Cleaning Stainless Steel Cookers

[Clark]

Since it is drizzling and cool this morning, I decided to "detail" my Grilla Chimp and my Weber Spirit S315. Both have a lot of stainless steel so I used ZEP Orange on the SS and Dawn Platinum Powerwash on the grates.

The Weber just has SS on the lid, shelves, control panel, and bottom door.
The Chimp has SS components on the inside (grates, deflector, etc.), plus lid and pellet box cover.

Both cleaners did a great job but I was surprised (and pleased) to find that the SS in the Chimp cleaned up so much bettter than the SS on the Weber. Even the inside parts are now shining like new.

Is there that much difference in SS quality used by different manufacturers?

[Spinaker]

Oh yeah, there is certainly a difference in Stainless quality.

For my KBQ, they use 304 Stainless which is what many use in dairies and other food grade facilities. I use an oven cleaner with caustic and it cleans up like new. 404 is expensive and it is over kill for a lot of applications. But many cheaper manufactures love house the term :stainless steel" as a marketing ploy, then they will use a cheap version of it. I am not saying what you have is cheap or anything like that, but there certainly are different grades of stainless used in manufacturing.

As long as it cleans up nice, that is all that really matters.

[GroceryBoy]

Does the oven cleaner remove rust? Living in south Florida, EVERYTHING here rusts eventually.

[Spinaker]

Yep, it does. But you have to work it off. If the stainless if high enough grade, it should. 304 and 316 are highly resistant to corrosion. GroceryBoy

[jfmorris]

Clark I am not surprised - the newer Weber grills use a lower grade of stainless than their stuff from a decade or two ago. Probably 430SS, versus 304SS. Grilla is probably using 300 grade stainless.

My Weber Genesis II E-410, purchased in January 2019, is showing rust/discoloration on the stainless side tables, and I just wish they were thermoset plastic or something other than stainless, like my 2002 Weber Genesis.

[STEbbq]

This was going to be my response as well but I couldn’t remember the different grades of SS.

[bbqLuv]

Maintenance. Yep.
So what is the best way to keep a grill looking good? Keep it clean.
It would be nice to know before you buy. As if companies are forthcoming with that information unless it is the high-end SS.

[surfdog]

Oh yeah there’s a difference! Even within a manufacturer’s line.

My Summit gasser from 2005 is much more robust than their new stuff...which makes them somewhat difficult recommend. A shame really, because many people have no issue with paying a bit more for quality/longevity.

[Clark]

surfdog You are right about people willing to pay for better quality. However, the majority of manufacturers cater to the big box store customers because they are the biggest segment of buyers. The other problem is the 'disposable' item syndrome. When anything breaks, we just toss it and buy another. TVs, copiers, cell phones, grills, etc. That creates built-in future sales for manufacturers.

[jfmorris]

Agreed in the old stuff being better. I cooked at my daughter’s house tonight on my old 2002 Genesis 2 burner I gave to them last year, and it’s just so much better built than the 2019 Genesis II 4 burner that I kept here. I still like the Genesis II but the metal is thinner and the stainless isn’t up to snuff.