For baked on stuff, I very gently use a razor blade. Just enough to get it started, then switch to the scrubby pads.

I use sparkle brand glass cleaner on my induction. let it soak for hard goop.

Move to induction. Standard radiant is always needing razor blade scraping.

It's a brand new stove, less than a year. I'm not about to replace it!

I purchased a razor blade scraper & kept it in the drawer next to the range to use on my glass top. They usually come with a package of single sided razor blades that will last for years. I also had a red scrubber pad that was made for glass cook tops. I used it with Bar Keepers Friend. I now have a gas cook top but when I sold that house 2 years ago that glass top looked brand new after about 12 years of cooking on it. It is very easy to keep clean once you have the correct cleaning tools.

I use Dawn and a dish cloth after it is cool. Then, Weimeners and their red scruber. You have to clean after every time you use the stove top. Yes, use a razor blade if you get a lot of build up.

I have a GE cooktop.

Razor scraper to get off the bulk, then wipe with damp cloth to see where you’re at, then plenty of product with plenty of elbow grease. I recommend Whink, which I’ve personally found better than the more common Weimans or Ceramabrite.

I have never liked radiant electric cooking. I've used it in vacation rental units, both the exposed coil type and the glass top type. I haven't tried induction. We're happy to have gas cooktops.

Don't have a glass cooktop, but I do have a black glass oven door. Rubbing alcohol is my go-to for glass - and lots of other stuff as well. I keep 32 oz. bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol. with a sprayer on it under the sink.

And yes, to scraping with a razor too.

I detest gas inside the house.

I have a white Jenn Air glass cook top. I never would have bought this combination convection stove but it was here.

I've never used anything on it but Weimans Glass Stove Top Cleaner. In smaller letters on the front it says 'Heavy Duty' and its a lotion style squeeze bottle. Former owner had left me a bottle and I stayed with her choice.

I put some on, let it dry a minute or two, buff, then wipe with damp paper towel to remove any film or streaks.

The stove looks brand new. We've been here 11 years, the friend before us owned the house for 5 - close as we can tell its now almost 19 yrs old and my service person agrees.

I never cook on it when its dirty and by dirty I mean a mark of any kind. Can be cleaning nightly some weeks. I don't put my cookware in the dishwasher but I scrub the heck out of all of it - the outsides have to be as clean as the insides.

I might have resorted to the razor blade 3-4 times in 11 years.

I'm not crazy about the stove, but at least it looks clean and new.

" I detest gas inside the house. "

Why?

Have you tried Dawn Powerwash? Does the job on everything I’ve tried.

We had a GE black glass cooktop at our vacation home for 25 years. I detested it. It worked well but keeping it clean was not easy. We used Cerma bryte and that made it look nearly new. But it took time. You spread the cleaner all over the top and then you have to keep wiping, turning your cloth over repeatedly. It's like the old days when DH used to hand wax his car. The glass looked shiny again - but even dust showed on the glass.

I was thrilled to replace it 2 years ago.

I've used Weiman's and Scotchbrite cleaners but Ceramabryte is better. Just rub at it with a paper towel until you don't see any brown residue on the towel. I have never heard of Whink that FOAS recommends.

For the fans of electricity, is there a reason not to go induction?

I’ve used glass top and exposed coil electric ranges, and disliked them all.

I’m thinking of getting a single element countertop induction ”burner”, to use instead of the gas range when it is just “too hot to cook”.

olychick, there are a lot of "roll your own" written pieces and videos about cleaning to be found like this one. They often take a "throw at it what you have " approach and proclaim efficacy.

This one is typical is making a mistake common to many of this type, stemming from a limited understanding of solutions used for cleaning and what makes them work.

Detergent and soaps, including dishwasher liquids, are formulated to be strongly alkaline as part of a toolchest of ingredients to clean (pH much greater than 7). Fair enough, that works.

As an alternative, plain vinegar can be useful for cleaning. It does so by being acidic (ph much less than 7). Again, quite effective.

If you mix something acidic (vinegar) with something that's alkaline (soap/detergent/cleaner), their pH characteristics offset, and the resulting liquid combination moves toward pH neutral. Each constituent part has been stripped of an important characteristic it uses to clean and becomes less effective.

Anytime you encounter some bright whiz-bang evangelizing about the benefits of combining vinegar with something that's alkaline, you should move on and look for something more reasonable.

I’ll certainly look at Ceramabryte.

But so far Weiman works fir me.

