Actual, usable alternatives to wire brushes?

[adamcoe]

Alrighty, so while I assume it's mostly media hype and a few scared people causing a ruckus, I'm sure you've all seen the latest dire threat to humanity, wire grill brushes. I (like many of you) have used one for many, many years with no problems BUT I'd be agreeable to changing to something else if -and only if- I could find something that worked as well as a brush. I've tried grill stones, I've tried wooden scraper tools, and none have done even close to as good a job. Generally I'm pretty careful about looking for stray bristles, and more often than not I wipe down the whole grill with oil on a paper towel before grilling, which I imagine would pick up anything I might have missed (though I don't do this every single time, if I'm just whipping up some quick burgers or something).

Anyway if you folks know of a viable alternative, post it here! Otherwise I imagine I'm just gonna stick to the brush, and just make sure I'm careful about looking for bristles, and replacing the brush regularly. Cheers!

[DWCowles]

I have these two that works really well.

[jerrybell]

I decided to try this out. Amazon had a promotion going for 50% off at checkout on one made by Aizara.

[Troutman]

+1 - I use both. The plastic one works great on expanded metal grates.

[fkrall]

I use the twisty one. You can soak it it a small bucket of dish detergent and water and it'll clean up almost good as new. Which reminds me, I'm going to do that right now!

[andy.wpg]

Crumple up a ball of tinfoil (not too tight) - works great!

[fzxdoc]

Most radiologists are quite familiar with reading x-rays where wire grill brush pieces are embedded inside human beings. I wouldn't say it's all hype. People use grill brushes way past their safe lifetimes.

Meathead described health concerrns due to grill grate brushes here: https://amazingribs.com/ratings-revi...ing-your-grill . Scroll down to see the x-ray evidence.

I used to use wire brushes until I purchased highly-recommended Grill Grates and used them for over a year with no problems. One day to my horror I found several wire bristles in the valleys of the grates after cleaning. The brush I had used was 1 year old. Now conceivably those wire bristles could have fallen right through conventional BBQ grates and not caused a problem. The fact that Grill Grates are not designed for that made it even more obvious and potentially dangerous. Plus it really demonstrated for me how even a "good" wire brush can shed bristles.

I immediately went out and purchased non-wire brush grate cleaning tools. However, as you have noted, almost nothing works as good on BBQ gunk as a good wire bristle brush.

That said, the best thing I've found for an alternative is a wadded up piece heavy duty aluminum foil and some thick gloves made to withstand high heat. I wad the foil into softball size and scrub the grates and the flat Grill Grate Griddle when used. I use it on all my grill grates on my smokers and grills, not just the Grill Grate product. You'd be surprised how quickly they clean those grates when you scrub them while they're nice and hot.

The gloves I use are these, rated up to 1200°F radiant heat and 900°F short contact heat.

https://www.northernsafety.com/Produ...Hi-Temp-Gloves



They're great.

I have in the past used the wadded up aluminum foil with a long pair of tongs (before I purchased the gloves), but you really can't scrub the grates well with tongs holding the foil. It's unwieldy and inefficient in my experience.

Kathryn

[Huskee]

I agree with the above. Toss it out when it looks old, a $5-15 brush is NOT worth the risk if it's past its lifetime. Wire brushes are like toothbrushes, they're cheap and there's absolutely no harm in changing them a little too often!

I use a moist paper towel after using a wire brush, and inspect the grates well to ensure there's no bristles. I also use the foil ball method a lot.

[Skip]

I agree Huskee. Wiping with a paper towel after the brush is also my go to method.(along with several other non-brush scrapers.)

[holehogg]

Most people I know including myself heat up the grill then use some tightly balled moist newspaper and elbow grease. Am definitely going to try the foil method. Can see it being a lot less messy than newspaper and if it works, well I may become the Grid Guru to my buddies.

[Nate]

Char-Broil’s Cool Clean nylon brushes work quite well but as the name implies are best used in a cool grate.

[Frozen Smoke]

I've been using the Cool Clean brushes with good results. My grates are all expended steel so that poses another problem. I tried foil for awhile but to clean all the expanded steel grates in my smoker used way to much foil. The expanded steel would pretty much shred a piece of foil before it could clean anything. I like the cool clean because if a bristle does get left behind you can see it pretty easily because it's red. I do replace them several times a year.

Who ever can be the first one to come up with the real solution to this problem for all types of grates is going to be able to buy his own island in short order. And no I won't use a chemical degreaser either. That still requires some scrubbing with some device anyhow.

[Attjack]

I still use a wire brush, but hit it with an onion afterwards. I feel like the onion would probably remove any stray wires. It also cleans all the black stuff off.

[holehogg]

Before a cook I use a frozen lemon and rub the warm grid (expanded metal) works just as well unfrozen.

[radshop]

I use wire brushes without concern, but maybe I do things a little different than others. Are you all cleaning at the start of the cook? I can see why the wire brush could be a risk then. But honestly, even if it weren't for the ingestion of bristles, I don't think I would want to use my wire brush and then immediately cook on the grate. I mean, I leave my brushes lying around outside so they accumulate dirt. And they build up some grease in the crevices, and that will turn rancid. Sure, the heat will kill germs and burn off the dirt, but why wipe a layer of dirt on the grates right before cooking? Anyway, I'm not trying to put down anybody's method if it works for you, I'm just not sure what others do or why. Maybe you keep your brushes clean.

For me, at the END of a cook while the grill is still hot, I usually scrub with a wet wire brush. The combination of abrasion and steam usually gets the crud right off. But if there's residual crud (or if I forget to clean them while hot), I just take the grate to the kitchen and wash it in the sink. In either case, before the next cook there is always either a wipe-down with a paper towel or a washing in the sink, or something. So I brush away without fear.

[RonB]

I still use a wire brush, but it's a welder's brush. I have heard that they do not lose their bristles. I also use a weeding tool for the really baked on stuff, (this one is similar to mine, but I found a different brand locally):

https://smile.amazon.com/Fiskars-Dur...ed+puller+tool

I got this idea from someone here although I can't remember who.

[EdF]

I wonder if one of these would work, together with the heat-resistant gloves of course.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKBR1ZG/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[DWCowles]

I have one of those to clean my CI with and it does a great job.

[jerrybell]

I'm not 100% consistent with this method but i try. I use one of the spiral wound brushes like the one below for cleaning effectiveness. I think these would be less prone to loosing bristles than the wood block type but that is just my assumption. Just before I start the cooker I use one of the nylon brushes in the hopes of knocking off any metal bristles that might have come loose and clung to the grate. I wouldn't want to swallow a nylon bristle either, they could do nearly as much damage. However at grilling temps that nylon will definitely melt during the time the grill is heating up. Not certain that would be the case at 225. As others have stated I replace the brush often.

[DWCowles]

Just goes to show that everyone does things differently than others.

[texastweeter]

I only use two things. while the grates are cold, I use a char broil cold grate brush. It is a nylon that is impregnated with grit. Then when hot, i use a ball of old aluminum foil that i douse with water. Those two together take it back to super clean (use tongs with the foil ball)