How To Care For Grill Grates

Deep Cleaning Methods To Remove Rust And Buildup

Sometimes, a more vigorous cleaning is necessary. To deep clean grates that have sticky buildup, follow these steps:

• Dilute apple cider vinegar with four parts water.
• Dip a steel grill brush into the mixture, and scrub the grates with the brush. Use more of the cleaning solution if necessary.
• Wipe the grates dry with a clean cloth.

Rusted grill grates are a common problem. To remove the rust easily, follow these steps:

• Turn the grill on high heat, and wait until a visible char develops.
• Use your grill brush to scrub the char off the grates.
• Wipe the grates with a clean towel.
• Coat the grates in vegetable oil or another suitable oil, and wipe away any excess oil with paper towels.
• Set the grill to medium, and leave it on for 90 minutes to season the cast iron.

Another option is to remove the char and complete the seasoning process recommended for new cast iron cookware.

Take the time to examine your cast iron grill grates for signs of damage after you remove rust. Replace your grates if you see signs of damage, such as cracking or pitting.

How To Care For Your Cast Iron Cooking Grates

Having porcelain enameled cast iron grates means you get all the benefits of cast iron grilling without the upkeep of raw cast iron. Cast iron retains heat well, offering an extremely hot cooking surface. This is especially important if youre looking for those professional grade sear marks, the true sign of any seasoned griller! Since these grates have a porcelain enamel coating on them they will never need to be seasoned. The coating is baked on during the manufacturing process at extremely high temperatures resulting in a very durable and non-stick cooking surface.

Different models come with different types of cooking grates and its important to know which ones came on your grill. All our 2017 gas grills except for the Summit and Genesis II LX come with porcelain enameled cast iron cooking grates.

Genesis II has very unique cooking grates. For the first time, on Genesis II models the cooking grates are reversible and you can grill on either side of the grate. The thinner side of the cooking grate is ideal for delicate foods such as fish, vegetables and shrimp. While the wider side creates thicker sear marks enhancing the flavor of your food for items like steak, chicken breast or pork chops.

To make sure your cooking grates last as long as possible, check out the tips below!

Cleaners We have a line of cleaners made specifically for our grills. These make cleaning your grates a piece of cake!

Can I Use Pam To Season A Grill

Pam can be used in the place of oil to season your grill, and because it is a spray oil, it will help make it easier to apply and less messy to clean up. You should also be sure to spray the grill while it is cool because, since Pam is an aerosol spray, it can be flammable if sprayed directly onto flames or high heat.

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Spring Clean In Late Fall

Once or twice a year, its a good idea to really scrub down your grill, inside and out.

Before beginning any extensive cleaning, always check your users manual for any special tips or cleaning advice.

Heres a list of tools and cleaners you might want to have on hand:

• a wide putty knife
• a large tub or bucket
• rubber gloves
• a sponge with a textured side
• steel wool
• clean rags or paper towels
• a hose and nozzle, or a pressure washer
• dish soap
• a mild enzyme cleaner, such as Goo Gone All Natural Grill Cleaner
• powdered dishwasher detergent

After removing all of the interior buildup, scrub down everything inside with your grill brush, give everything a good wash with some mild dish soap and a sponge, and then hose the whole thing down.

While you have the sponge and dish soap out, wash the entire exterior as well. If you have a stainless steel model, make sure to use a cleaner specifically intended for stainless, to keep that smudge-free shine.

Please, never use harsh oven cleaners on the interior of your cookbox, grates, or any cooking surfaces. Yes, it will clean well, but the chance of it leaving noxious chemicals behind is too high.

Two Simple Steps To Keeping Grids Clean:

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Why Does My Infrared Grill Smoke So Much

A lot of the first time smoking is caused by the burn off manufacturing residue . As for the the flare ups when you are grilling, the burner should not necessarily be turned to high but rather adjusted for whatever you are grilling. An occasional flare-up is normal.

How Do You Clean Enamel Coated Grill Grates

Instructions Give the grates a nice 10-minute blast on the grill to burn off any residue. Remove the grates and set them on a porch or other surface where they can sit and soak in the cleaner. Use the vinegar or the commercial cleaner and coat the grates. Using the brush and rag, scrub and wipe down the grate.

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How To Choose Between Cast Iron Stainless Rod And Cast Stainless Grill Grates

With all of this in mind heres how we recommend you choose your cooking grates.

Choose cast iron grates if

Buy cast iron if youre going to take care of them and want the ultimate in performance. We cant overstate the necessity of cleaning and seasoning them nor the amazing performance of cast iron.

