How often to clean the flavor bars?


 
LMichaels said:
Thank you. Brian and Bruce, not long ago had to bend my big fine body over a lot to do a simple task trimming toe nails about a week later could not figure out why my lower rib cage was in so much pain. Then it hit me. Ugh. I think if I lost half a person life would improve. But oh boy that ain't easy.
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Oh, yah, that monthly chore requires some acrobatics these days.
 
OK, maybe i'm taking things a bit far, but i recently replaced my 1999 Spirit 500 LX with a new Spirit II E-310 and i'm taking some inspiration from an Anthony Bourdain episode where he did a segment on the renowned spanish grill restaurant, Etxebarri. They break down and clean the grills every day to maintain the purity of the flavor of the food being grilled.

First off, i haven't used a brush on the grates for a couple of years because of the danger of leaving a stray bristle, instead, i give them a quick wash in warm soapy water in a utility sink, followed by the drip pan.

So now, i'm including the flavorizer bars and giving them a scrub with a scotch brite pad and because the grill is new and i still have the ceramic coated bars, they clean up quite easily.

Am i crazy???
 
Crazy? I don't know about that. But, I have absolutely no problem with a little flavor from my rib cook two days prior making it's way into my Ribeye.
 
John_D said:
OK, maybe i'm taking things a bit far, but i recently replaced my 1999 Spirit 500 LX with a new Spirit II E-310 and i'm taking some inspiration from an Anthony Bourdain episode where he did a segment on the renowned spanish grill restaurant, Etxebarri. They break down and clean the grills every day to maintain the purity of the flavor of the food being grilled.

First off, i haven't used a brush on the grates for a couple of years because of the danger of leaving a stray bristle, instead, i give them a quick wash in warm soapy water in a utility sink, followed by the drip pan.

So now, i'm including the flavorizer bars and giving them a scrub with a scotch brite pad and because the grill is new and i still have the ceramic coated bars, they clean up quite easily.

Am i crazy???
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Hmm, I'm not sure that the answer on crazy hinges on how frequently you clean the flavorizers. Obsessive compulsive, perhaps. Crazy, we need more info. BTW, do you make house calls?
 
Scott C. said:
Hmm, I'm not sure that the answer on crazy hinges on how frequently you clean the flavorizers. Obsessive compulsive, perhaps. Crazy, we need more info. BTW, do you make house calls?
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Obsessive is probably a better description, but that's what I was impressed by Etxebarri's owner/chef Victor Arguinzoniz. He seems to have an obsessive attention to every aspect of preparing a dish.
 
Bruce said:
Seems every problem I have had in the last ten years have been ones where I have no idea what caused it.
I am dealing with what feels like a bruise on the back of my heel. It started about a week ago and slowly is getting worse and worse. I don't ever remember hitting it on anything and it is starting to get to the point where wearing shoes and walking are getting painful. It is on the back and not bottom of my heel though. There is absolutely no marks or bruising, but it feel exactly like what a bruise would feel like.

And I am just one week from #59.
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Bruce I had what sounds like the same problem and it drove me nuts. It turned out to be planters fasciitis. I had to wear a brace on my calf and foot while I slept and it finally was gone in about a month or so if I remember. It was something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W51LS51/?tag=tvwb-20
 
JohnS NJ said:
Over the last few months I’ve been using the grill more on my Gen 2 due to the pandemic. As a result, I decided to upgrade Bertha with a SS grate and Dave Santana bars. I've gotten flare ups before I just shrugged it off as extra flavor for my meat. But lately it's been getting worse. I've cleaned the bars before and I already rotated them. But last night it got bad - see pic. That was chicken thighs on them. Can anyone give some advice on how to solve this?

My typical routine is to bring the grill to max temp to burn off whatever was on there and then scrape off. I typically make my own seasoning so there wasn't a lot of sugar or oil on my meats.

It also occurs in the same spot. Mainly the center between the top and middle burner. Weber had told me that there are "dead spots" on the x000 lines but I shrugged it off as it helps me manage my meats when they are different sizes.
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John - Going by the picture you have a nice amount of crud on them bars. Just give them a scrape before using and any time you have some build up. I think it will improve. Just think if your stove had that crud on it would you clean it before using?
 
Joe Anshien said:
John - Going by the picture you have a nice amount of crud on them bars. Just give them a scrape before using and any time you have some build up. I think it will improve. Just think if your stove had that crud on it would you clean it before using?
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I've done that before and also rotated the bars. I don't like using chemicals in cleaning off the inside. I just leave it on max and burn off whatever I can't scrape off. It's just annoying with the flareups.
 
So Bruce got me hooked on the wire wheel and I am restoring an old 2 burner Spirit and I had these flavorizer bars that fit so I cleaned them up and they look almost like new. Here is the pic. I am thinking that now that they are nice and smooth the fat is more likely to run down instead of getting stuck by the rust.flavorizer.jpg
 
Yes, it should, but they are going to get gunked up again fairly fast. Those do look almost new again.
 
I have never done that to mine. I just scrape them off a little when they get extra gunk burnt on them. That isn't too often either.
 
Joe Anshien said:
So Bruce got me hooked on the wire wheel and I am restoring an old 2 burner Spirit and I had these flavorizer bars that fit so I cleaned them up and they look almost like new. Here is the pic. I am thinking that now that they are nice and smooth the fat is more likely to run down instead of getting stuck by the rust.View attachment 24932
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Um, right about now I'd be thinking those don't look much like stainless to me, which means that I might be removing the porcelain enamel off of plain steel. Porcelain and stainless are the only types of flavo bars out there AFAIK.
 
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Ed Pinnell said:
Um, right about now I'd be thinking those don't look much like stainless to me, which means that I might be removing the porcelain enamel off of plain steel. Porcelain and stainless are the only types of flavo bars out there AFAIK.
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They are stainless but probably not 304. Maybe 400 series?
 
Ok, just looks like rust on the one edge that's been cleaned, maybe it's a reflection or maybe the far end is the clean end? I expected stainless to look silvery, tho, not black-ish. Oh, well, wrong again !

Carry on, Joe! :)
 
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