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Irrespective of the brand of gas cooker you have, signs of soot on your pots and pans could be signs of a wider problem. Although in many cases, there are ways to resolve the issue quite quickly on your own, in other more serious ones, it’s advisable to leave your gas cooker repairs to the professionals. But when should you call in the pros and when can you sort the problem out on your own? Read on to find out more about soot build up, the possible causes of this as well as the ways you can resolve the problem.
The problem with soot build up
Soot build up on your pots and pans does not only leave your cookware looking dirty, it’s also an indication that your gas stove is not burning as it should. In particular, the hobs are depositing soot. As such, this could cause problems such as unsafe levels of carbon monoxide emissions. Such poisoning can be extremely detrimental, especially in unventilated areas and can cause physical symptoms including headaches, dizziness, vomiting and finally – death.
Potential causes of soot build up
There are several potential causes of soot build up and reasons why your cookware is starting to get black marks and soot deposits. Let’s take a closer look at each one below.
- Uneven heating
Uneven heating results when there is a problem with the air gas mixture. In general, the flame should be a well-defined blue one in colour. However, if the flame is blue with a yellow middle, this is a problem you may want to get fixed. One of the quickest fixes is to adjust the air shutter or air intake valve to get the right size and colour of the flame. But be aware that sealed burner cooktops are unable to make adjustments to the air mixture. Also worth keeping in mind is that if your stove was recently converted to liquid propane, you should contact a reliable gas cooker servicing provider to ensure the accurate size of the burner orifice.
- The heat is too high
In most cases, you don’t want the burner flame to touch the bottom of your pots or pans. As such, an easy fix here would be to simply adjust the heat levels to a lower setting so that the bottom doesn’t become scorched.
- The stove is dirty
The next potential culprit is a dirty stove. This means that the stove or the burner are covered in dirty, left-over residue such as spills, grease and splatters. It’s advisable to clean your stove while ensuring that the ports/openings on the gas burners are free from dirt and debris. This should even out the flame and produce a smoother flow of gas. As for cleaning the ports, you will want to use a needle or a thin wire to get into the deeper crevices. However, exercise extreme caution when doing so to ensure you don’t inadvertently pierce any gas pipes, you don’t get electrocuted or injure yourself.
Possible solutions and preventative measures to try to avoid soot build up
If the above-mentioned causes and solutions don’t work, you may wish to try two other methods for reducing the amount of soot on your cookware.
The first involves using a flame tamer. This is a metal plate that is placed over the gas burner. Its main purpose is to evenly distribute heat under cooking pots and pans. Because there is no direct contact between your cookware and the flame, the chances of reducing soot are therefore much slimmer.
The second method you may want to try is to limit the amount of damage to your pots and pans in order to keep them cleaner and usable for that much longer. Some people have designer cookware that comes in bright colours, which means soot marks are easier to spot. Whether you have regular steel or designer pots and pans, you should always strive to keep them as clean as possible. Consider scouring them with the right oven cleaner. Alternatively, boil a large pot of water with some dishwashing liquid and place the affected smaller pot inside while boiling it for several minutes. This should help loosen the soot on the pot or pan and help keep your cookware cleaner for longer.
Final thoughts
In wrapping up this article, it’s clear that soot build up can be a common problem, especially if your gas cooker’s flame and air mixture aren’t adjusted to the right setting. In addition, cooking on high flames or a dirty stove are other contributing factors. While some of these issues may be quite easy to solve yourself, we highly recommend that you choose reliable cooker repairs in Nottingham if you feel uncertain about attending to the necessary fixes yourself and if you would like the certainty of having a professional take a look at your appliance to ensure a guaranteed, swift and efficient job is performed. As such, feel free to get in touch with us and our highly-trained engineers will be happy to help.