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When this news first came out, I tried practically all the alternatives. My personal experiences: Wadded up aluminum foil: really does not work well. It gets

When this news first came out, I tried practically all the alternatives. My personal experiences: Wadded up aluminum foil: really does not work well. It gets loose grime off, but anything at all burnt on will take very vigorous scrubbing and possibly result in shredded foil everywhere. Also feels like a huge waste of foil. Wooden scraper: works ok, since it's not flexible doesn't get between the slats well, need to put a lot of elbow grease in to get stuck-on stuff, and if you leave it outside in my high humidity region - even under a cover - it will get disgusting fast Abrasive pads/steel wool - work surprisingly well, but need to be replaced constantly and it's fairly disgusting work (you will feel like you need a shower afterwards) because you are basically in the grill Nylon brush - did literally nothing. The solution I'm currently on is a wire brush that is continuous spirals of wire rather than bristles. Available from your preferred online merchant, etc. Does not work nearly as well as a traditional wire brush: have to use quite a bit more force, and very awkward to maneuver it between the slats. That said, it gets the job done very well and it's durable.

lostlogin 9y ago
I wonder if there is a non mechanical way of cleaning it and instead a chemical reaction like oven cleaner. Ideally it would be something that wasn’t seemingly related to a chemical weapon but maybe that’s what it takes.
- odonnellryan 9y ago
  Fire, man. Just let the fire clean it. Never saw the point of wire brushes unless you're leaving food on the grill when you're done with it.
  - karlkatzke 9y ago
    I think a lot of people don’t let their grill get hot enough. I know I have problems with cleaning my smoker racks (and my wife won’t let me run them through the dish washer) so I have to throw them on my charcoal grill when I’m heating it up.
    - odonnellryan 9y ago
      Yeah, probably. Charred food is not good for you really, but it's going to be on there anyway after you cook on a grill no matter what (unless it's like, a George Foreman...?). I can't imagine the bit of carbon on the grill from the last session would ever cause more harm than normal charcoal!
- darkstar999 9y ago
  OxiClean (or other clean-in-place products) should do a good job if you have a way of submerging the grill top. Brewers use this to clean fermenters and other equipment.
- mirimir 9y ago
  Hot concentrated sodium hydroxide will do it. Or oven cleaner, if you can't get chemicals. It won't damage steel, but will dissolve aluminum. Ammonia works too, but not as effectively.
- acchow 9y ago
  Haven't tried, but I bet vinegar would wipe it down pretty well.
  - rpenm 9y ago
    Wiping with vinegar will cause rust. You want to go the other way - alkalis will convert grease into soluble compounds without damaging the steel.
    - karlkatzke 9y ago
      So say something like a solution of baking soda and water?
      - rpenm 9y ago
        Yes, but it'd be very slow. Lye would be much more effective. But any solution strong enough to saponify the grease will be strong enough to damage your skin, so use gloves. I usually just burn it off.
- swebs 9y ago
  If you could get the grill to heat over 700°C, organic gunk would gasify.
  - ExcelSaga 9y ago
    Would it be safe/feasible to use a butane or propane torch for that? Would there be an issue of carcinogenic residue? If not, then a handheld torch is cheap and easy to use, and goes well last 700 degrees.
odonnellryan 9y ago
Here's what I've always done with my grills (propane this is easier, with charcoal you need to add extra fuel): 1) After done grilling, while you setup the table etc.. and get ready to eat, turn it on the highest setting and cover the grill. Should be done for at least 5-10 minutes. 2) Next time, turn the grill on to the highest setting to warm it up. Again at least 5-10 minutes. If there's anything at all left it'll quickly be gone with any kind of brush... very easily. or even your spatula.
strictnein 9y ago
The GrillFloss works pretty well: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PAV28E/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PAV28E/
bballard 9y ago
I still use a wire brush sometimes, but it's a different type with longer stiffer bristles. There's no way one of these bristles is going to get accidentally lodged in your food. These bristles just don't fall out and if they did you would see it pretty easily. You have to use it a bit more perpendicular to the grates, but it works. http://a.co/gyIkCeK http://a.co/gyIkCeK
jartelt 9y ago
Scraping with a metal spatula does a good job at getting a lot of the gunk off. Then, rubbing half an onion on the grill when hot cleans off the rest (and leaves a nice onion flavor).
ghaff 9y ago
There are wads of coiled wire that you can use with a long pair of tongs. Basically steel wool with much thicker wire. This works pretty well and stands up to use.
MrLeap 9y ago
If you want to pump up the jams, try a scotch-brite wheel on an angle grinder. Done in seconds, don't wear clothes you like.
- AStellersSeaCow 9y ago
  I'd been looking for other uses for my angle grinder, and this is way better than the other ideas I had.
  - MrLeap 9y ago
    Decided to clumsily make a video of doing this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtHnI1K6ICk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtHnI1K6ICk
  - karlkatzke 9y ago
    Diamond turbo blade = recover old used brick with the mortar still attached, very little if any chipping. Source: currently working on an older home with very unique (peach/salmon) brick, need to recover and reuse all I can find.
gdubs 9y ago
I'm a huge fan of the Pumie Scouring Stick [1]. It works on a bunch of different surfaces, and I've used it to clean things that seemed baked-on beyond repair (like my ceramic pizza stone). 1: https://www.amazon.com/Pumie-Scouring-Stick-HDW-12T-4PK/dp/B00N3EI34U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1522352659&sr=8-3&keywords=pumie+scouring+stick https://www.amazon.com/Pumie-Scouring-Stick-HDW-12T-4PK/dp/B...
- M_J_P 9y ago
  FYI - seen at 99-cent stores for much less than Amazon....
ransom1538 9y ago
Take a cheap onion. Cut it in half. Flame up the grill real hot. Take an oven glove and rub the onion really hard on the grill. It will sizzle. Mmm. Amazing all the way around. (Surgeons are super cocky and for them to explain "man this is tricky to fix" ---> I am out).
- Cyphase 9y ago
  I was at a birthday party at a park on Sunday (ended up getting rained out and we had to move to another location), and one of the guys manning the grill was doing this on the public-use grill. It seemed to work pretty well.
- mikeleeorg 9y ago
  I was a little skeptical of this advice, so I did some online searching. There are a bunch of articles with anecdotes about this working, but here's an article that seems to have a bit more substance about this method: https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-clean-a-grill-onion-easy-grilling-tips https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-clean-a-gr...
  - therealdrag0 9y ago
    Substance? All I see is "Onions have natural antibacterial properties, which is why this works," which doesn't relate at all to the function IMO.
- chestervonwinch 9y ago
  > a cheap onion Not my top shelf, special occasion onion?
  - jipper 9y ago
    Not the organic, gluten-free, free range, cageless red onion. You want to use the GMO round-up ready, depleted soil/less nutritious [0] factory farm, antibiotic, growth horomone, pesticide laced, persistent organic pollutant laden yellow onions. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...
louithethrid 9y ago
Some advice i heard, but not have tryied myself. You need a grill with the grill beeing seperabable into pieces small enough to fit into your kitchen oven. Which hass to have pyrolisis cleaning option. Your grill should be pre cleaned.
AceJohnny2 9y ago
I just use solder flux. /s
kristianp 9y ago
I have used a steel brush from a hardware store that has inch-long bristles. These bristles are a lot longer and thicker than the little ones in the video of the article. A lot harder to miss visually and if you had one in your food I think you'd notice it on the first (painful) bite. However I think the 5 minutes of heating after cooking is finished would be a better option.
garfieldnate 9y ago
In Japan they use brushes made with broom bristles (search for エニシダ根のブラシ). They are very hard and great for scraping. At that point, though, I'm not sure how much better it would be if you swallowed a piece.

