How Do You Clean Cast Iron Grill Grates

Cleaning At High Heat

If youre having a hard time cleaning your grill, try using soap and steel wool or white vinegar. If the rust is exceptionally bad it will need more drastic measures like sanding off with an electric sander in order for the metal parts to be clean again.

If you have an oven with a self-clean function, or can put your cast iron grates in the oven and set them at extremely high temperatures for over an hour. This will remove any food that has accumulated on it without having to scrub it clean.

Before putting away your oven or grill for the winter, make sure to give it a quick scrub with hot soapy water. This will remove any carbon that may have been left behind and keep you from having an unpleasant surprise when springtime comes around again!

Spraying With A Vinegar Solution

How To Make Grate Scrapping Easier

Your kitchen consists of a variety of products and supplies that are ideal for DIY ideas. For your DIY grill scrapper, you will need:

• Tongs
• Any cleaning solution mentioned in this article

If you can not find a soft bristle cleaner, use a different method to clean your grills. Aluminium foil can scrape off the gunk and grease from your porcelain grills. Just roll the aluminium into a ball thats wide enough to handle without scratching the grates.

Make sure your hand and the grill have plenty of aluminium foil between them to prevent burns. Use tongs to catch the aluminium, or use this method only after the grill has completely cooled to ensure your protection.

I would suggest you to try applying a cleaning solution to the grates. It gives your DIY grill scraper additional cleaning strength.

If you have opted to use a cleaning solution, make sure that the residual product is rinsed to avoid contaminating the potential barbecue food.

Alternatively, try using an old hardwood block that suits your hand well when you finish grilling, to smooth the grates. The wood develops grooves after repetitive use which match perfectly with the grate.

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Restoring The Properties Of Non

Coat the grill grates with an additional coating of vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 300°F or preheat grill to low heat. Grates coated with oil in a hot oven or grill covered for about 30 minutes. Examine the grill grates and re-oil them if they seem to be drying out. Reintroduce the oven and inspect the grates every half an hour to at least one hour.

While applying oil to the grill grates, use hot pads and several sheets of newspaper towels. The oil should be uniformly covered on the grills, but not leak, to avoid the grease catching fire. If you detect heavy smoke warming the grates, quickly turn off the oven. Remove any extra oil from the grates before re-entering the oven.

Using a dry, clean paper towel, wash the grates. Then add another small coating of vegetable oil. Turn off the heat source. Bake or grill the grates until fully cool. When not in use, store the grill grates indoors in a dry location.

How Do I Make My Grill Grates Look New

Grill grates are going to get dirty. In order to get your grubby, greasy grill grates looking new again, you’ll need to know what the grill grate is made from. Each type of grate has unique properties that make a difference when you clean. A regular deep cleaning will be the best way to make your grill grates look like new again.

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Insert Them Into Your Grill

Pro Tip: Now that youre done cleaning, oil the grill grates with canola oil before you cook. This will help prevent food from sticking to the grill in the future and make cleaning much easier.

Canola oil, peanut oil, and avocado oil are all great due to their high smoke points.

Olive oil and extra virgin olive oil are not good to use as they have a smoke point. They will burn at around 400º which is too low for grilling.

Now lets continue with the rest of our grill grate cleaning methods.

Choose The Right Tools To Clean Grill Grates

While some grillers opt for a traditional grill brush, many do not know wire grill brushes can be slightly dangerous. Wire bristles are notorious for breaking off and falling into your food. Without even realizing it, many people have accidentally ingested these bristles, too. If you feel like swapping in a safer tool, weve got plenty of other grill cleaning ideas you can start using today.

• Aluminum Foil: Grab a handful of aluminum foil, ball it up and use grill tongs to hold it while you scrub away. You can even re-use the same aluminum foil from cooking your favorite foil packet recipes.

• Nylon Scouring Pad: Grab a scouring pad from your kitchen and take it to the grill for fast and easy cleanup.

• Grill Stone: Gently rub this pumice-like grill stone back and forth across your grill grates. Then, finish it off by wiping the area clean with a soft cloth or water. Its that easy.

• Onion: It might seem a little strange, but you can use half an onion to clean your grill. Just spear the onion on a barbecue fork, and use the cut side to scrub grates clean. The acidic enzymes will break down grease without being overly abrasive. And if youre cooking with charcoal, the onion can simply be thrown into the coals to discard.

