Grill cleaning question


 
S

Scott in SoCal

TVWBB Member
I've used my WSM maybe 10 times since I bought it new from Amazon. When I'm done, I take both grills and soak them in a tub with hot water and a few squirts of Costco dish soap. I let them soak anywhere from a few hours to overnight. Then I use a SCRUBBER similar to the one at the link to clean the grills. Other than a few squirts of dish soap, I haven't used any chemicals on the grills. Well, today I noticed that it appears the plating has rubbed off the grills as there are spots where the grills are now a coppery color.

I would think the grills would last longer, even though I've been using a scrubber. Is this normal? Should I be cleaning the grills another way?

Thanks for your comments, everyone!
 
I only use a grill brush. When I get the fire started I put them directly on top of the coals and scrub. Haven't gotten sick yet...
 
I do mine the same way and I'm gonna be ticked if the plating starts coming off the racks. You should be able to get years out of a metal rack like that before it starts to rust. I don't think you're doing anything wrong , but I'll be curious what other opinions you get.
 
Scott,

Within a few cooks last year on our new wsm, noticed the same, mainly in the welded areas. Called Weber cs. They followed up on this with a replacement grill. Great service.

Bob
 
The grates are nickel plated steel. That copper color is surface rust which can be wiped down with a oiled paper towel.
I soak my grates maybe a few times a year, let them sit in the sun to dry, give them a quick wipe with the oily paper towel, then hang them in the garage on a hook till needed.
Like Tony said, a little grease is your friend.:wsm:

Tim
 
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Dont need to worry about it so much. Im very sure that u going to be just fine...........=) I seen some disgusting grills in my life and nothing
happend to anyone.
Mine I just take a wire brush to it and its just fine.

Peter
 
I had a very old Gas burner and I cleaned it with a wire brush every now and then over the 30 years and I was continually replacing the Cast Iron grates

My new Weber Q gas I decided some thing different after using the wire brush twice.

I went and bought a stiff scrubbing brush and a stiff dish washing brush.

When I have finished and the wife is getting the meal ready, I take the grill off, dip the brushes into cold water scrub it clean turn it over and clean the other side.

It is still very hot, I then wipe it over with a little cooking oil on kitchen paper.

Put it back leave the lid up until all cold close up and its ready to go next time.

I have been using Cast Iron pans and pots for too many years in the kitchen and never a sign of rust one pot would be over 100yld and is still in perfect condition including the original tin lid.

It would take me a lot of convincing to use a wire brush.

If it every requires a heavy cleaning I would the high pressure cleaner and nothing else.

I would wipe it over with the cooking oil, put it on the BBQ turn it on full temp lid open to dry it completely.

Then wipe it again ready for the next BBQ

Keith:):)
 
I just put both grates in the dishwasher, using the most powerful cycle and sanitize mode. Come out like brand new every time.
 
Bob Bass said:
Scott,

Within a few cooks last year on our new wsm, noticed the same, mainly in
the welded areas. Called Weber cs. They followed up on this with a replacement grill. Great service.

Bob
Click to expand...

Bob: How did you clean your grills before you noticed the problem? Also, has the problem reappeared?
 
timothy said:
The grates are nickel plated steel. That copper color is surface rust which can be wiped down with a oiled paper towel.
I soak my grates maybe a few times a year, let them sit in the sun to dry, give them a quick wipe with the oily paper towel, then hang them in the garage on a hook till needed.
Like Tony said, a little grease is your friend.:wsm:

Tim
Click to expand...

Tim: I didn't think it was surface rust, but to be sure I checked the grills with a powerful magnifying glass. The problem is definitely a plating failure. I'm going to contact Weber customer service to see if they'll help me out.
 
Bob Bass said:
Scott,

Within a few cooks last year on our new wsm, noticed the same, mainly in the welded areas. Called Weber cs. They followed up on this with a replacement grill. Great service.

Bob
Click to expand...

I called Weber CS this morning, and a very helpful representative asked me to send some pictures. About 30 minutes after the pictures were sent, I got an email back with an order invoice showing two new grills were being sent to me under warranty. You can't ask for better customer service than that! Bravo, Weber!
 
Cleaning grills?? Yeah, I used to do that, now I just spark up the pit, when it's at 250 I use a SS brush to knock off the heavy stuff then wipe with some paper towels. I used to clean it 100% after use, that was a couple years ago before I realized I did not need to go to this extreme, YMMV.
 
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Scott,

Noticed most responded with their cleaning methods. For use, we initially used Harry Soo's method, but quickly changed to something more simple. Even Weber uses this as a suggested method... AND it uses something we all have in some quantity, is relatively inexpensive and is easily disposed of afterwards. A handful of crinkled-up aluminum foil.

Bob
 
Tim: No, there was no peeling. It just looked like it had worn through either due to poor plating or poor cleaning techniques, or both. Regardless, Weber did right by me!
 
Timely thread Scott.
I was at Farm&Fleet yesterday buying some Weber accessories and thinking on getting new grates for the OTG and 18.5" WSM. Then I remembered you're post and gave them a close inspection. Both of the grates had a slightly rough grainy feel on half of the rods like they weren't prepped properly before plating, and flipping them over the plating had a bluish color where it covered the welds.
It could mean nothing, but I passed. I'll check out grates at Ace and HD and see if they look and feel the same.

Tim
 
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