Grill Grates - Damaged or Dirty?


 
SamF said:
That's quite the transformation, what did you do?

As for the question about grill brush - I use the weber one that I got with my cleaning kit when I got the grill. I'll try the other suggestions, though.

With all of this said, I've followed the guidance on cleaning; or at least I believe I have so off the back of that I have 2 questions:

1) What am I doing wrong?
2) What should I be doing in future?

I've been over them today again and if it is dirt it sure is baked on - I'm quite tempted to have them meet my self cleaning oven which tops out at over 500 degrees celsius - almost 1000 F - I guess they can handle that heat just fine? As it may just turn to ash...
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I don't feel that you're doing anything wrong. It's not uncommon to end up with a bit of stubborn burnt on debris on the grates depending on what you're cooking, what temperature you're cooking at, what sorts of seasonings/marinades you might have on the food, how hot the grates were when you placed the food on them, etc. Instead of putting them in a self-cleaning oven (which we advise against due to the amount of smoke that could be produced) put them in the sink, hit them with some Dawn Powerwash, let it soak on them for about 10 minutes or so, and then wash them with hot water and a scrubber. I'd be very surprised if that didn't work. It's what I do with my own grates when I want to give them a deep clean.
 
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I don't think I'd soak them. Heat and a brush is all I've ever used. I use a stainless steel welding brush to get the big stuff and one of the curved SS brushes for every day stuff.

Edit I have one like this

20230914_081139.jpg
 
Or, as Larry suggests, a Libmann brass brush. They are definitely better quality and more resistant to dropping bristles.

If you do the soak idea (pros and cons in my opinion) then be sure to thoroughly dry, maybe by heating up on the grill for a little while.
 
DanHoo said:
I don't think I'd soak them. Heat and a brush is all I've ever used. I use a stainless steel welding brush to get the big stuff and one of the curved SS brushes for every day stuff.

Edit I have one like this

View attachment 79037
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To be clear, I don't mean soak them in water. I mean let the Dawn Powerwash soak on the grates for a few minutes. I rarely ever use this procedure...maybe once every couple years when I'm doing a deep cleaning of the grill or if I'm cooking for a guest that is a bit particular about the appearance of the cooking grate surface. Heat and a SS wire grill brush is all I use 99.9999% of the time.
 
SamF said:
That's quite the transformation, what did you do?

As for the question about grill brush - I use the weber one that I got with my cleaning kit when I got the grill. I'll try the other suggestions, though.

With all of this said, I've followed the guidance on cleaning; or at least I believe I have so off the back of that I have 2 questions:

1) What am I doing wrong?
2) What should I be doing in future?

I've been over them today again and if it is dirt it sure is baked on - I'm quite tempted to have them meet my self cleaning oven which tops out at over 500 degrees celsius - almost 1000 F - I guess they can handle that heat just fine? As it may just turn to ash...
Click to expand...
Can you post a pic of that brush? I've seen Weber brushes that I consider a hoax and waste of money.
 
First off, don't obsess over baked on grease or a little "crud". It's all good. But, DO obsess over chipped porcelain. That stuff is NASTY, which is why I say go stainless steel, high quality and be done with it. One way I use that works great, is I get the grill good and hot and have a spray botte of plain water. I spray the brush with it, then simply brush the hot grates, and the steam blasts off anything baked on. It works great (or grate :D) and is non toxic. But, believe me chipping porcelain is not something you want on or in your food. No nutritional value there
 
The first thing you need to do is figure out if you have flaking porcelain (problem) or just flaking carbon (not a problem).

If the black stuff really is carbon, just leave it there. If the stuff isn't coming off with a typical brushing, that means it won't be coming off to impact your food or cooking.

No point in going to extraordinary cleaning means. Since the stuff you get off is going to come back pretty fast with further cooking anyway.

TLDR:

#1 -- Listen to what the Weber guy is telling you.

#2 -- The Weber guy is telling you, more than once, that you have a non-problem.

But if you really really want to do a not-so-necessary cleaning of your grates, I'd go oven cleaner, hefty bag, left out in the sun. Or soapy water soak.
 
