PSA: Cleaning your gas grill and a super-serious warning

I have an infrared gas grill and the grill is very difficult to clean. At least, until I learned a trick.

A few months ago, I was cleaning it, and I noticed that the bristles from the wire gas grill brush I was using were coming off. Scared the crap out of me to see it on the grill. I had to remove them, wash them, etc. to make sure they were off.

As it turns out, a guy I follow for college baseball--IMHO, the best guy to follow, Kendall Rogers--posted last night that he spent the day in the ER when his daughter got a BBQ brush bristle stuck in her tonsils. Said they had to put her under and surgically remove it.

He said the doctor recommended that you use balled up tin foil to clean your grill. It won't leave particles behind and does a great job of cleaning the grill.

I have tried that before and maybe I'm using the too thin version, because mine tears. It's better than a wire "hair" left behind, but not perfect either.

Here's what is perfect.

Take that tinfoil and take out a couple of sheets big enough to cover the entire grill (wait until the grill is cool before doing this). Lay the sheets down on the grill flat.

Turn the grill up to high heat, closing the lid. Leave for 25 minutes. Turn the heat off. Remove the aluminum foil with tongs (or you can just wait until it cools). What is left is like a self-cleaning oven. It's ashes. You can literally just blow it clean. Use a rag or something to clean it, and you're ready to go for next time.

I have now done this 3 times and it is perfect. Yes, you're using some propane you wouldn't otherwise use. It's worth it.

Interesting and thanks. May have to try this. Does it clean the bottom where the grease leads to the drip tray? Do you have to put anything on the tinfoil to keep it down?

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Originally Posted by KentuckyWildcat

Interesting and thanks. May have to try this. Does it clean the bottom where the grease leads to the drip tray? Do you have to put anything on the tinfoil to keep it down?

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It's mainly for the top part, but it will do a reasonable job of reducing caked-on food on the bottom as well. Just picture what you would normally use the grill brush for, and that's what you're replacing.

Oh, I miss the part you ask about the tin foil. No, it stays down pretty well by itself. I lay it flat and go ahead and sort of press it down with the grill brush handle, and it seems to work fine. The idea behind it is just to keep the heat reflected back onto the grill and superheat the baked on food to the point where it is reduced to ashes. Just laying it on there works fine.

I usually just get it really hot then take the brush to it but I'm definitely going to give this a try. Do you spray a non-stick before you start cooking or anything?

A better source is to consult the expert. Here's an article on it that describes it in better detail.

Only thing I would disagree with them on is using the grill brush afterward. I don't use a grill brush anymore. The wire or whatever metal bristle is just something I don't want on my grate potentially coming off.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/clean-...oil-20235.html

Stone or Wooden Paddle followed by a light coating of Oil...