Disaster averted and egg on my face


 

LMichaels

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
So last night I decided some grilled chicken quarters would be in order. Decided to use the Q because the deck still has a sheet of ice on it and so the Genesis and Wolf sit abandoned....................still.
So I did my "usual" ritual minus one thing on the Q. I got it hot and brushed the grates off, but decided (or forgot still not sure which) to forego wiping them down with an oiled towel to re-season as I usually do.
In the course of chowing down I feel a weird sensation in my mouth and between my teeth. Not sure what................just odd. A bristle from my brush! Gave a stern warning for everyone to stop eating. Luckily no one else had begun on the chicken. Had everyone take the chicken off the bones CAREFULLY, remove the skin and break it down to small pieces easy to inspect. Thankfully................only the one bristle was found just before I swallowed it. Disaster averted and lesson learned.
In more years of grilling than many of you are old it's the FIRST time I have ever seen a bristle break off and I have a theory as to why it did and why it was a near disaster.
The Q grills have rough texture cast iron grates. While my Wolf also used to have them they were "raw" and due to that ALWAYS required oiling after brushing. The Q is a little more "forgiving" and I got careless. That with the rough surface is harder on the brush and allows the wires to break.
My other grills (and now the Wolf) have always had very smooth stainless steel grates. No stress on the bristles and no breakage. Though from now on ALL grills will receive a wipe down with either a wet or oiled towel after a brushing no exceptions!
Last night was VERY upsetting and scary to me.
I will still use brushes BUT with much more caution as mentioned above.
 
Not the first time I've heard of this, fortunately, never experienced it myself <knocks wood>. Still a good cautionary tale.
 
I'm careless of the same and have been lucky, will be more careful after hearing your story.
 
Oh man, too close of a call there. Thanks for the reminder because grilling season is around the corner.
 
Also just a side note on this. If you use smooth either the rod type or stamped U shaped stainless grates this is really a non issue. Since they will not "pull" out the bristles or stress them to the point of breakage. Though, even if one were to break off it would not "stick" tot he sounded smooth surfaces. The killer in my case (and maybe for many of you) is cast iron. It's rougher and harder on the bristles by it's nature. Also would be far more likely to have the small wire pieces "stick" to it. So while caution is called for it's VERY essential on cast iron type gates. Also many times with the stainless grates I don't even bother with a brush. I just use an old towel soaked in water. Get them super hot, and wipe down with wet towel and stuff just steam blasts off. Not so with CI
 
I always scrape over the grates with the spatula after brushing. I don't know why, and I don't know if it would prevent getting a bristle in the food, but that's what I do. I've recently heard about this problem, and I'm wondering why it has never been a problem before.
Cheap manufacturing of the brushes?

Gerry
 
I guess it is always a possibility. I also think that we would be surprised if we knew how many of those wire bristles actually wind up getting swallowed and passed by people every day.
I remember going out to do a cook on one of my Q grills a few years ago. It was on my deck with poor lighting, but this time I was cooking in the daylight and I went to clean off the grill an noticed dozens of bristles along the outer edges of the grate. They were all over. I looked at the brush and it was an old off brand flat faced brush, but clearly it had seen better days. The bristles on the brush were not as big and thick as the ones on a coiled type brush, but I had to think that more than one of those bristles had made it into the food and eaten. Upon my next grill cleaning, there were a ton of bristles in the bottom of the cook box as well.
I don't use those types of brushes any longer and if a brush is looking worn, I swap it out. But, I don't deal with that problem on my Genesis with the RCP grates. The Chargon works like a champ and has no bristles.
 
Same thing happened to me a few years ago and I freaked out.

I've since moved to using a combo of the half onion on a really hot grill trick and the Ultimate Cleaning BBQ Tool. Works well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07B7QFG79/tvwb-20

BBQ-cleaning-tips.jpg
 
I am not sure the brand but it was not my usual high quality brand. Bottom line a brush still is the best overall cleaning tool there is. But should simply be followed up with oil or water soaked towel (oil for CI and water for SS) though oil would be fine for both. I usually buy Libman brushes. Made in USA and very high quality.
As for "passing" these things I doubt that would happen "safely". I know there are other tools like the wooden spanking paddles, and such but for ease, speed and actual effectiveness a brush cannot be beat. Also in some cases i.e. the Q style grates a brush is about the only thing you can use
 
Same thing happened to me a few years ago and I freaked out.

I've since moved to using a combo of the half onion on a really hot grill trick and the Ultimate Cleaning BBQ Tool. Works well for me.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B07B7QFG79/tvwb-20

I've been using the Ultimate BBQ tool for a couple of years now and love the way it burns in to fit the grate.

8ixQ8lmh.jpg


Only drawback is you need to have 1 for each individual grill/grate (is 4 too many or not enough ;) )

I haven't tried using a onion yet but plan on doing so.
 
I asked about the type of brush, but I should've said " style " of brush.

I've heard this triple sided brushes are not as prone to lose a bristle, as the standard grill brush

UxDOh7M.jpg
 
It is a painful lesson in more than one way... I abandoned the use of wire brushes and miss their effectiveness. You will take exception to this because I know your affinity for wire brushes but that stray bristle can occur even with a wipe down. I'm happy for you that it wasn't ingested.
 
I admit I still use a bristle brush occasionally. However, on my GrillGrates, I find the wood style like John Kar posted to be a perfect solution. For stainless rods, after hearing so much here about them, I cashed in some Amazon points and bought a "Chargon." They are a perfect solution in my mind. I love my cast iron on my Skyline, but it is the hardest to clean safely. I have my doubts about the sort of foam scrubby type cleaners, so I primarily use one of those brushes with the tightly wrapped metal coils:

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01MYC1C2D/tvwb-20

I suppose even one of these could fail, too.
 
I just bought that Kona brush as a Lightning Deal for $16.

I went back to look at it again, and it was back up to $20.
 
I asked about the type of brush, but I should've said " style " of brush.

I've heard this triple sided brushes are not as prone to lose a bristle, as the standard grill brush

UxDOh7M.jpg

My experience with this type of brush is it's a total waste of time and $$$$. I honestly think with the combination of high quality brush and a wipe down the issue would 99.9999999% against happening and will be the direction I take
 
I'm sincerely glad you weren't injured Larry. I'm in healthcare so I've seen first hand the damage those bristles can do if ingested.

I don't even think about using a brush anymore since buying a chargon a couple of years ago.
 
My experience with this type of brush is it's a total waste of time and $$$$. I honestly think with the combination of high quality brush and a wipe down the issue would 99.9999999% against happening and will be the direction I take

Actually, the one in the pic is a Weber. I bought two of them about 4 years ago, I think , maybe $6 to $8. And I think they're every bit worth the money and I would buy again.

I got the Kona to try it for myself. I'll report back , what I think of it.
 

 

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