How To Clean Induction Cookware?

You may be wondering how to clean your induction cookware. Here are some easy steps you can take that will keep your kitchen spotless and organized!

If you’re new to the world of induction cooking, you might not know how to clean induction cookware. With a few simple steps, though, it’s easy as pie! Fill a pot with water and bring it to boil on the stovetop. 

Add salt and vinegar for an extra-deep cleanse. Place your pots or pans in the boiling water and let them soak for 30 minutes.

Afterward, scrub off any remaining food residue with a sponge or scouring pad and rinse thoroughly! In no time at all, you’ll have shiny pots that are ready for use again!

What to do when cleaning your induction cookware?

Induction cookware is not dishwasher safe. After use, the best way to clean it is with a sponge, soapy water, and paper towels. Boil a pot of water and pour the boiling water over the dirty cookware before wiping. 

If necessary, soaking the induction cookware in mildly abrasive soapy water may help loosen hard-to-remove substances for easier cleaning with soap and hot water. 

Many people like to line their induction cookware before cooking with Parchment Paper or Silicone Inductions Cooktop Liners to avoid burns from hot spots on their burner surfaces caused by impurities brought from your kitchen into your flavorful food! 

How to clean induction cookware?

Induction cookware is not just faster, but it’s also more efficient and safer than the traditional way. It’s also easier to clean and maintain than non-induction cookware. It doesn’t require any special tools, and it’s easy to use.

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induction cookware
Related: The 16 Best Non Stick Cookware For Induction Cooktop

Cleaning induction cookware with toothpaste

Induction cookware can’t be cleaned with dishwasher detergent (since the dishwasher doesn’t wash dishes). It can only be cleaned by hand.

The older and nastier you make your cookware, the more effective cleaning it will need to both get clean and stay from getting dirty again too quickly.

Luckily, there are plenty of natural, non-toxic ways to scrub things clean. Among them? Toothpaste.

Put a bit on the surface of the pan or cooking pot and scrub it up immediately according to what something does typically when you use toothpaste on it (besides making your teeth sparkly white).

This should do the trick! But if not for whatever reason, feel free to try.

Cleaning with baking soda and vinegar

It’s a common misconception that the acidic nature of vinegar in and of itself is what makes it effective for cleaning.

It’s just water, baking soda, and essential oils in the vinegar that allows it to effectively fight dirt without leaving behind any harmful residue, as some stronger chemical cleaners can. 

Regular household baking soda is the key: it’s an intensely alkaline powder that creates a neutralized base by pairing it with the acidic phosphorus in your scrubbing solution.

Meaning you’ll be pushing dirt around instead of blending or smearing it into crevices for even longer (goodbye waiting overnight to rinse!). 

The other ingredient boosting this process is distilled white vinegar—an acid powerful enough to break down deposits as stubborn as hair dye or coffee.

Apply about 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the dish with one part baking soda and one part vinegar.

Next, scrub the dish vigorously in circular patterns for a couple of minutes, then rinse thoroughly with cold water before drying it off gently.

Lemon juice and baking soda

Cleaning induction cookware with lemon juice and baking soda is a common trick used by housewives. This is a fast and easy way to clean the cookware. The acidic nature of lemon juice helps remove food stains from cookware. 

Baking soda has mild abrasive properties that help in scrubbing off stains from the vessels. When combined, these natural products give excellent results for cleaning difficult stains.

If you notice some stubborn stains after cleaning your cookware, mix 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 3 tablespoons white vinegar in a bowl, then use this mixture as a paste to scrub away at them.

You will notice that these stubborn stains are removed very easily and quickly. Remember to mix up a new batch before scrubbing at the stains again, as this lemon and vinegar solution tends to get dry after a while.

It is best to use paper towels or cloths to wipe off the vessel after cleaning it with lemon and baking soda. Wipe away in circular motions so that there is no watermark left behind on your cookware.

However, if you don’t prefer using white vinegar, add half a cup of baking soda to 2 tablespoons of water, then apply this paste to stains and let them sit for some time before rinsing it off with plain water.

Repeat the process if necessary, and your cookware should be looking like new.

Baking soda and soapy water

This combination is effective for tough stains that are stuck on the surface of vessels. Combine ½ cup baking soda, 1 teaspoon liquid soap, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in half a cup of water, then mix them well to get an even consistency. 

Use this solution to scrub away the stains until they are removed completely.

Remember that your mixture will keep getting thicker as you continue working on stubborn stains; hence keep adding more water to make it less thick every time you find some grime sticking to the vessel. 

You can also use straight baking soda or Castile Liquid Soap for cleaning cookware without lemon juice. These two by themselves give good results for removing dirt from the surface of induction cookware.

Baking soda is a mild abrasive that goes deep into the cracks of the vessels to remove stubborn stains with ease.

It also has grease-cutting properties, which help dissolve food particles stuck between the grooves of vessel surfaces to be removed more effectively by regular washing. 

This strong alkaline nature of baking soda helps neutralize acids and makes cleaning induction cookware easier than ever before.

Soaps or detergents are not recommended for cleaning cast iron pans as they will affect the nonstick quality of the vessel’s surface over time. 

Cleaning induction cookware with salt and lemon juice

Cleaning induction cookware with salt and lemon juice is considered one of the best tricks by homemakers worldwide.

You can mix ½ cup coarse sea salt, 1 tablespoon liquid dishwashing soap, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, and lemon juice in half a cup of warm water to make a thick paste that helps clean stubborn grease on surfaces very effectively. 

