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Sparkle Grill Cleaning Service - Chicago Review

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    Sparkle Grill Cleaning Service - Chicago Review

    I remembered us talking about grill cleaning businesses a couple years ago, and I was feeling kinda meh about doing the spring cleaning this year, particularly as the weather in the upper Midwest has been especially trick or treat this spring (it is every spring… we went from a high of 75 to wintry mix the next night).

    so, I thought I’d take one for the team and try it out. I did some Google and yelp searching and found Sparkle Grill which has franchises or offices or something in AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, MD, MS, NV, NJ, NY, NC, PA, VA, and DC. Obviously, went with the Chicago office.

    I sent them pictures and got a quote. Here are the befores I sent:

    Report on the result and process below.
    Attached Files

    #2
    In the interim, I bought new knobs for the gasser, and stainless deflectors and flavorizers. I thought they were rusted through.

    any rate, after setting an appointment, the guy showed up towards the start of the appointment window. 8:15 I get a call about how he can’t find the house. his GPS took him to the wrong street. I got him sorted, and after an intro to the grills. He was familiar with the Weber, UDS in general, and I had to give him a tour of the Grilla, but that’s a weird grill, so I’ll allow it.

    by 8:30 he started. He was done done by 4:30 PM.

    his kit: two drills fitted with different styles of wire brushes, my hose, a variety of degreasing and cleaning stuff, some fast burning wood for the OJB.

    Final report: did have some wee bit of mold in the OJB, he restored the original deflectors and flavorizers to looking factory new, cleaned everything cleaner than it’s been in years.

    The good: shiny clean on most surfaces, grill grates like new. Felt like I got the labor value for the money.

    the down: expensive. Gonna do new burn ins on the two cookers he didn’t.

    the Verdict: I would recommend if you have a really dirty grill and don’t have the wherewithal to do the cleaning yourself. I will not be doing every year, and maybe I can stay more on top of things and not get to the same state again. It’s been a rough couple of years, I think we can all agree. So, would use again, but hope to not want to use again, if that makes sense. I’d go at least three years before doing again.
    Attached Files

    Comment


      #3
      Wow! The grills look really good!

      I wish I could get the stainless grates on my Performer and SNS Kamado looking that good. I feel like I've burned the stainless, as it always seems discolored even after a good brushing. The only stainless grates I have that seem to still look good are the SNS elevated grate, and the Hovergrill, and I attribute it to them being farther from the fire during use.

      Do you think he used any chemical soak or something to get the grates that clean, or was it all wire wheels and drills?

      Comment


      • Potkettleblack
        Potkettleblack commented
        Editing a comment
        Some Zep degreaser which he doesn’t dilute, but mostly water, and then powered wire brushes.

      • DavidNorcross
        DavidNorcross commented
        Editing a comment
        Jim....you shaved!

      #4
      Looks great!

      Yeah, the weather has been all over the place this year. I just decided to wait until it is consistently 70 plus before I do a cleaning and install the new hopper plates for MB. No desire to freeze my ass off trying to clean frozen grease…

      Comment


        #5
        Man I wish they had a provider up here in the Milwaukee area. My grills are always a mess. All NINE of them. 🙄🤦 And to be honest I am just too lazy to do more than anything superficial cleaning. I will search to see if anything similar exists here. 🤷‍♂️

        Comment


          #6
          Great write up! I know the cost will vary based on the number & type of grills that you have.... since he was at your house all day, can you give us an idea of how much it cost per hour?

          Thanks for sharing!

          Comment


          • Potkettleblack
            Potkettleblack commented
            Editing a comment
            Let’s see: about $80/hour based on the labor. The gas grill got the most work (does have the most parts) and was over half the bill.

            Note: Chicago price, so might be more or less affordable where you are.
            Last edited by Potkettleblack; April 20, 2022, 11:38 AM.

          #7
          Good review. I hate cleaning grills, but it's necessary to do the good stuff (cook good eats!). My competition rig for many years was a FEC100 pellet smoker. I cleaned it regularly because a greasy, sooty pellet grill just doesn't present well. I have a good method for getting the gunk out. EZ Off no fumes oven cleaner. Put the racks in garbage bag(s), spray the stuff in, seal up the bags and let time do the work. Same with the inner cabinet. Cover the fire pot assembly with a plastic bag, spray EZ Off and shut the door. Come back after 8 hours (or the next day) and spray the chemical and gunk out. Sometimes (if I waited too long), there'd need to be some scraping. Most of the time the cooker was sparkly clean.

          Comment


          • Potkettleblack
            Potkettleblack commented
            Editing a comment
            The only reason I wanted the Grilla cleaned is because of its shape, and it’s general inability to be disassembled, it’s harder to clean. Like the space behind where the door goes… very hard.

          • jfmorris
            jfmorris commented
            Editing a comment
            I can do this! I would love to see shiny stainless grates again!

            EDIT: I've got a can of oven cleaner. Grabbing a trash bag and all the grates and soaking them down...
            Last edited by jfmorris; April 20, 2022, 11:41 AM.

          • DaveD
            DaveD commented
            Editing a comment
            Interesting! I'm about due to clean up the vertical p-smoker, might have to try this. I always clean the racks I use either day-of or next day, so they're fine, but this could save a lot of elbow grease on the actual box...