Choose rod stainless grates if

Buy rod stainless steel if you know youre not going to clean your grill as well as youd clean the pots and pans in your kitchen. Be patient and learn to dial in the temperature precisely to prevent the chicken from sticking and dont be afraid to use cooking oil thoroughly on the grates and your food. Dont expect them to stay shiny, the outside of your grill is supposed to be eye-catching.

Choose cast stainless if

Buy cast stainless steel grates because you want the best of both cast iron and rod stainless. Theyre practically indestructible and perform like cast iron. The upfront cost will be worth the long-term investment. Theyre a great upgrade in any Broil King Regal grill and come standard in Imperial grills. Dont expect them to stay shiny though, these stainless grates should become glossy and black if youre using them right.

Ben Culinary Director, Broil King.

Cleaning Porcelain Grill Grates The Right Way

Porcelain grill grates are metal grill racks coated with heavy porcelain. The metal cores consist of either iron or steel, with iron being the preferred material. Iron heats up faster and hotter than steel and provides an ideal cooking surface when coated with porcelain. Manufacturers often use steel in less expensive grills. Both metals are coated with a heavy layer of porcelain. This creates an ideal grill grate – easy to heat, easy to clean. However, after many uses, porcelain grill grates need a good cleaning.

Sometimes all it takes to clean your grates is a little elbow grease.

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Cleaning The Grill Grate

After getting a fire going, the first order of business is cleaning the grill grate. The grill grate will see the most action and because of thisand the fact that food will come into direct contact with itmost of your cleaning attention should be focused here.

Cooking with high heat gives you a great advantage in easily achieving a clean grill grate. Each time the grill’s fired up, let the grate heat up over the new, intense heat for about five minutes. This will burn away some food stuffs that may be remaining, then a grill brush and a little elbow grease will easily take care of the rest.

If you haven’t already, invest in a good grill brush with a long handle and firm bristles or scouring pad.

How To Wash Grill Grates After Each Use

• How to Clean Burner Grates on a Porcelain Stove

Cooking on the grill is a great way to enjoy a summer meal unless your grill grates are caked with burnt-on food and grease. Not only does the residue ruin the flavor and possibly the safety of your food, it also can produce heavy smoke if it’s left to build up on the grates instead of be promptly cleaned. A quick cleaning after every use keeps the grates clean and saves you work down the road.

1

Turn gas grills onto the high setting once you are done cooking. Close the lid on the grill and let it run on high for 10 minutes to burn off most food residue.

2

Close the lid on charcoal grills after you are done cooking but before you spread the coals to cool. Allow the residual heat from the coals to heat the grates for 15 to 20 minutes.

3

Scrub the hot grates with a brass-bristle brush. Use a long-handled grill brush to avoid contact with the hot grates. Loosen all food residue on the grates with the brush. Allow the grates to cool.

4

Wipe down the cooled grates with water and a rag. For greasy buildup, combine equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle. The vinegar cuts through any grease.

5

Deep clean the grates once a year, or twice a year if you use your grill year-round. Remove the grates from the grill, spray them with oven cleaner and let them soak for 30 minutes to one hour. Scrub the grates thoroughly and rinse clean.

References

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How Do You Season Porcelain Enameled Grill Grates

Seasoning: A solid vegetable shortening is recommended for the initial seasoning. Spread a thin coating of solid vegetable shortening over the entire surface, including all corners, with a paper towel. Do not use salted fats such as butter or margarine. Preheat grill for 15 minutes place grates in grill.

Cleaning A Charcoal Q

With charcoal barbecues, having a thin layer of ash on the bottom will actually provide an insulating foundation, which helps with even heating. This means cleaning after each use isnt necessary.

However, you do need to ensure that any air vents on the bottom are free of ash before each use. And always clean the grates before using, as per the above instructions.

Periodically, remove about three quarters of the ash in the cookbox with a large scoop or a shop vacuum, and dispose of this in the garbage.

A couple of times a year and before storing for the winter, remove all of the ash. Scrub down the interior of the cookbox and lid with warm, soapy water and a stiff brush or textured sponge.

Wash down the exterior at the same time, then rinse the entire unit by hosing it down. Pat dry with paper towels or clean rags.

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Use An Onionto Season Grates

One of our favorite tricks is to cut an onion in half and rub down the tops of the rails of clean, hot grates. Onions contain many sulfur compounds that when heated, creates a super slick, rock-hard surface which is good to 1000°F before it degrades. Onions also contain antibacterial compounds that help keep your GrillGrates safe to cook on.

What To Do With Charcoal

All SE grilling recipes »

The end-of-the-day, just-ate-a-ton-of-meat laziness is kicking in, and with it, the total desire to ignore a problem at hand: the remains of spent fuel.