You can add more water to this mixture and keep stirring it every time you find the paste getting dry.

Scrub the surface of induction cookware with a sponge or cloth dipped in this salt and lemon mixture, then rinse with plain water to get sparkling vessels that are stain-free and look new.

Using vinegar and salt on metals such as aluminum is not considered suitable for their surface quality over time. Still, it can make cleaning induction cookware very effective.

Suppose you want to avoid using strong chemicals such as ammonia, white vinegar, or baking soda on your pans. In that case, you can make use of salt to remove dirt from any vessel effectively. 

You can add 1 part of water and 2 parts of coarse sea salt in a spray bottle and spray it over your cookware before using a clean cloth to rub off the dirt. Wash with plain water after all salt is removed from the vessels’ surface.

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Induction cooking is more efficient and safer

Cleaning an induction cooktop

If you have an induction cooktop, it is essential to clean it properly. To do so, use everyday household items like vinegar and olive oil

The first step of the procedure is to unplug the cooker and empty its contents. Next, place a small pot of water on top of it for 10 minutes.

Turn on low heat for 15 seconds before turning off the switch. This allows steam to form inside the machine, which opens up crevices that need cleaning later on. 

Avoid using abrasive materials or sponges, as they can scratch the surface of your induction cooker by mistake.

Some induction cookware cleaning tips

Here are Some Additional Cleaning Tips to help in the challenge of cleaning an induction cooktop.

  1. One technique is using ammonia with water and a little vinegar but is warned that this might erode metal cookware.
  2. The simplest and most effective way is to take a trip to your hardware store and grab some Muriatic acid. It’s not too pricey, will clean almost anything you can throw at it, and make your pans look new again without any scrubbing. 

And uh, just like Drano clog remover works pretty well for tough clogs in drains.

Care for induction cookware

Induction cookware should also be regularly checked for rust. If there are stains or signs of corrosion, scrub with non-abrasive soap and water to remove all substances.

After washing the metal surface, wipe it dry using a clean, soft cloth to prevent the formation of water droplets on the metal surface that may cause more scratches in the future. 

It’s also important to occasionally check whether there has been any icing accumulation inside your oven door – if so, scrape off this icing by hand using anything non-abrasive like a wooden spatula crosswise over the gauges before inserting it into the oven again.

Use the appropriate cookware. Induction cooking requires a compatible, specially designed skillet or pot with an energized metal element below it. If your pan is not induction ready, it will not work on an induction stove.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to clean induction cookware, it is time for the next step! It’s essential not to use abrasive cleaners or steel wool when cleaning your pots and pans.

The best way to clean induction cookware is with a sponge and dish soap. You can also use baking soda for stubborn stains or vinegar mixed with water as an alternative cleaning solution. 

The key to maintaining your pots and pans, so they last longer is not using metal utensils on the pan’s surface while cooking food; this will damage it over time because metals like copper react differently when heated to stainless steel.

Read Next: How To Clean Nonstick Cookware?

FAQs

  • Can you use steel wool to clean induction cookware?

    Never use steel wool or any other form of metal to clean your induction cookware.

  • How to care for induction cookware?

    The best method for caring for induction cookware is the most basic of all ways. Use a sponge or dishcloth to clean away anything that may have burned on or inside the pot, then rinse the pot with water. Drying it is unnecessary.

    Every time you want to use your pots, wear an oven mitt on one hand before handling them — if you don’t, they heat up too quickly and can give you scalds or burns.

  • What to do when cleaning your induction saucepan?

    Remove all food from the saucepan. Fill the saucepan with warm water and put it on a hot plate. Turn the heat to “low.”

    Cut a lemon in half and use 1/2 of it to rub around inside your pan to help loosen grease spots. Dilute some dish soap (~1 tablespoon) with just enough water so that you have a liquid washcloth consistency, then pour this into the pan.

    Rub this all over using a sponge or cloth to scrub any greasy parts of your pot inside and out until they’re clean! Rinse well under running tap water, then allow to dry completely before storing away again.

  • How do you clean an induction frying pan?

    To clean an induction frying pan, you should first let it cool down. Then, use a soft cloth to wipe it down. If there is any food residue left, you can use a non-abrasive cleaner to remove it.

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Writer & Product Reviewer
Steve Gillam
Steve L. Gillam loves cooking and teaching people how to cook. He is passionate about using local, organic ingredients in his recipes because he believes that seasonal food should be a part of everyone's diet. Steve has been writing professionally for over a decade and has published more than 100 articles on cooking with seasonal ingredients.

4 thoughts on “How To Clean Induction Cookware?”

  1. When I cook scrambled eggs in tin induction pan, it is impossible to clean,! I usually use a magic eraser. What is the best way to remove stuck food? Do you have to season the pans?

    Reply
    • Hi, thanks for reaching out. I am sorry to hear that your scrambled eggs are not being cleaned off the pan. The best way to remove food from a pan is to fill it with water and use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to loosen the food from the bottom of the pan before using soap and scrubbing it with a sponge. The seasoning of the pan is not necessary, but you can use salt if you want to improve its non-stick properties.

      Reply
    • One of the benefits of cooking with induction is easy cleanup. With a few simple steps, you can have your pan looking new in no time! The first step is to fill the pan with hot water and add a bit of dish soap. Let it sit for a few minutes so the dirt and food can loosen up. Then use a brush to scrub off the gunk. If needed, you can add a little more dish soap to help break down any leftover food. Rinse off the pan and towel dry. That’s it – your pan is clean and ready to go!

      Reply

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