How Do You Maintain Your Grill?

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 9:24 am

Love, love, love my gas grill; hate, hate,hate cleaning it. I want to know how people maintain between barbecues so the grease and grime doesn't build up. Burning it out doesn't seem to help, I'm still getting flare-ups and it's disgusting to put down raw food on dirty grates. I have cleaning sprays but you still have to put in a lot of elbow grease. What can I do to keep it clean in between uses without having to clean it thoroughly each time?

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 9:37 am

gp2.0 wrote:

A wire grill brush, used to remove food particles after grilling while grill is still hot but fire is shut off.

Thanks for your response. That works for the grates but not underneath. Or do you remove the grates and use it under neath as well?

ra_mom

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 9:44 am

Make sure your using a nylon grill brush. Lots of grates get ruined from the wire ones.
Yes, you need to remove the grates (bring them in for better cleaning anyway) and clean underneath. Besides for the brush, you may need oven cleaner and the like and lots of scrubbing. Once it's cleaned, you'll realize you want to line it right away with heavy duty foil so that next time the job is not as hard.
Happy grilling!

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 9:49 am

ra_mom wrote:

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. LOL

I hate the heavy scrubbing. How can you line it with foil near the fire?

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:13 am

gp2.0 wrote:

Ok it depends on what kind of grates you have. Are they heavy cast iron or coated porcelain? Or the thin steel ones?

I was answering thinking you have cast iron.

cast iron- wait, you line the grates with foil? Then you don't get grill marks?

ra_mom

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:14 am

gp2.0 wrote:

Ok it depends on what kind of grates you have. Are they heavy cast iron or coated porcelain? Or the thin steel ones?

I was answering thinking you have cast iron.

We have a char broil 5 burner stainless propane grill with cast iron grates and the grates did not age well. I have found that this is a problem with char broil. With some research I found that the brush may be a problem with their grates. I'm not convinced it's the brush, I think it's the grates, but no more wire ones for me.

ra_mom

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:15 am

kenz wrote:

Yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. LOL

I hate the heavy scrubbing. How can you line it with foil near the fire?

You line it under the fire. And if there are openings for ventilation you cut open the foil in that area as well.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:22 am

ra_mom wrote:

Mine is char broil too. I'm just finding the whole thing a big pain to keep clean. I have two brushes, I'll make sure to use the nylon one.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:23 am

ra_mom wrote:

You line it under the fire. And if there are openings for ventilation you cut open the foil in that area as well.

It's the areas right above the fire that get dirtiest though. I think perhaps I'm looking for a magic answer that doesn't exist, but I am definitely going to take a look and see if lining it would help. Thanks!

gp2.0

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:24 am

Ugh. I looked up wire brushes and found a bunch of articles warning people to be careful using wire brushes because a wire bristle can fall off and be accidentally ingested. Thanks google for giving me something new to worry about. Rolling Eyes

The reason I ask is because generally cast iron does not need to have the "grime" washed off with soap or cleaners. Ra mom that is what may have ruined your grates. Though I'm not sure what you mean by ruined.

Cast iron is "seasoned" by baking fat into the metal. It is cleaned with natural methods - water, scrubbed with salt or baking soda if necessary. It should be heated and aired out after washing with water so it's fully dry and doesn't rust.

As long as you remove pieces of food and clean out the basin beneath the grates periodically you really don't have to worry about fatty residue on the grates. Do some googling about seasoning cast iron.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:32 am

gp2.0 wrote:

You think the wire would fall off and remain on the grates until the next use and then get stuck to the food? I think that's unlikely.
It's not a new grill, I've had it a couple of years, and it is a problem - lots of residue remains under the grates every single time and then even if I clean it I get flare ups, unless I do the whole scrubbing thing.

gp2.0

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:39 am

I don't know. This is how I maintain my grill. We have never scrubbed it with cleaners since we got it 3 years ago. We don't have flare ups unless the food is directly above the flame - fat drips onto flame, fire flares up. I usually position the food between the flames so they don't drip directly onto the flames.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:56 am

gp2.0 wrote:

Hm - I'm going to have to try your method b/c I'm busy cleaning a huge mess every single time.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 10:57 am

ra_mom wrote:

http://www.google.com/search?q=char+broil+nylon+grill+brush&source=univ&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=0CBoQsxhqFQoTCJTi9M2t4sYCFYQ_PgodGjsEFQ&biw=360&bih=615

Yes, I have something similar, but I'll make sure it's nylon - thanks for taking the time to help!

gp2.0

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 11:03 am

kenz wrote:

Hm - I'm going to have to try your method b/c I'm busy cleaning a huge mess every single time.

This would prevent flare ups caused by dripping while cooking but I'm still not sure what you mean by huge mess.

kenz

Fri, Jul 17 2015, 11:08 am

gp2.0 wrote:

This would prevent flare ups caused by dripping while cooking but I'm still not sure what you mean by huge mess.

I take meat/chicken/veggies, flavor them, spray the grates, grill everything, and every time, below the grates, all around the sides, underneath, it's sticky and greasy and grimy every time I grill.