I implore you, overcome your meat coma and clean out that ash. See, a pile of ash left in the grill can collect moisture, and ash plus moisture can equal a cement-like substance that can become your biggest challenge to cleaning your grillif you can manage to clean it out at all.

To make quick work of this, I keep a big bucket by the grill where I can dump ash at days end. Not only am I more likely to complete this annoying chore if it’s that much easier, but I can also safely move still warm coals out of the grill to finish extinguishing. I store that bucket somewhere where it won’t get wet, then trash the collection of ash when it’s full and I’m positive there’s no coals still burning.

Ash disposal becomes even easier if you opt for lump charcoal, since it creates relatively little ash when compared to briquettes.

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Caring For Cast Iron Grill Grates

Caring for cast iron begins the moment you bring your new cookware home. Seasoning new grill grates is important, too. The first step is to season cast iron cookware before the first use to create a rust-resistant, non-stick surface.

Seasoning doesn’t refer to flavor, but is a method of using oil to coat seal the pores in cast iron cookware. To season cast iron for the first use, or to reseason existing cast iron, complete the following steps:

• Rinse the grates to remove dust, and dry them with a clean towel.
• Heat the grates for 15 minutes at 200 degree Fahrenheit.
• Using paper towels and tongs, rub a thin coat of flaxseed oil, vegetable oil or shortening on the grill grates, using care to all sides of the grate. Nonstick spray is an option, but some nonstick sprays cause stickiness on cast iron surfaces. Look for a spray that doesn’t contain lecithin to prevent sticky buildup, and avoid olive oil for the same reason.
• Put the grates back in the oven on the highest baking temperature available. Turn the oven off after one hour, allow the grates to cool for two hours, and repeat the process five additional times to seal the cast iron.

After seasoning your cast iron grill grates for the first time, you just need to maintain a basic care routine. You can also strip your grates and cookware to remove buildup, or to reseason them after summer is over.

How To Avoid Rust

Without the proper care, cast-iron grill grates will rust. Thankfully, there are easy ways to avoid this.

Cast-iron can sometimes be tricky to take care of, but with a little elbow grease and persistence, you can quickly turn those grates into the thing of beauty that will handle anything you throw at them.

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How To Clean Stainless Steel Grill Grates Making Them New Again

The first advantage of using stainless steel grill grates is that they can withstand highly intense heat. And unlike cast iron, theyre not prone to rust or corrosion. Another benefit is that they dont have any coating that can chip off and leach into your food.

However, if food particles get stuck on your stainless steel grates for so long, they carbonize over time and are tough to remove as a result.

That can really ruin your meal. Therefore, you need to care for them regularly to ensure theyre in good shape for many years to come. Good thing is that stainless steel is very simple to clean.

Below, I will show you how to clean stainless steel grill grates properly, starting with the tools that we need for this job.

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Quick Answer: How To Season Ceramic Grill Grates

• Can I use Pam to season a grill?

Seasoning: A solid vegetable shortening is recommended for the initial seasoning. Spread a thin coating of solid vegetable shortening over the entire surface, including all corners, with a paper towel. Do not use salted fats such as butter or margarine. Preheat grill for 15 minutes place grates in grill.

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Apply The Professional Ceramic Cleaner

Make your grill grates hot then wait some minutes to be cool. Apply the professional cleaner all over the ceramic grates. Let them sit on the grates for at least 10 minutes. After that, use a soft and clean grill brush to scrub gently on ceramic grates. Clean all the dirt and food debris from the grill grates surface.

What Are Cast Iron Grill Grates

The cast iron grill grates are excessively tough. However, it can work as a good base but because of its oxidization tendency, the maintenance becomes almost impossible. It is important that there is some kind of coating on the top.

It can be of porcelain. Also, there is another option of stainless-steel grill grate that demand the least maintenance.

In porcelain enamelled cast iron grates, you get low maintenance non-stick grates that does not require any seasoning before you put the meat on. Also, cleaning these grates is really simple.

However, among the pitmasters, this option is not very effective because the porcelain coating eventually comes off and expose the inner cast iron base.

You can increase the life of these grates by gently scrubbing the grates as you clean. However, these have smaller life than stainless-steel material.

Now, the stainless-steel grates are also low in maintenance and highly durable as well. They dont rust and can handle sun and moisture abuse.

But on the downside, these grates will not reach the same high-temperature as cast-iron grates and also the material might start to turn dark after some time.

Since grilling is all about using extreme heat to cook the food, you can go with porcelain enamelled cast-iron grates and maintain them for prolonged usage.

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