How To Clean an Oven Broiler

It’s important to thoroughly clean your oven broiler a few times a year. For a lot of home cooks, the broiler is used regularly to cook meat and other dishes. But lots of use means lots of grease and grime building up on your broiler pan. Thankfully, broilers are easy to clean if you use the right tools and cleaning methods.

In this guide, we discuss three methods you can use to get your broiler sparkling clean and give instructions for each. These include using a commercial chemical cleaner, baking soda, and white vinegar. All of these methods work well and, for the two natural solutions, you probably already have the necessary ingredients in your pantry or cleaning cupboard.

Let’s get started.

Clean an oven broiler with a chemical cleaner

The first method you can use to clean your oven broiler pan is to use Bar Keepers Friend or another commercial deep-cleaning chemical product. This is the best method to use if your pan has lots of deep stains on it. All you need is your chemical cleaning solution and a scrubbing pad.

Follow these instructions to clean your oven broiler with chemical cleaner:

• Remove the broiler pan from your oven. 
• Place the pan in the sink. Fill the pan with an inch of warm water so the bottom is completely covered.
• Sprinkle or spray Bar Keepers Friend or your alternative chemical cleaner onto all surfaces of the pan, making sure all the major stains are covered.
• Leave the pan to sit for 10 minutes so the chemicals have time to attack the stains.
• After 10 minutes, use a scrubbing pad to clean the entire pan, paying special attention to the worst stains. Make sure you sporadically rinse the pad under warm water.
• Once clean, thoroughly rinse the pan under warm water to remove all chemicals.
• Dry the pan with a clean cloth. You can also leave it out in the sun for an hour or so to get it extra dry before putting it back into your oven.

Clean an oven broiler with baking soda

If you prefer to use a more natural cleaning solution to clean your broiler pan, you can use baking soda. Baking soda is a great stain remover, and you probably already have a box of it in your pantry. You’ll also need an empty spray bottle to fill with water.

Follow these steps to clean your broiler with baking soda:

• Remove the broiler pan and place it in your kitchen sink.
• Sprinkle a good coating of baking soda over every surface of the pan.
• Fill up your empty spray bottle with water.
• Spray all surfaces of the pan with water.
• When the water interacts with the baking soda, a paste should begin to form. Use a paper towel to spread the paste evenly over all surfaces of the pan. If the paste is too hard, spray more water onto it.
• Leave the pan to sit covered in the paste for a couple of hours.
• After a couple of hours, use a scraper or spatula to scrape all of the dried paste off the pan. To avoid clogging your kitchen drain, throw the paste debris into the trash. 
• Wash the broiler pan under warm water. Use a clean scrubber if necessary to remove any remaining stains. 
• Once clean, dry the pan with a clean cloth. You can also leave it in the sun for a couple of hours before placing it back in your oven.

Clean an oven broiler with white vinegar

If you want to make a natural cleaning solution that’s even stronger than baking soda alone to clean your oven broiler, you can mix baking soda with white vinegar. This powerful combination removes even the most stubborn stains from your pan.

Follow these steps to clean your broiler with white vinegar:

• Remove the broiler pan and place it in your kitchen sink.
• Mix one cup of white vinegar with two teaspoons of baking soda in a container.
• Cover the broiler pan with the mixture. If necessary, you can add a small amount of water to make it easier to spread. If you don’t want to touch the mixture, use paper towels or wear gloves to spread it over all surfaces of the broiler pan.
• Leave the pan to sit covered in the paste for a couple of hours.
• After a couple of hours, use a scraper or spatula to scrape all of the dried paste off the pan. To avoid clogging up your kitchen drain, throw the paste debris into the trash. 
• Wash the broiler pan under warm water. Use a clean scrubber and extra white vinegar if necessary to remove any remaining stains. 
• Once clean, dry the pan with a clean cloth. You can also leave it in the sun for a couple of hours before placing it back into your oven.