lostlogin 9y ago

I wonder if there is a non mechanical way of cleaning it and instead a chemical reaction like oven cleaner. Ideally it would be something that wasn’t seemingly related to a chemical weapon but maybe that’s what it takes.

odonnellryan 9y ago
Fire, man. Just let the fire clean it. Never saw the point of wire brushes unless you're leaving food on the grill when you're done with it.
- karlkatzke 9y ago
  I think a lot of people don’t let their grill get hot enough. I know I have problems with cleaning my smoker racks (and my wife won’t let me run them through the dish washer) so I have to throw them on my charcoal grill when I’m heating it up.
  - odonnellryan 9y ago
    Yeah, probably. Charred food is not good for you really, but it's going to be on there anyway after you cook on a grill no matter what (unless it's like, a George Foreman...?). I can't imagine the bit of carbon on the grill from the last session would ever cause more harm than normal charcoal!
darkstar999 9y ago
OxiClean (or other clean-in-place products) should do a good job if you have a way of submerging the grill top. Brewers use this to clean fermenters and other equipment.
mirimir 9y ago
Hot concentrated sodium hydroxide will do it. Or oven cleaner, if you can't get chemicals. It won't damage steel, but will dissolve aluminum. Ammonia works too, but not as effectively.
acchow 9y ago
Haven't tried, but I bet vinegar would wipe it down pretty well.
- rpenm 9y ago
  Wiping with vinegar will cause rust. You want to go the other way - alkalis will convert grease into soluble compounds without damaging the steel.
  - karlkatzke 9y ago
    So say something like a solution of baking soda and water?
    - rpenm 9y ago
      Yes, but it'd be very slow. Lye would be much more effective. But any solution strong enough to saponify the grease will be strong enough to damage your skin, so use gloves. I usually just burn it off.
swebs 9y ago
If you could get the grill to heat over 700°C, organic gunk would gasify.
- ExcelSaga 9y ago
  Would it be safe/feasible to use a butane or propane torch for that? Would there be an issue of carcinogenic residue? If not, then a handheld torch is cheap and easy to use, and goes well last 700 degrees.

