How To Keep A Grill Shiny And Clean?

[jyl]

Last weekend I bought a nice shiny stainless steel barbeque grill. (Ducane three-burner from Home Depot.) Oooh, was it pretty. I gladly gave away my rusty old WalMart grill. So tonight I am grillng the first steaks, marinated in sauce and liberally salted.

And before my eyes, my gleaming shiny grill is turning into a blackened, crusty, globby thing. Yuck. This will not do.

Do you guys know any tricks for easy cleanup of a stainless steel grill? Something you'd do every couple of weeks?

I'm thinking of something like oven cleaner and then pressure washing. Ideally, not a lot of elbow grease.

[dhoward]

Brush yo' teefers?

[jyl]

Brushing with the brass-bristled BBQ scraper doesn't do much. Leaving the grill on "high" with the lid closed doesn't do much. Sigh. She was so beautiful

[Oracle]

You need to let the grill cook the grease on the grill.
After you're done grilling then crank up to full power the three burners for about 10 minutes. that will leave everything in there completely burned, then with a grill wire brush just finish the job, it works perfectly...

[TerryH]

700 degrees and steel wool. I burn, but don't polish. A shiny grill really doesn't make a better steak.

[Dottore]

Keep a sack of large raw potatoes handy. While the grill is still hot, cut one in half and rub the grill with the exposed side.

Bob's your uncle.

[futuresoptions]

Well, what I do it turn it up on high all three burners (have all stainless jenn aire). Let it burn most of the grease away and then hit it with a stainless steel wire brush.... then I take my meat fork with half an onion on it to wipe across the grill. the onion is left in the corner to season the pit.... and removed after cooking is complete. I never was a "gas" man, always used mesquite..... I now have a small stainless steel bowl that I add water and mesquite chips to inorder to assist in the seasoning of my pit. hope this helps....

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Dottore

Keep a sack of large raw potatoes handy. While the grill is still hot, cut one in half and rub the grill with the exposed side.

Bob's your uncle.

Not sure about Bob but the potato trick works well... Use simple green on the rest of the grill.

[cairns]

So you want the grates really clean and sparkly? Remove from grill, remove gunk with steel wool scouring powder whatever. Put them in oven on clean for 3- 4 hours.

Upon removal (no gunk remains, perfectly clean but dark) polish with wet sponge and Barkeeper's Friend. Rinse and Dry.

Yes more work but they'll look new again.

Depending on how easily you can move the rest of the grill...I use easy off and a power washer. Otherwise use easy off, sponge and a bucket (wear gloves).

Signed,
Longtime Tek Owner and Master of the Barbie

[legion]

Don't use it.

I clean my grill with raw potatoes and lard...but it's cast iron.

[azasadny]

I use Bar Keeper's Friend and liberal dose of water from my little Karcher pressure washer and my 10-year-old grill looks great. Simple Green also works well and it's easy to rinse completely off. when 1st firing up the grill after cleaning it, set the flame to "high" and let it burn for awhile to be sure it's clean.

[berettafan]

are you referring to the exterior or the actuall grilling surface?

for the exterior of mine i use stainless steel cleaning wipes. nice and easy.

for the grill surface i use a wire brush BEFORE i cook. that is, when i'm done with steaks or whatever i turn the grill off and close it. the next time i cook i turn it on to preheat maybe 5 minutes and right before putting the food on i go over the surface real quick with the wire brush. the heat is doing all the work.

[jyl]

Thanks, lot of good tips there which I didn't know about.

With the old rustbucket I never cared about cleaning, was just trying not to get tetanus.

[svandamme]

potatoes, been doing that for 20 years in our family, nothing else
no steel brush, no chemicals, just raw potatoes when it's hot, before and after bbq'ing

other then that, look into platinum, gold, silver


foshizzle ma nizzle

[tabs]

FKING HERESY...I have a nearly 30 year old Weber Kettle. I have never cleaned the Grill with anything but a wire brush occasionally. Basically just put the Grill over the coals to preheat and burn off the gunk.

Using chemicals to clean a Grill is REAL SMART..yes sir real smart. Heat and chemical residue...hmm what can that add up to? Let me think now?

Would any of U use harsh chemicals to clean a Cast Iron Pan? Hmmmmm

Just leave the fking Grill to itself, after awhile thats what your gona do anyway..right after the newness wears off...LOL>

Keeping the outside of the SS Grill is a different matter, that U might want to keep all nice and pretty.

Why even bother with a Grill, why not just use the stove inside the house..Thats what all the Gas Grills amount to anyway...a fking stove.

[gassy]

I'm with you Tabs--I use a 25+ yr old Weber and a wire brush. Still works. Gonna grill tonight infact.
Christian.

[Drago]

I'm with Gassy-Tabs on this one.

Heat and a wire brush, but only when it gets really, really crusty.

Them's flavor bits boys.

[vash]

wad of towels with veggie oil on it. heat grill, wipe it all down, cook, wipe it all down again.

i dont do any of it, and mine looks like hell (weber kettle). my next grill (charcoal) will have cast iron grates. i will clean it with the "self clean" option on my kitchen oven.

[svandamme]

actually, veggie oil on a grill is a bad idea
because the oil is not up to the high temps, and burns, resulting in toxins

don't self cleaning ovens rely on part high heat, part coated components , ceramic, teflon, stuff like that?? will that work on cast iron, which is not as slippery?

[cstreit]

As with others, I turn it up on high for a while, get the gook bruned and then scrape it. Cast iron grates here as well. Works well, keeps the grates seasoned. a few times a year I take it down and suck up the crusties.