Weiman’s is ok if it isn’t horribly dirty, but Ceramabryte is much better with a scrubbie. So is Dawn Powerwash. Don’t expect good results if the burners are still warm and don’t be afraid to scrape with the razorblade thingy. I do it gently. You can also try a vinegar and water mixture (50/50) with a couple of drops of dawn (if you want) in a spray bottle. Makes a great glass cleaner.

Answering John. If your pots and pans support induction there is never a reason not to (you are speaking about a portable table top one). Some people have a hard time upgrading their electrical to support induction cooktops/ranges in remodels. Otherwise induction is the absolute best IMO.

And we use ceramabrite on ours occasionally but simple glass cleaner works 95% of the time.

I've tried everything listed here. I could spend an hour trying to get it clean and streak-free. I get best results with a mixture of water and small glug of white vinegar in a spray bottle. The cooktop has to be cold. Spray on mixture, use a single edge razor blade to scrape any stubborn spots and then use a soaking wet paper towel to wipe the crud and vinegar off and then use an E-Cloth for windows or glass to dry with no streaks. A paper towel to dry will work but will probably leave lint. I don't ever walk by later and feel like I need to give it another buff, it's shiny smooth.

i have a glass top induction and just used my wet dishcloth that has been in Dawn liquid soap dishwater after every use. Rinse and dry with a soft cotton tea towel. I initially used Weimans that came with the stove, but this is easier.

DH uses the razor blade on our induction cooktop on occasion. I've used the ceramabrite stuff. But what I find works best is drying it really well...almost polishing it with a towel...after wiping it clean each time you use it. I also had DH take a grinder to the bottoms of my cast iron cookware to make sure they were completely smooth and wouldn't scratch.

Damp-on-the-verge-of-dripping sponge with a bit of liquid dish detergent, usually the cheapest Dawn version. Wipe a couple times with the rinsed sponge, dry with a cloth. Weimans cleaner occasionally. 20yo, still looks just about new.

You all must be neater cooks than me. No way just wiping it off after most meals will get it clean for me. Like the pasta water boils over a little bit and by the time the burner cools, the spill has melded itself to the glass requiring more than a swipe with a sponge or cloth. I don't fry too many things, but even splatters from frying an egg require more than just a wipe down.

I thought about induction when I replaced it last time, but it would have required an electrical upgrade and I have some favorite pans that wouldn't work on induction. I don't cook in aluminum but I think they are stainless clad with aluminum bottoms or something? Also I have a couple of glass pans I use a lot. Although I prefer cooking on it, no gas is available where I live and propane required too much construction to install the tank where I wouldn't have to look at it, then run the lines to the house. So glass top is about as good as it's going to get for me.

You can wash it until it looks clean, but I guarantee that if you take a paper towel and Ceramabryte to it, you'll see brown on the paper towel.

Gardengal,

We have no gas here, only electricity. We have had smmoth black cooktops. Free or used $.

We have had an electric smooth top made by SAMSUNG for about 8 to 10 years. The top is easy to clean. Appliance retailers told us to avoid Samsung, but it is the best stove so far. $150, barely used.

We do not buy fancy or luxury appliances.

The other “American” brand ranges like Whirlpool, Frigidaire etc were very difficult to keep (smooth stovetop) clean. The stove always looked butt ugly.

The Samsung is still pretty nice, shiny and clean looking.

Here is a photo of the burner we use most. It has not been cleaned, just wiped down a bit.

It is okay w me. The burners heat up very quickly and cool off fairly quickly.

Tips to keep it looking good.

📍Keep it clean and wiped down

📍Do not let spilled material cook on or spill over

📍Keep it clean and wiped down

IF, any food or solutions cook on or begin to mar or accumulate on the smoothtop, gently use a sharp, pristine (no chips) razon blade with a bit of water or soapy water or oil to lightly scrape the material from the smoothtop. Never use any scouring pads — they will abrade the glass and cause future cleaning headaches. Be sure to remove all oil or saopy lubricant after lightly scaping. Keep stovetop dinner-plate clean.

We seldon need to use a razor blade. Just keep it clean. I would buy this srove again.

I like cooking on gas burners, but we do not have natural gas on our out of the way road. I do not want any propane ugly tank. I grew up with electric appliances.

When I want to make any hot wok dish, I just leave the burner (shown) on red hot high, and move the wok. A lot of Thai or Vietnamese dishes do not require a super hot wok. I have been cooking Chinese and Southeast Asian food for about 45 plus years on electric stovetops. We are good cooks.

You have to know how to use the tools you have. I don’t know if this story is true, but I first heard it about 35 or 40 years ago.