odonnellryan 9y ago

Here's what I've always done with my grills (propane this is easier, with charcoal you need to add extra fuel): 1) After done grilling, while you setup the table etc.. and get ready to eat, turn it on the highest setting and cover the grill. Should be done for at least 5-10 minutes. 2) Next time, turn the grill on to the highest setting to warm it up. Again at least 5-10 minutes. If there's anything at all left it'll quickly be gone with any kind of brush... very easily. or even your spatula.

strictnein 9y ago

The GrillFloss works pretty well: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PAV28E/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PAV28E/

bballard 9y ago

I still use a wire brush sometimes, but it's a different type with longer stiffer bristles. There's no way one of these bristles is going to get accidentally lodged in your food. These bristles just don't fall out and if they did you would see it pretty easily. You have to use it a bit more perpendicular to the grates, but it works. http://a.co/gyIkCeK http://a.co/gyIkCeK

jartelt 9y ago

Scraping with a metal spatula does a good job at getting a lot of the gunk off. Then, rubbing half an onion on the grill when hot cleans off the rest (and leaves a nice onion flavor).

ghaff 9y ago

There are wads of coiled wire that you can use with a long pair of tongs. Basically steel wool with much thicker wire. This works pretty well and stands up to use.

MrLeap 9y ago

If you want to pump up the jams, try a scotch-brite wheel on an angle grinder. Done in seconds, don't wear clothes you like.

AStellersSeaCow 9y ago
I'd been looking for other uses for my angle grinder, and this is way better than the other ideas I had.
- MrLeap 9y ago
  Decided to clumsily make a video of doing this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtHnI1K6ICk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtHnI1K6ICk
- karlkatzke 9y ago
  Diamond turbo blade = recover old used brick with the mortar still attached, very little if any chipping. Source: currently working on an older home with very unique (peach/salmon) brick, need to recover and reuse all I can find.

gdubs 9y ago

I'm a huge fan of the Pumie Scouring Stick [1]. It works on a bunch of different surfaces, and I've used it to clean things that seemed baked-on beyond repair (like my ceramic pizza stone). 1: https://www.amazon.com/Pumie-Scouring-Stick-HDW-12T-4PK/dp/B00N3EI34U/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1522352659&sr=8-3&keywords=pumie+scouring+stick https://www.amazon.com/Pumie-Scouring-Stick-HDW-12T-4PK/dp/B...

M_J_P 9y ago
FYI - seen at 99-cent stores for much less than Amazon....

ransom1538 9y ago

Take a cheap onion. Cut it in half. Flame up the grill real hot. Take an oven glove and rub the onion really hard on the grill. It will sizzle. Mmm. Amazing all the way around. (Surgeons are super cocky and for them to explain "man this is tricky to fix" ---> I am out).

Cyphase 9y ago
I was at a birthday party at a park on Sunday (ended up getting rained out and we had to move to another location), and one of the guys manning the grill was doing this on the public-use grill. It seemed to work pretty well.
mikeleeorg 9y ago
I was a little skeptical of this advice, so I did some online searching. There are a bunch of articles with anecdotes about this working, but here's an article that seems to have a bit more substance about this method: https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-clean-a-grill-onion-easy-grilling-tips https://www.tastingtable.com/cook/national/how-to-clean-a-gr...
- therealdrag0 9y ago
  Substance? All I see is "Onions have natural antibacterial properties, which is why this works," which doesn't relate at all to the function IMO.
chestervonwinch 9y ago
> a cheap onion Not my top shelf, special occasion onion?
- jipper 9y ago
  Not the organic, gluten-free, free range, cageless red onion. You want to use the GMO round-up ready, depleted soil/less nutritious [0] factory farm, antibiotic, growth horomone, pesticide laced, persistent organic pollutant laden yellow onions. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...

louithethrid 9y ago

Some advice i heard, but not have tryied myself. You need a grill with the grill beeing seperabable into pieces small enough to fit into your kitchen oven. Which hass to have pyrolisis cleaning option. Your grill should be pre cleaned.

AceJohnny2 9y ago

I just use solder flux. /s

kristianp 9y ago

I have used a steel brush from a hardware store that has inch-long bristles. These bristles are a lot longer and thicker than the little ones in the video of the article. A lot harder to miss visually and if you had one in your food I think you'd notice it on the first (painful) bite. However I think the 5 minutes of heating after cooking is finished would be a better option.

garfieldnate 9y ago

In Japan they use brushes made with broom bristles (search for エニシダ根のブラシ). They are very hard and great for scraping. At that point, though, I'm not sure how much better it would be if you swallowed a piece.