TL;DR
A broiler pan cleans with a long hot soak, not with muscle. Fill the sink with water as hot as the tap runs, add plenty of dish soap, and give the pan and its slotted top at least an hour. Carbonized fat rehydrates and releases, and a nylon pad finishes it. The soak is the work.
Why Broiler Pans Are the Worst Case in the Oven
A broiler puts the heat source a few inches from the food at very high temperature. Fat drips through the slotted top, hits the hot lower tray, and immediately carbonizes.
That is different from baking, where drippings mostly stay liquid. Under a broiler the fat goes from liquid to smoke to hard black carbon in a matter of minutes.
The slotted top has the extra problem of edges everywhere, so the residue clings around every slot. Both pieces need the same treatment, and both benefit from the same principle behind the material rules in the guide to cookware and glassware care by material.
How Do You Clean a Broiler Pan?
Fill the sink with the hottest tap water and a generous amount of dish soap, submerge both the tray and the slotted top, and soak for at least an hour. Two hours or overnight is better. Then push the softened residue off with a nylon pad or a plastic scraper, working around the slots. Rinse and dry.
If the pan will not fit in the sink, lay it in a bathtub, a large storage tub, or seal it in a heavy trash bag with hot soapy water for the soak.
Repeat the soak instead of escalating to abrasives. Two soaks is nearly always faster than one round of hard scrubbing.
What Happens While It Soaks
Hot water and surfactant slowly break the bond between the carbon layer and the metal. Soap molecules wedge under the fat, and the crust starts lifting at the edges.
Adding two or three tablespoons of baking soda helps on porcelain-coated and stainless pans, since alkalinity attacks fat. Skip the baking soda on bare or anodized aluminum, where long alkaline contact darkens and dulls the metal.
A dryer sheet in the soak water is a widely repeated tip. It appears to help mainly by adding surfactant and time. It is harmless if you rinse well, but the hot water and dish soap are doing the real work.
Which Tools Are Safe?
Nylon pads, dish brushes, plastic scrapers, and a wooden spoon are safe on every broiler pan. Baking soda paste adds mild abrasion without cutting.
Most broiler pans are porcelain-enamel coated steel, and that coating is glass. Steel wool scratches it, and scratched enamel rusts where the steel underneath is exposed.
Source: appliance manufacturer use and care manuals
On a plain uncoated steel or stainless broiler pan, a stainless scrubber used with the grain is acceptable after two soaks have failed. It is still a last resort.
What Never to Use
Never use chlorine bleach. It does nothing to carbonized fat, it damages coatings, and mixed with any acid such as vinegar it releases chlorine gas, while mixed with ammonia from a glass cleaner it releases chloramine gas.
Do not mix cleaning products in the pan at all. One product at a time, rinsed between, is the rule.
Oven cleaner is a maybe rather than a yes. Some manufacturers permit it on porcelain broiler pans and others explicitly forbid it, and it is caustic and will etch aluminum. Check your appliance manual, wear gloves, and ventilate the room hard if you use it.
Can a Broiler Pan Go in the Dishwasher?
Many can, but a dishwasher rarely removes carbonized fat on its own. Use it as a finishing step after a hand soak has taken the crust off, not as the first attempt. Check the manual first, since some coated pans dull under repeated cycles and aluminum pans discolor permanently.
Loading a heavily crusted broiler pan also redeposits grease across the rest of the load.
The self-cleaning oven cycle is a separate question. Do not put a broiler pan through it unless the manual specifically says the pan is rated for it, since the temperatures can warp the tray and damage the coating.
Keeping the Next One Easy
Line the lower tray with foil, but never cover the slots in the top, since the whole point is letting fat fall away from the food. Blocking the slots creates a fat pool that smokes and can catch fire.
A thin layer of water in the bottom tray keeps drippings from carbonizing at all, and it cuts smoke considerably.
Soak the pan right after dinner while it is still warm rather than letting it sit overnight dry. That single habit turns a two-hour job into a ten-minute one, the same way it does in how to clean a roasting pan full of baked on drippings and how to clean a grill pan with ridges. And when a smoky broiler session has left the oven and hood needing a proper reset, scheduled house cleaning services cover those on their own schedule.
FAQ
How do you clean a badly burnt broiler pan?
Soak both the tray and the slotted top in the hottest tap water with plenty of dish soap for at least an hour, longer if the crust is heavy. Then push the softened residue off with a nylon pad or plastic scraper. Repeat the soak rather than scrubbing harder or reaching for steel wool.
Can you use oven cleaner on a broiler pan?
Only if your appliance manual allows it. Some manufacturers permit oven cleaner on porcelain-coated broiler pans and others forbid it, and it will etch aluminum. It is caustic, so wear gloves and ventilate well. A long hot soak clears most broiler pans without it.
Does the dryer sheet trick actually work on a broiler pan?
It helps a little, mostly by adding surfactant to a long hot soak, but the hot water, dish soap, and time are doing the real work. If you try it, rinse the pan thoroughly afterward. A second plain soak usually accomplishes the same thing.
Can a broiler pan go in the dishwasher?
Check your manual first. Many can, but a dishwasher seldom removes carbonized fat by itself and a crusted pan spreads grease across the load. Use it as a finishing rinse after a hand soak has done the hard part, and skip it for aluminum pans, which discolor permanently.
Should you line a broiler pan with foil?
You can line the bottom tray, but never cover the slots in the top. The slots exist to let fat drain away from the food, and blocking them creates a pool of hot fat that smokes heavily and can catch fire. A little water in the bottom tray is a better move.
Why does my broiler pan smoke so much?
Because old carbonized fat from previous sessions is being reheated along with the new drippings. Clean the pan after each use and put a thin layer of water in the bottom tray so fresh drippings never carbonize. Smoking gets worse every session that residue is left behind.
Is steel wool safe on a broiler pan?
Not on a porcelain-coated one, which is most of them. Steel wool scratches the enamel, and the exposed steel underneath then rusts. Use nylon pads, plastic scrapers, or a baking soda paste, and consider a stainless scrubber only on an uncoated pan after two soaks have failed.
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