The jazz musician Stan Getz spotted a beat up sax in the trash. He picked it up and began playing on it. He already knew the saxophone.

Sure, I would love to cook on a Wolf gas range. i once lived in a place with a huge commercial gas range and oven. A bit of a drag to clean up any spilled food, but plenty of heat and very responsive — no drag or delay.

Here are photos from online USED smoothtop burners

Above is a GE

The above looks like it says Kenmore (Whirlpool)

They just do not know how or want to install a decent smooth top.

Samsung and LG do know how to create and install a smooth top that will stnd up to normal use.

Pic taken 75 mins ago. GE. Serial number Oct 2003, was already in the approx 9mo-old house I bought in Jan 2005.

I've had (white) glass-tops for probably 45 years. The first one (Corning) came with several flat-bottom pots and pans, which I'm still using, but I also use some metal pans. because the glass ones are so heavy for my arthritic hands. The bottoms of all of these pots and the cooktops come clean with Bon Ami and a damp paper towel, followed by a damp wipe to remove residue. Bon Ami is a *polish*, not a cleanser, and it never scratches. Once you have scratches, the game is up. I use Bon Ami on all the porcelain in the house -- sinks, toilets, whatever. The current cooktop is Kitchen Aid. If I had more time left, I'd love induction!

Dadoes, obviously no one cooks in your kitchen, lol!

We have one in our vacation house, and I hate it. So, I do my best, but when it looks pretty yuk, I call my sister. She works magic with a razor blade and who knows what? She has always had the black glass topped stoves, and they look new.

@maddie260 If you clean it after every use, it will never get to yuk.

I was looking to find what stores carry Bon Ami in my area and apparently NO ONE sells it in the store? How weird is that!

If /when mine needs replaced I would like to get an induction cooktop. I have a single burner one my brother bought me. my current black glass cooktop looks like crap on 2 of the burners all the time because they are so scratched c 😔

A small squirt of cermabryte https://ceramabryte.com after every messy use keeps ours looking like new. White glass top since 2009, black glass top (Lake cabin) since 2016..use with red scrubby only when top is completely cool.

I disagree oly. If something boils over, and continues boiling (you may or may not even realize it), what's under the pan becomes yuck. I absolutely despise cooktops.

I do clean it after every use. It just never has that quite new look? My sister's always does.

Oh you right Rob it will be yuk until cleaned but not the kind if yuk it would be if you didn’t clean it before you use it again.

This old metal coil burner stove has served me well for the 19 years that I've been here, my old stepuncle for a couple of years after aunt's passing, and for both of them for quite a number of years earlier, with some occasional cleaning, of which it could use some now.

Might it be somewhat fair, would some of you consider, to refer to those stoves with the glass surface as "slavedrivers"?

ole joyful

My mom’s GE looks like the one petalique posted. I can't make it look better. I had a black frigidaire which was easy to keep clean and shiny. Replaced it with a Bosch which was not as forgiving. Same wirh performance, my Frigidaire was the best performing radiant I've used. So there's radiant and then there's radiant. Just like there's gss and then there's gas.

I hope no one is stumped about how to avoid a boil over when cooking pasta.

Pick one:

-Put in less water,

or

-Use a bigger pot with the same amount of water,

or

-Pay attention to it. Remove from heat when it starts to foam up.

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm gonna try the razor blade thing and switch my specialized cleaning goop from Weiman's to Ceramabryte. Changing the appliance is not an option so I need to get this settled to my satisfaction. Hoping it works.

I think it will work for you! when I’ve had a particularly disasterous boil over that got cooked on, I’ve put the ceramabryte on with a really wet scrubby sponge and let it set for quite a while, coming back to scrub again every little while, making sure it doesn’t dry out. It seems to soften the yuk for easier removal.

Wash off grease and grime first. Use a teaspoon or less of Ceramabryte on a portion of the stove and spread it around. Go over with a dry paper towel and rub until it disappears. Repeat until there's no brown residue remaining on the towel.

It's available at A-zon, Ace, and Lowe's. A bottle lasts me a year.

I have found that with my old gas stove that the bottoms of the pans didnt really matter that they were clean or smooth or even warped. But with the glass top electric it matters that the bottoms be clean and sit firmly on the surface.

I also retired some of my beloved iron cookware. Some I think is a bit too rough to trust it too far on the glass and I am afraid that it is going to get dropped onto the stove. I stil keep some to use but have curtailed some of it for that reason.

I may buy a couple of new skillets for hubs to use as he is not as careful as he could be.