          #8
          Damn. This write-up made me realize it's time to clean my Blaze. The upside is that the Blaze is super easy to clean. Maybe I'll even bust out a rotary wire brush. Never tried that before. But all the flat surfaces of its design clean up nicely with a paint scraper.
          Last edited by Attjack; April 20, 2022, 12:17 PM.

          Comment


            #9
            Easy off Oven cleaner will work on Stainless Steel grates, but it a harsh.
            Traeger All Natural Cleaner works very well and will not harm the finish and this is what I use.
            Besides cleaning the grill is part of BBQ.

            Comment


              #10
              I actually found that I had a can of Easy Off BBQ Grill & Smoker Cleaner in the house! Must have been in there for years. Interestingly, they say to NOT use it on the grill itself - just the removed grates. I'll get to work on them at some point.

              Comment


                #11
                Well, I'm back to report that my experience with the EZ Off cleaner was that it did NOT strip everything off the grates for my kettle and kamado. It took some of the crud off, and then I spent a good 30 minutes with a garden hose, steel wool, dish soap and scotch brite pads working on all of the grates for those 2 grills. Still not as pristine as I would like, as there are a few spots of baked on blackness. And the lower grate on the kamado (charcoal level, but I also use it for searing if the fire is in the bottom) is just discolored from the heat, and won't clean up shiny except at the outer perimeter of the grate.

                Bottom grate...

                Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_8395.jpg Views:	0 Size:	3.87 MB ID:	1211287

                Upper grates...

                Click image for larger version  Name:	IMG_8397.jpg Views:	0 Size:	4.33 MB ID:	1211286

                I even took out the ring that supports the upper grate with 4 tabs, and scrubbed it down, then went over the stainless steel cradle for the SNSK with some cleaner. Spring cleaning done for this grill!

                Anyway, not to highjack this thread further, but I wanted to point out that multiple soaks in EZ Off Grill & Oven cleaner, PLUS lots of scrubbing, did not yield the pristine results that Potkettleblack got from the professional grill cleaning service. So if you want your grill super clean, a service like that may be the way to go, unless you have a lot of time on your hands.
                Last edited by jfmorris; April 23, 2022, 09:51 AM.

                Comment


                • Bkhuna
                  Bkhuna commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Shiny grates are a sign of lack of use, or, a behavioral disorder. 🤣

                #12
                Okay, I have to update this.

                I'm a little less pleased now then I was right after they were cleaned.

                First, the Grilla.

                It was popping the fuse on the outlet every time I turned it on. I figured it's trying too hard, googled why that could be, and removed the augur. Which was a roughly solid mass of wet sawdust. Problem solved.

                Then, I went to cook some ribs yesterday, and I couldn't set the temp. I could dial it up from 350, but not down. I contacted Grilla, who had me take a picture of the faceplate and give them the model of my cooker, and then dispatched a replacement decal along with a video on how to take the existing faceplate off and replace it with a new one. No charge for the part. Heroic.

                Any rate, I figure the augur is my fault. I should have cleaned it out before he came.

                The decal, I dunno. If it's a larger problem, I have some questions.

                Then, the gasser. I'm missing some screws. The ones that hold the burner tubes in place. This has led to misalignment of the starters, which are kind of unmoored. I can get the replacement screws... but still... that's discourtesy.

                Comment


                • STEbbq
                  STEbbq commented
                  Editing a comment
                  How does the decal impact the cook? Isn’t it just cosmetic?

                  That is not good on the screws. I would be embarrassed to have screws left after putting something back together for a paying customer.

                • Potkettleblack
                  Potkettleblack commented
                  Editing a comment
                  The decal is actually where the buttons are. It's apparently one of the more common failures on the Grilla. Has some wiring that connects to the board. So, I had to cook some ribs at 350... they came out fine but it was a challenge.

                  They call it a decal, but it's really the buttons and face.

                  On the screws, gotta figure out what they were, so I can get replacements at the hardware store.
                  Last edited by Potkettleblack; May 2, 2022, 10:57 AM.

                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Oh man! I hate to hear about these issues, considering what you paid for the service. If you had a wet mass of sawdust in the auger, I expect he hosed down the Grilla, which could also account for the messed up control panel...

                #13
                Well, that's got to be annoying, Potkettleblack . And expensive to have paid what you did to have missing screws and a sick Grilla result. Do they figure something happened during the cleaning to mess up the buttons and face? Like water seeping into the wrong place?

                jfmorris , thanks for your report. I hate messing with oven cleaner, and I hate scrubbing grill grates. It's one reason why I use the PBC more in the wintertime because there are no grates to clean (I usually soak the grates in a large water heater water pan outside). I scrub the grates after every cook on my WSCGC and gasser, but there are always a few burned on black areas that just don't want to come clean no matter how hard I try.

                Kathryn
                Last edited by fzxdoc; May 3, 2022, 05:09 AM.

                Comment


                • Potkettleblack
                  Potkettleblack commented
                  Editing a comment
                  No clue. It might just be something that goes bad at some point. It's also possible that it got messed being hosed or something.

                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Kathryn, yeah, I would have liked the EZ Off Grill cleaner to have just made them pristine with no effort, but sadly, it took elbow grease and steel wool to do the job. It's done for now, and I consider that my Spring Cleaning for the grills, haha. Actually, I like to scrape down the inside of the kettle with a putty knife once a year, otherwise the ash sweep area gets all gunky and doesn't work as well, so that still needs to happen...

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