grill grate cleaning questions


 
K

Kevin_K

New member
I bought a bottle of Weber Grill Grate Cleaner for cleaning my Summit's grates and found that while it works fairly well, there are still some burned on stains. Here are my questions:

1. What would be the best stronger cleaner to try next? Easy Off regular strength? Easy Off heavy duty? Easy Off grill cleaner? Something else?

2. The Weber Grill Grate Cleaner is advertised as being a "degreaser". Are all of the products I named in question 1 above also considered degreasers, even though they vary in strength and chemical composition?

3. My Summit's manual says not to use a self-cleaning oven cycle to clean the grill grates. Why not? Why is it OK to clean oven grates using the self-clean cycle but not the grill grates (or flavorizer bars), which are much thicker than my oven grates?
 
I'm pretty lazy when it comes to cleaning grates, and I only clean grates when I'm selling a grill if I'm trying to get good money from the grill.

When I sold my WSM 22 the grates ended up looking brand new after following @Chris Allingham video.


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Cleanup, Maintenance & Storage - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Tips on cleaning your Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker before and after cooking, periodic maintenance items, how to burn-out the cooker, and tips on storage.
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Honestly 1st there is no need to be so fastidious. But to simply get heavy deposits off. First a QUALITY brush. For this only Libman brand brushes fill that need. I have never seen one lose a bristle EVER. Now if heating up and brushing does not satisfy, get good and hot. Keep a container of plain water handy. Dip the Libman in the water and brush the hot grate. The steam will bust the crud and give you a nice clean (not shiny) but cleaned grate
 
Kevin_K said:
3. My Summit's manual says not to use a self-cleaning oven cycle to clean the grill grates. Why not? Why is it OK to clean oven grates using the self-clean cycle but not the grill grates (or flavorizer bars), which are much thicker than my oven grates?
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I've actually found it's not recommended to leave your oven racks in the oven during the high temp self-cleaning cycle. I did it once, and they never slid in and out as well as they used to. Not sure if it damaged the coating a little bit. Probably the same reason they recommend that you don't put your grill grates in the oven??
 
Steve-G said:
I've actually found it's not recommended to leave your oven racks in the oven during the high temp self-cleaning cycle. I did it once, and they never slid in and out as well as they used to. Not sure if it damaged the coating a little bit. Probably the same reason they recommend that you don't put your grill grates in the oven??
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That's a good point - I've never used my oven's self clean feature. I just checked the manual and it says the grates should be removed first.
 
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Once or twice a year I use a grill cleaning stone found at Lowe`s. After cleaning with stone thoroughly wash with soap and water. To maintain grate thru the year I use a dandelion digger. Found one hanging on wall of my garage. Went thru cleaners, scrapers brushes but found use the stone for serious clean than maintain with hand tool weeder. The tool is v shaped does great job getting gunk off. My weeder tool is stainless. It`s old don`t know if they make them stainless anymore. Be careful using stainless on carbon steel grates. I bought stainless grates years ago didn`t want flakes peeling off. Besides that I was buying new grates every other year because of rust.
 
Like LM said these Libman brushes are fantastic. I get them at Smart and Final for $10.
I did lose one bristle the other day and it surprised me. I’ve gone through a bunch with no issues. I change them out every few months. I love a nice fresh brush. Works well in my CI and stainless grates.
E5ED95DF-EA61-4C51-9CE2-9755F50EAA3C.jpeg
 
Bruno said:
Like LM said these Libman brushes are fantastic. I get them at Smart and Final for $10.
I did lose one bristle the other day and it surprised me. I’ve gone through a bunch with no issues. I change them out every few months. I love a nice fresh brush. Works well in my CI and stainless grates.
View attachment 65874
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Do brass bristles in general clean stainless steel grates better than steel bristles? I assume the brass won't scratch the grates?
 
Kevin_K said:
Do brass bristles in general clean stainless steel grates better than steel bristles? I assume the brass won't scratch the grates?
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No brush is going to scratch the grates. Besides, you get heavy metal utensils and scrape on them anyway. As for the merits of brass? IDK, and honestly never gave it a thought. Libman brushes just simply "work"
 
Ok… I have a question and I am hoping it was not covered elsewhere here.
I read that people were having good success with Dawn Powerwah on grill grates.Has anyone tried this?
 
I may be wrong, but I look at my grill grates and think that they’re kind of seasoned. Cleaning them almost seems like taking the seasoning off a cast iron pan. I just use heat and a few different tools (billy bar, Grillart grill brush, bristle free stainless scrub pad style brush) depending on how bad the grates are but they’re all just scraping the crud off. Seems to work fine.

Now, on my smoker, I do keep that grate clean. After each cook, I soak it in hot water with dish soap and then scrub it with a scotch brite pad. I worry more about that grate because the heat‘s not there to fry everything off. I also use the smoker way less often than the grill so it’s not that big of a deal to keep that grate clean.
 
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