looked cleaner!

To sum up; Bucket+hot water+Dip-It=clean range parts. How easy is that? If you’d like more info about why it’s a good thing to “disturb” your gas tank from time to time, give me a few days to get it typed up, and I’ll fill you in!

P.S. Wolf gas ranges are now built to withstand this anomaly-others may be as well-ask your distributor!