They are not zero maintenance, but as close as you will come. Get SS solid rod grates and a Chargon and then you are even closer to maintenance free.
 
I say keep the grates because of all the guys saying dump them🤣

It’s proven that the porcelain enameled grates aren’t an issue
 
I agree.
It baffles me why so many people continue to set the burners on HIGH and walk away just to BURN every bit of carbon ONTO the grates and then complain about how hard it is to scrape said carbon off...... Am I the only one that has figured out that you take the grill to ~350 and scrape everything off the grates while it is still SOFT????? My CIs are perfect - well greased by many cooks - rotated and flipped regularly..... no issues what so ever.

Don't get me started on having the flat side of the grate up...... it HAS to be the V side up ...... damn heathens.... you probably have the toilet paper come off the BOTTOM of the roll too.
 
Ha, well, I see I've inadvertently started an SS vs PECI debate. So I guess I should pick a side, which for now....it's definitely gotta be Iron. I would consider SS in future but some of the suggestions made here don't seem to be available in the UK, plus after just 1 year there's no reason for me to be considering a paid replacement.

Now that we've settle that, @Jim Weber it's interesting that you mention that folks 'continue' setting the burners to high then complain etc but in fairness that is the standard cited practice, is it not? I'll certainly try a lower temp next time to see how that goes.

I think to be clear here folks I am not dismissing the suggestion that it's a cleaning issue. My abundance of caution is that my little boy enjoys grilling with dad and if there's a chance there's nasty bits getting in his food then obviously I want to be on the safe side. At the end of it I will have learned some valuable lessons. Weber asked for more photos, they are busy at the moment but I will take their guidance as well as on here.

Anyway now that we've opened up a few other discussions...I have more questions.

@Jim Weber again you said V side UP. Now I like this way BUT someone told me they were upside down and when i checked, even Weber said flat side up. But then I saw some were 'reversible' and left it to preference of how you like the sear lines. Is this a matter of opinion or fact, or was it just that 'upside down' was actually applicable to a different grate/model?

And also, if some of you are only deep cleaning very rarely, don't you get grease fires? I cook a lot but my cookbox, flavouriser bars and deflectors get filthy greasy. I don't use much in the way of glazes, I'm more of a dry rub guy in general. I cook a lot of chicken quarters. I've done 2 pretty deep cleans since April and both times a lot of crap came out.

Sam
 
I think grate choice is just a matter of personal preference, or run what you brung. I prefer cast iron myself. I had a bad experience with PC grates before I knew that they could cause a problem with the coating flaking off. I never do a high heat burn off. At the end of my cooks I just scrape the loose bits off with a wooden scraper. Before warming up for the next cook I use a hard nylon brush for touch ups. Nothing wrong with deep cleaning as frequently as you want. Better than watching your food go up in flames due to a grease fire.

Flat side up for me. Looks better and easier to clean.
 
Personally I have no issue with them until they're CHIPPED. Once this happens they're trash. But until then, use them. Enjoy them. They work really well (when they're in healthy shape). OP's grates (at least from the photos) don't look to be in healthy shape to me. But that is hard to determine from a photo. Unless they're grossly flaking. But, hell, if anyone here wants to munch on porcelain flakes hey, by all means enjoy with gusto. OP bottom line if you're the LEAST bit uncomfortable with the condition of those grates then by all means don't use them. Dump them, get a good set of heavy stainless ones and you will NEVER question them again. End of story. I honestly could not be sure from your photo. They look damaged to me. So bottom line if you want to believe that they're good based on someone here looking at photos............................enjoy. Me? On your photos they LOOK damaged to ME. But, I would not condemn them based on photos. Also, noted someone said if they were chipped they would rust in the chipped areas. Answer....................MAYBE. But ONLY if they sat unused for quite a while. But even chipped and flaking they would not rust if you regularly cook on them as the CI underneath would "season" a bit and not rust. Me? I would NOT toss a set of good PCI grates. Keyword GOOD. Unless they chip (and believe me if they're not now they WILL chip) use them
 
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