In my youth, with my first house and an old gas stove of the type that one can take apart and clean each part, my Mom taught me to soak the parts in lye solution. Works like a dream! As to how weak, I can't say I really recall anything resembling the precision for weight measures for soapmaking. It was more like we cook... Fill the utility sink with water, pour in some lye, after it dissolves, place stove parts (panels of inside walls, basically), let soak. Not a super strong solution compared to what we use to make soap, but also not as dilute as what is used to make hominy.
Every bit of burned on food just slid right off with a soaking and there were no residual odors. Of course I wore gloves and and so forth.