I have bought a Napoleon grill and it has some proprietary wavy grills (picture 1). I didn't think anything more of it until I tried to clean them. I bought their coiled wire bristle-free brush (picture 2), but its obviously some cheap one size fits all generic brush with their logo printed on it because it doesn't fit the grills, it wont reach in the grooves, and therefore not cleaning the grills well (or at all). My local hardware stores pulled out every metal bristle brushes from the shelves in the recent years, and replaced them with soft silicon brushes or those wood scrappers things, but same problem, it wont fit the wavy grooves. I am seriously considering buying a blacksmithing brush (picture 3), made for brushing off scale from hot forging steel. Are any of you familiar with Napelon grills, what's your trick? I feel like the foil ball and tongs thing is so wasteful and unpractical.
by TonyDrambuie
28 Comments
NO NO NO ABSOLUTELY DO NOT EVER USE METAL WIRE BRUSHES ON BBQS EVER!!!!!!!
These wire brushes break easily. Might end up with the wire in your food. Just threw mine out for that same reason. Wasn’t that old either.
Everyone says not to use a wire brush because of the risk of them getting into your food, but I’ve tried everything and nothing gets my grill clean like a wire grill brush tbh
Grill floss or the onion technique
I was a professional cook/chef for many years. A brush like you have in picture 3 is very similar to ones we often used in the industry for cleaning the grill. A company named Carlisle makes products similar but with handles meant for leverage. That would work fine as long as you’re using the cast iron grates. Though those wavy grates look like a pain in the ass to clean.
After ending up with a quarter inch metal bristle stuck in my tongue, I haven’t used a grill brush with bristles since.
Try cut a small plank of pine into a shove shape and put a 45 deg angle on the end, use that to scrape your hot grate and it would clean up fine.
They also sell a sort of porous stone thing that cleans and becomes dust as you use it.
I would not take the risk with anything with bristles…
Friend of a friends kid had to be operated on as he got a meal bristle stuck in his throat… it was not pleasant.
At worst maybe a blowtorch would be an option also?
I got the BBQ Daddy for a gift 2 years ago and it’s been working great.
If your grates are plain cast iron there shouldn’t be an issue. CLEAN both sides & wipe down with an oiled cloth/paper towel & MAKE SURE there’s no metal debris left on grates.
Restaurant supply outfits have grate brushes similar to the smith/welder brush, but with longer handles that aid in cleaning grates.
Don’t use anything made of plastic or resinous wood on a hot grate! ☣️
I only use a grill scraper to clean my grates. Never had any problems with dirty grates or old flavor transfer issues. Works every time especially after a few minutes of heating up everything slides right off with scraper
I have a grill with enameled cast iron grates. Metal brushes can chip or damage the coating. If it’s just cast iron with no coating, it should be fine. That said, metal brushes aren’t advised from what I’ve heard because bristles can fall off and get in your food. You can probably mitigate that by being observant.
I clean my enameled cast iron grates with a nylon grill brush. Once I’m done cooking, I run the grill on its hottest temperature to burn everything off for 5 mins at a minimum. Then, after we’ve eaten and it’s cooled down but is still warm, I scrub the grates. Everything is carbonized and just falls off at that point. Then it gets one more scrub before I start cooking again.
I see that’s still a polarizing topic to this day! Thanks for your answers, I think I’ll give another chance to bristle free options with the grill daddy water dipped thingy. I obviously care about the well-being of my family! I just also care about a clean grill…
I’d never use wire on my grill. Read about the people that accidentally ate a bristle and the hell it put them through, not worth it. I just use fire and a spatula to clean mine
Try aluminum foil. I used to use the wire brushes because they felt like they were doing something, but one got old and it was a pain getting all the little wires off the grating. We finally got it cleaned up, threw that one away, and the next week another one left little wires on my grating. Ugh. Threw them all away and now we use foil. The coil ones aren’t good. But crumpled foil seems to work okay, and even better if you do it after the cook instead of when you’re starting up.
I get the temptation, but folks talking about the little wires being dangerous aren’t lying, those things are small, sharp, and I wouldn’t want to eat them.
i made the switch away from metal bristle brushes some time ago. I don’t know how real the threat of perforated bowel really is, but i can tell you that when i went to replace a well used brush with a new one, all the new ones were garbage. They shed bristles constantly to the point where i could find them on the ground near the grill so i knew they were elsewhere as well. If the possible end result of a terrible quality brush is an extended stay in the hospital, then it was enough reason to push me to explore my options
In my experience, the silicon brushes are useless. they should not be used on a hot grill, and the only good way to get baked on junk off is when its ripping hot. The onion method kinda worked, but when i was cooking frequently, i was going through a lot more onions than i wanted to and after cleaning the grill they looked terrible and inedible. I never made it to the wooden paddle style grate cleaner (supposed to wear down the wood so that it fits your grates perfects and acts like a hardened scraper).
I landed on chain mail scrubber designed for cleaning cast iron based on the recommendation of a CI sub on reddit. They work really well, and when they shed links they are easy to see and not even a little sharp (so even if i ingested one i have no fear it would pass right through unnoticed).
I used a wire brush for a very long time. Then one day I come across a post on why not to use wire brushes because they can get stuck in your throat, I thought that never happens tk me because I inspect the grill before I cook. I don’t even remember what I cooked that night but I remember the next few days well I got a sliver of the wire hung up in to top of my throat for three days I was finally able to swallow it which probably isn’t much better then it being stuck in my throat.
Like a shit house rat.
Seriously, yes.
I’m sure most of the horror stories about wires getting into your food are because of cheap brushes.
Get a good quality brush and always check your grill after and you should be fine. And to be clear, brand name doesn’t = quality. Look for the more professional grades i.e. restaurant wholesaler. You will pay a premium, but they are better.
Sure, try it. Of course, make sure you wash them afterward to remove any loose wires.
I use the wood paddles and clean right after grilling while it is still hot. Works fine for me. Occasionlly I’ll remove them and use a wire brush to get the buildup off the bottom, but I wash the grates afterward.
We use welding brushes. $6 at Home Depot and the metal
Bristles DONT COME OFF
And if one did – it’s not a tiny thin metal piece. They are thick “bristles” and won’t hide in food. Will be visible
My current one is two years old and completely intact
I found a piece of a grill brush on top of a steak once and I’ve been a little gunshy to use one again but the curly brushes just don’t work as well
Balled up Costco foil works a treat
This is what I’ve been using for years because I was told the wires would never come out of the brush. 10 years and that seems to be true.
I’ve used a few different things for cleaning. Most recently I found a grill tool that has a silicon pad covered by chainmail. It seems to work pretty well, though I don’t work too much about how clean it is. Just knock off the big leftover burned pieces and fire it up
get this…
[https://www.harborfreight.com/soft-grip-carbon-steel-brush-with-scraper-66809.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/soft-grip-carbon-steel-brush-with-scraper-66809.html)
and this
[https://www.harborfreight.com/block-wire-brush-57291.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/block-wire-brush-57291.html)
Try a grill product.
Jew are so cracey, meng…
Everyone gets kinda weird about cleaning your grill grates. Just maintain the grates before and after each cook with some abrasive non-wire brush and some cooking oil (I prefer olive).
If you fail to maintain them and they rust, use dish soap, sanders and power washers.
If the above fails. just buy new grates.