3 ms·

One of the main issues they raise is that the bristles on common brushes can be left behind and are difficult to pick out of food, so the wet rag probably excee

One of the main issues they raise is that the bristles on common brushes can be left behind and are difficult to pick out of food, so the wet rag probably exceeds expectations in that way.

potato3732842 1y ago
Grill brush bristles in your food are the "they went on a vacation and brought back flesh eating bacteria" of the culinary world. The fear-mongering greatly exceeds the danger. Edit: There are approximately 130 ER visits per year[1] on account of grill brushes. Mowing your lawn (something else people do on about the same frequency in the summer) is far more likely get you, as are god knows how many other things. [1] https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-cautions-about-health-risks-wire-bristle-grill-brushes https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama...
- EasyMark 1y ago
  Why take the risk when grill stones exist?
- heeton 1y ago
  Risk / reward tradeoff. There are other options that are as good, as cheap, as easy. Why pick one with a significant, unpredictable, often unknown flaw. Where if it happens you end up needing major surgery?
- Moto7451 1y ago
  Even the plastic ones leave bristles behind and aren’t much fun to chew on.
- Apreche 1y ago
  It may be rare, but it happened to a friend of mine while we were eating at a restaurant.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- kelipso 1y ago
  That’s definitely enough numbers to change to a different bristle. Basically no effort to change a bristle. If you had to free climb a mountain to get a new bristle, then I would understand. And think of the number of people who found a metal bristle in their mouth and didn’t go to the ER. It has to be many many multiples of the number of ER visits.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    >That’s definitely enough numbers to change to a different bristle. Ah, yes, magical plastic molecules. Exactly what I want between fire and my food. I'm just about the last person to give a crap about microplastics but cooking temperatures and long weird hydrocarbon molecules are where I draw the line. >And think of the number of people who found a metal bristle in their mouth and didn’t go to the ER. It has to be many many multiples of the number of ER visits. This is true for just about everything.
    - kelipso 1y ago
      There are other options than plastics I’m sure..who uses that any more.
- DiggyJohnson 1y ago
  Lawn mowing seems like one of the more dangerous things that a typical person does. It's the snow shoveling of the summer.
  - potato3732842 1y ago
    It's several orders of magnitude more likely to land you in the ER. I chose it because like grilling, it's done "about weekly" in the summer and most people don't think much of it.
- nkrisc 1y ago
  Given how simple it is to avoid that issue, I will. I can reduce my chance of ingesting a bristle from “minuscule” to “zero” with no downsides. So why not?
beeforpork 1y ago
Since I read about bristles in food after cleaning the grill, I've always been checking for remnants after brushing. I never found any. And I wonder: how are those remnants supposed to get into your food? They are metal, so don't they just fall down into the grill, if any break off? Maybe glued into old fat and other gunk? But you want that gone, too, right? Also, don't you use a rag to clean off other dirt, and wouldn't that make sure that bristles are gone? Is this a myth or actually a problem? Some commenters do call it fear-mongering here, so what is it? I also think I never read anything about this except in US media, so does this not happen in other countries? Different brushes? Different cleaning habits?
- misterhill 1y ago
  A bristle can get stuck to some gunk that isn't successfully removed and be in parallel to a bar roughly underneath it. There's no real reason to take risks of excessive hygiene given that hospital admissions occur and simple tools are going to give you a functionally equivalent meal.
- rpdillon 1y ago
  Good discussion from 2016, I think it was Canadian surgeons that made the recommendation and there's at least a couple of comments where people have talked about real-world experiences with bristles. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425

One of the main issues they raise is that the bristles on common brushes can be left behind and are difficult to pick out of food, so the wet rag probably exceeds expectations in that way.

potato3732842 1y ago

Grill brush bristles in your food are the "they went on a vacation and brought back flesh eating bacteria" of the culinary world. The fear-mongering greatly exceeds the danger. Edit: There are approximately 130 ER visits per year[1] on account of grill brushes. Mowing your lawn (something else people do on about the same frequency in the summer) is far more likely get you, as are god knows how many other things. [1] https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-cautions-about-health-risks-wire-bristle-grill-brushes https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama...

EasyMark 1y ago
Why take the risk when grill stones exist?
heeton 1y ago
Risk / reward tradeoff. There are other options that are as good, as cheap, as easy. Why pick one with a significant, unpredictable, often unknown flaw. Where if it happens you end up needing major surgery?
Moto7451 1y ago
Even the plastic ones leave bristles behind and aren’t much fun to chew on.
Apreche 1y ago
It may be rare, but it happened to a friend of mine while we were eating at a restaurant.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
kelipso 1y ago
That’s definitely enough numbers to change to a different bristle. Basically no effort to change a bristle. If you had to free climb a mountain to get a new bristle, then I would understand. And think of the number of people who found a metal bristle in their mouth and didn’t go to the ER. It has to be many many multiples of the number of ER visits.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  >That’s definitely enough numbers to change to a different bristle. Ah, yes, magical plastic molecules. Exactly what I want between fire and my food. I'm just about the last person to give a crap about microplastics but cooking temperatures and long weird hydrocarbon molecules are where I draw the line. >And think of the number of people who found a metal bristle in their mouth and didn’t go to the ER. It has to be many many multiples of the number of ER visits. This is true for just about everything.
  - kelipso 1y ago
    There are other options than plastics I’m sure..who uses that any more.
DiggyJohnson 1y ago
Lawn mowing seems like one of the more dangerous things that a typical person does. It's the snow shoveling of the summer.
- potato3732842 1y ago
  It's several orders of magnitude more likely to land you in the ER. I chose it because like grilling, it's done "about weekly" in the summer and most people don't think much of it.
nkrisc 1y ago
Given how simple it is to avoid that issue, I will. I can reduce my chance of ingesting a bristle from “minuscule” to “zero” with no downsides. So why not?

beeforpork 1y ago

Since I read about bristles in food after cleaning the grill, I've always been checking for remnants after brushing. I never found any. And I wonder: how are those remnants supposed to get into your food? They are metal, so don't they just fall down into the grill, if any break off? Maybe glued into old fat and other gunk? But you want that gone, too, right? Also, don't you use a rag to clean off other dirt, and wouldn't that make sure that bristles are gone? Is this a myth or actually a problem? Some commenters do call it fear-mongering here, so what is it? I also think I never read anything about this except in US media, so does this not happen in other countries? Different brushes? Different cleaning habits?

misterhill 1y ago
A bristle can get stuck to some gunk that isn't successfully removed and be in parallel to a bar roughly underneath it. There's no real reason to take risks of excessive hygiene given that hospital admissions occur and simple tools are going to give you a functionally equivalent meal.
rpdillon 1y ago
Good discussion from 2016, I think it was Canadian surgeons that made the recommendation and there's at least a couple of comments where people have talked about real-world experiences with bristles. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425