Cleaning SS grates


 
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DKelley

New member
I have had 2, 4 burner grills from the Big Box stores over the last 20 years. I know they were mid quality at best, but I took care of them & they lasted 10 years each. Just bought my first Weber- Gen S-310 last week (on sale)...love it!! I could tell by putting it together the quality of the grill.

I used it for the first time yesterday, worked great. No hot spots. I do have a question on cleaning the SS grates.

I bought the Weber triangle SS brush. After I used it I don't really like it because of the flex, I'll pick up a wooden one today. So after cleaning the grates, exactly how should they look? I took all the excessive debris off, however it is still blackish in color. Do I need to get a scrub pad every time to get the grates back to the ss look? Do I have to worry about damaging the grates or scrubbing too hard?

I've looked at a few videos but have not seen the answer I'm looking for. I know it's kind of a basic question, I just like taking care of stuff & making it last. THX
 
D, no you do not need to use anything but the grill brush I get the flex have the 21 and the 12 like the 12 better. Stainless will discolor that is the way it is, Weber used to recommend cleaning the grates after a cook they do not suggest that anymore. Here is what I do and I have stainless, preheat the grill on high for about 10-15 minutes then hit them with the grill brush you will be good to go.
 
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I agree with Brian. Grills are for using and are going to season quickly, including the grates. You shouldn't expect them to stay shiny silver but rather like you said get all the excess debris off.

The wood scraper is a very good idea to avoid the possibility of ingesting metal splinters (although that is not as likely with stainless bars in my opinion). The wood scraper does take a little getting used to and time to "burn in" but I think you will find that it works well on stainless bars (it works really well on GrillGrates.)

Happy Grilling!
 
Jon Tofte said:
I agree with Brian. Grills are for using and are going to season quickly, including the grates. You shouldn't expect them to stay shiny silver but rather like you said get all the excess debris off.

The wood scraper is a very good idea to avoid the possibility of ingesting metal splinters (although that is not as likely with stainless bars in my opinion). The wood scraper does take a little getting used to and time to "burn in" but I think you will find that it works well on stainless bars (it works really well on GrillGrates.)

I bought the wood handled Weber brush

Happy Grilling!
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Greg M said:
With your stainless grates you might give this a try. Works better than a brush in my opinion. No danger from loose bristles. And should last a lifetime.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00UI1X0L2/tvwb-20
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Bought it!

Thanks guys!!
 
Greg M said:
With your stainless grates you might give this a try. Works better than a brush in my opinion. No danger from loose bristles. And should last a lifetime.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00UI1X0L2/tvwb-20
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Greg, that looks really interesting and really not expensive in the scheme of things since grill brushes wear out and that looks like it would last forever. I don't have the bars for my grates if I get them I definitely by that tool.
 
I'm sure it's effective--and I don't mean to be critical--but for my personal taste (or possibly laziness) I grill and smoke quite often and hate the thought of having to clean one bar at a time. I bought the Martin Grill Gadget and gave up on it for that reason.
 
BFletcher said:
I'm sure it's effective--and I don't mean to be critical--but for my personal taste (or possibly laziness) I grill and smoke quite often and hate the thought of having to clean one bar at a time. I bought the Martin Grill Gadget and gave up on it for that reason.
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No offense taken. I thought the same thing initially. It is slower. But still pretty fast once you get the hang of it. It takes me about a minute to do my genesis 1000 vs a few seconds for a brush. I grill a lot too but I'll take that extra minute in the interest of safety and longevity - not ever having to replace the tool.

I started with the Martin tool too. I met the inventor at his booth at the shrimpfest in Alabama several years ago. Cool guy. I wanted to like it. It works ok. But the chargon really works much better (and faster). The shape just fits round stainless grates better and the head is slimmer allowing it to fit between the grates better. The margin tool is designed to be used on multiple types of grates (cast iron, stainless, and wire) while the chargon is only for round stainless grates.

