Cleaning Cooking Grates with Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

[John_NJ]

I have seen a few mentions about cleaning the porcelain enamel steel or stamped stainless steel Weber original equipment cooking grates.

I didn’t see mention of the method that was listed in the (long ago missing) cookbook that came with my 93 Genesis 1000, so I did a search of the forum- couldn’t find anything.

I clean the cooking grates as follows:

Get one piece of heavy duty aluminum foil slightly smaller (1/2” or so) than the entire surface of the cooking grates.

Fire up the grill.

Place the foil on the cooking grates- I have a couple of old stainless steel skewers that I weigh down the sides with because the rising heat lifts the foil- this is my idea and wasn’t mentioned by Weber.

Turn the grill to high/high/high and close the lid.

Let it go for 10-15 minutes (might have been longer but not sure) and turn off the grill, let it cool down.

After it cools down, brush off the ashes with a grill brush or the aluminum foil can be crumpled up and used as a brush.

Clean, done.

I am guessing that this is a well known method, but maybe not.

I can remember that early on, the grill got so hot the that glass face of the thermometer cracked, probably let it go too long.

For what it’s worth.

 

[Steve Hoch]

I'm sure that this method works fine. My major concern with doing this to a twenty plus year old grill at this point is the potential for warping or bulging the cookbox or any of the other components for that matter. As tough as these old grills are, they can only take so many heat cycles before something is going to give. I just brush down my grates after lighting it on the way up to operating temperature. I think it's easier on the grill and uses less propane. Just my 2 cents.

 

[John_NJ]

I'm sure that this method works fine. My major concern with doing this to a twenty plus year old grill at this point is the potential for warping or bulging the cookbox or any of the other components for that matter. As tough as these old grills are, they can only take so many heat cycles before something is going to give. I just brush down my grates after lighting it on the way up to operating temperature. I think it's easier on the grill and uses less propane. Just my 2 cents.

Good points- thanks Steve

 

[LMichaels]

Good way to ruin the firebox.

 

[John_NJ]

Good way to ruin the firebox.

Yeah, I got that from Steve.

I am going to track down that little Weber ring binder that came with the grill and check those instructions.

Regardless I will not be cleaning the cooking grates in the manner anymore, since I don’t want to do any damage to the firebox at this advanced age of the grill.

Thanks.

 

[LMichaels]

Back in the early 90s when I had bought my original grill. it's what they recommended but they quickly stopped recommending it

 

[John_NJ]

I have been cleaning my grates this way for almost 30 years.

And I am glad I made this thread, otherwise I would have kept on doing it.

I appreciate the replies.

Thanks again.

 

[Scott Smith]

Crumple up the aluminum foil and use it to clean the grates. Warm the grates up first and sprinkle them with water as you go. The foil takes on the shape of the bars to get fairly well in between. You can push the foil with your fingers or a tool.

 

[LMichaels]

Bare in mind rubbing the grates with foil can cause you to ingest bits of foil. I stopped that practice 25+ years ago because of it. BTW this was long before I knew of my mom's brain disease being caused by aluminum deposits. I just got sick of little sparkly bits in our food

 

[John_NJ]

Bare in mind rubbing the grates with foil can cause you to ingest bits of foil. I stopped that practice 25+ years ago because of it. BTW this was long before I knew of my mom's brain disease being caused by aluminum deposits. I just got sick of little sparkly bits in our food

Sorry to hear that.

I have been reading about how much plastic is in an average US citizens body, and all the “forever chemicals” in our systems, but hadn’t heard about the foil.

We stopped using aluminum cookware a really long time ago though because I read about a link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s, so the foil makes sense.

Thanks