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Quick Tips On How To Clean Porcelain Grates

Porcelain grates are somewhat more challenging to deep clean than other types of grates because the coating can be damaged. You shouldn’t use a wire brush, steel wool, or other abrasives on these grates. These tools can cause scratches in the surface that may lead to chipping, cracking, and rust. Instead, use a nylon grill brush to knock off the largest chunks. Aluminum foil is safe to use on most grill grates because it is softer than the metals the grates are made from.

Warm water with a little dish soap is a great way to clean porcelain grill grates to remove light messes. Wipe them down with a cooking oil that has a high smoke point. Vegetable oil is a good choice, but you should avoid using extra virgin olive oil which can burn and leave a funky flavor that is also unhealthy.

How To Clean Porcelain Coated Cast Iron Grill Grates With Dish Washing Soap

As you might already know, dishwashing soap is the most effective grease cleaning solution.

The dish soap starts to break down fats and oils quickly. What is more greasy than a filthy grill?

For cleaning your porcelain-coated cast iron grill grates with dish soap, you will need:

• 1 gallon of warm water
• 2 capfuls of dish soap
• Nylon or brass bristle brush
• Hose

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Use Baking Soda Solution To Remove The Grease

Sometimes it might be possible that your grates are extremely dirty. In that case, do not apply any abrasive method but instead try the baking soda solution. Make a paste of it by mixing about 6 tablespoons of baking soda with warm water, quantity being around 2 ounces and apply that paste to the iron grates. Leave it for some considerable time and then try cleaning it using the bristle grill brush. It will now be cleaned. All you now need to do is wash the paste and then you will be all set to cook.

Make Your Grates Rust Off After Use :

• Once cooking is finished, just permits the heat to go inner of the grill to flame up the extra sauces & food which cling to the grate.
• Then apply a wire grill brush to clean & drug the grates
• We are telling you a secret weapon use a thin coat of cooking oil or vegetable oil.
• If you find the grill hot even after cleaning, spray a little vegetable oil on a piece of cloth, then wipe the grill dont take a too heavy one simple, a thin coat is enough.
• Or, if you find the grill cooled-off after cleaning, it needs to turn on and roll on until the temperature touches almost 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• To polymerize the oil into the cast iron, high heat is required.
• Seasoning means using vegetable oil to the grill this system oil is applied to bake the cast iron pores to prevent rust.

However, there is wise saying prevention is better than the cure, so lets move with us to know: how to clean rust from cast iron grill grates.

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Option #: Soap And Steel Wool

Clean the grill grates thoroughly in a hot soapy sink, using steel wool or a stiff wire brush. Unfortunately, this will strip the seasoning from the cast iron, but it will take all of the rust off as well, which is your top priority.

Rinse the grates and dry them thoroughly with a clean, rough towel. Take care not to leave any moisture behind, or the rust will return in as little as a day, ruining all your hard work. To ensure that theyre completely dry, try leaving them in a low oven for 5-10 minutes.

Take a look at this video for a visual aid on how to clean cast iron grill grates that have suffered rust damage.

Clean Your Grill With Kosher Salt And Vinegar

Salt and vinegar are a good team. They taste great together on potato chips, and they clean cast iron like you wouldnt believe. Kosher salt has excellent abrasive properties, and when you combine it with the cleaning power that vinegar brings to the table, you wind up with a dynamite grill cleaner thats non-toxic and safe to use. Salt and vinegar are great ingredients for cleaning an oven, too.

Clean Cast Iron with Salt and Vinegar

• Kosher salt
• Bucket of hot water

Don the gloves. Sprinkle the salt over all cooking surfaces. Add just enough vinegar to form a paste. Use the sponge to scrub the cast iron with the paste. Then, use the scraper, scrubber, and steel wool to clean any hard-to-reach areas. Rinse off the vinegar with the hot water, and dry the grill in the oven.

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Option #: Oven Cleaner

Oven cleaner is a cleaning agent that usually contains lye, an alkaline solution thats strong enough to unclog drains. Incidentally, it will also remove a heavy buildup of rust from your cast iron grill grates.

In addition to oven cleaner, youll need a few heavy-duty garbage bags, protective gloves, safety glasses, and a container large enough to hold the grill grates. Once youve thoroughly coated the grates with the cleaner, seal them tightly in the garbage bags and place them in the container. Store the container in a warm, safe place for two days. Be sure that the container is stored in a spot where no children or pets can access it.