Several of the reviews on Amazon of the chargon crack me up. The reviewer states the tool doesn't work well on his cast iron grates. The description clearly states it is for round grates only.
 
Hrmmmm..... I've got some flat stainless stock here, I could probably knock out a clone of the CharGon in pretty short order. Interesting idea.
 
JKalchik: I was thinking the same thing. That way you could make the "U" shaped notch the perfect size for your bars. Unless you have premium 9-11mm rods, that tool won't work so well. Even RCPlanebuyer rods are only 9mm and that thing has an 11mm opening. The tighter the fit, the better job it would do.

Keep us posted on how it works out. I would think a one or two foot piece of flat stainless wouldn't cost too much from a Home Depot or Menards.
 
Bruce i see what you are saying about fitting the shape/opening to the size of the grate. That makes sense. But my chargon tool works just as well on my bbq parts smaller 5\16 inch grates as it does the larger 9 mm rcplanebuyer ones on my other grill. It works perfectly on both those 2 sizes. If I were fabricating a tool I would copy the head shape exactly unless my grates were significantly smaller.
 
I welded up the grates in my grill with 304 stainless 1/4" stock. Nothing exotic.

A tight fit probably isn't all that necessary, and probably isn't even desirable. A U-notch that fits over the top of the bar will take most of the top surface pretty effectively, and holding it slight sideways for a mechanical interference will take care of knocking off the rest.
 
If you welded and fabricated your own stainless grates then making a tool similar to the chargon should be easy for you. Good luck.
 
Welding stainless isn't that bad, with the right equipment. I'm set up with both MIG & TIG process equipment (actually, I can do stick as well, but it's been 30+ years.... and I greatly prefer MIG or TIG as much of a hack as I am) Ventilation is important, heavy metal poisoning isn't pleasant. Square grilles like I have are pretty easy to weld up.

A CharGon cleaner/scraper.... stainless flat stock, drill a hole & cut through the end with the U-shape. Put a bend in the end, and butcher up a couple of pieces of wood for scales/handles.
 
Bruce said:
JKalchik: I was thinking the same thing. That way you could make the "U" shaped notch the perfect size for your bars. Unless you have premium 9-11mm rods, that tool won't work so well. Even RCPlanebuyer rods are only 9mm and that thing has an 11mm opening. The tighter the fit, the better job it would do.

Keep us posted on how it works out. I would think a one or two foot piece of flat stainless wouldn't cost too much from a Home Depot or Menards.
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Really everyone for 20 bucks your going to make your own set J probably has the skills and I assume he has labor if doing it for fun that he cares less about as well as the material on hand not really getting about paying the 20 bucks and being done with it. :)
 
Brian, those are probably wise words, but some of us are just stubborn and always think we can do better or 5% cheaper. :)
 
And for some of us, fabricating and/or tinkering are just plain enjoyable.

Then again.... I thoroughly dislike Amazon's business model. I try to avoid buying from them if at all possible.
 
Bruce said:
Brian, those are probably wise words, but some of us are just stubborn and always think we can do better or 5% cheaper. :)
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Trust me Bruce been there done that more times than I want to think of. I think the older I get the the less I am willing to save a couple of bucks rather than just click something on Amazon and be done with it. I just bought a thermapen mk4 with that sale that Chris posted always wanted one would never spend the money but I finally caved.
 
Yah, I have been real close to clicking the grill scraper as well. I am trying to save up for my trip to San Antonio though. If there is anything left when I get back, I figure I can part with $20 and relax while Amazon sends it to me.
 
JKalchik said:
And for some of us, fabricating and/or tinkering are just plain enjoyable.

Then again.... I thoroughly dislike Amazon's business model. I try to avoid buying from them if at all possible.
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Yeah it kind of seems like amazon is taking over the world. Just fyi that you can buy directly from the company and bypass amazon.

If you do make one yourself please post pictures and how it works for you.
 
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