After two days, remove the grates and rinse them in hot soapy water to remove the residue.

Cleaning After Each Use

It is a common practice for many people to leave food drippings, grease, and fat on the grill grates between cooking. The next time they cook, they heat the grill and burn the grates off before use. This isn’t a practice that we support. Burning off the grill in this manner releases toxic chemicals into the air and contaminates your grill, but it’s also kind of gross to think about beef fat rendering in the sun on the uncleaned grill grates slowly going rancid before being burned off.

From a food safety and quality standard, cleaning the grill grates after each use is ideal. It’s also quite simple. Use a brush to gently scrape the large chunks of burned on food from the grate. Then, you can use aluminum foil held in barbecue tongs to wipe down the rest of the stuck on food. A wipe with a paper towel and some oil will keep the grates ready for the next use.

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Clean With Aluminum Foil And Baking Soda

• Make a paste of 1 ½ cup ARM & HAMMER Baking Soda and ½ cup water in a small bowl. It should be a thick liquid consistency that sticks to the grill grates.
• Using a brush or sponge, cover the grill grates with the baking soda paste and let sit for a few minutes.
• Tear off a sizable piece of aluminum foil and crumple into a ball.
• Scrub the baking-soda covered grate wires with the aluminum foil ball, working up and down each wire and across the grate.
• Rinse the grate with water and return to the grill.

Protect Them From Rust

One of the enemies of the grates is rust and moist. It can be a marinade, which we use while cooking or grease in the storage. Moisture can attack even the best-protected grills. According to research , it is one of the reasons that creates rust. To remove rust, use steel wool and soap. Then, heat the oven and put the grates one by one to dry.

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What Is The Easiest Way To Clean Grill Grates

We don’t like using harsh chemicals that are toxic for the environment and tough on skin. There are plenty of products out there that are probably safe, but you can use some common household products to clean grill grates without harming the environment. While it can be tempting to use chemicals, wire brushes or scrubbing pads, or steel wool to clean your grill grates, you stand a good chance of damaging the surface and causing bigger problems in the future.

Steel Wool & Soapy Water

I think I should begin by saying this: Do not wash your cast iron with soap and water unless you want to strip your seasoning and then re-season it again.

In the below video, we see how Lodge Manufacturing, one of the oldest cookware companies in the United States and one of the largest manufacturers of cast iron cookware in the world, gives recommendations on how to clean cast iron that has become rusty. The same advice applies to grates.

So long as your spouse will allow it, bring your grill grates inside the house and wash them in the sink with hot soapy water and steel wool or a stiff brush. This will remove any seasoning youve built up, but will also remove any surface rust, bringing your grate back to bare metal.

Once cleaned, you will need to give your grates a good rinse before drying them very thoroughly. You dont want any moisture left behind because that will cause rust to come back again very quickly, even as quick as overnight.

The best way to dry them is a few minutes sitting in a very low oven, to completely make sure if theres no water left in any pores.

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Get Your Grill Clean With Water And Baking Soda

If water by itself doesnt get the job done, you can always go for a more heavy-duty solution and break out the baking soda. Baking soda has abrasive and chemical cleaning action, which makes it perfect for cleaning away caked on grease, grime, and rust.

When you combine it with hot water, it can cut through just about any layer of dirt. Its just the right solution to clean burnt cast iron pans and get rid of nasty food stains without removing the seasoning. However, if the seasoning does come off, its just as easy to add it again.

This solution is ideal for how to clean gas stove grates, as well as the barbeque grill, but it may be best to skip the wire scrubber and steel wool so that you dont damage the material. A sponge or old rag will work just as well.

• Gloves

To make this DIY metal cleaner, create a paste out of the cold water and baking soda, and use the cloth to apply it to all grill surfaces. Let the baking soda mixture dry for a few hours before proceeding.

Then, use the wire brush, steel wool, and scraper to clean all cooking surfaces thoroughly. Apply pressure as needed for particularly dirty areas. Add the soap to the bucket of warm water. Rinse the grill in warm, soapy water, and dry the grill in the oven.

If you need to clean porcelain coated cast iron grill grates, dont use steel wool as you may damage the material. A nylon scrubber works better on this type of surface.