Grill Cleaning

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There is a milder Simple Green and then an Industrial Degreaser Simple Green, the latter I found online and ordered.

Same formula as the consumer version. Just can buy in larger quantities with "industrial." Dilution is the key. Start with a MINIMUM of 1:1. Probably will take less than you think. It's good stuff if you use it right.
 
Yes Chris, my father cooked similarly for family picnics in Texas parks. Still can do the open style grilling for burgers, steaks, pork tenderloin, chicken and fish whilst camping or in a park, sometimes covered with foil for a smoke trap, then done and leave for the next cook to burn it clean. I travelled all over Mexican beaches with a tent and just a 12" X 16" cast iron grate for grilling fish on the beach over coconut husk coals, to roll up in fresh tortillas with peppers and tomatoes. But if one seeks the 12 hour smoked butt or brisket, grilled out back at home, one invests in better, more enclosed equipment and accepts responsibility for cleaning it so it doesn't stink, draw flies and pose health threats, aye.

Not meaning to stir the fire so-to-speak. I do wash my grills and water pan in the WSM after each cook. However I don't wash the inside of my smoker. If I did I would loose all of the seasoning and my smoker would leak like a sieve. I also don't have flies hanging around when the smoker isn't in use. I only see them when it's cooking. Then again two of my neighbors have horses and a third has chickens and turkeys. Krusatyr are you from the Montreal area? I only ask because their the only folks I've known to use the term aye.

Chris
 
"Aye" is Colorado Mountain pidgin for "See" or "Got it?" or "Don't you agree?". Canadian and Rocky Mountain USA cowboy/miner origin, the response being usually preceded by an unprintable expletive, as in (#$%!)'n aye.

I have now invested 15 hours into research and trabajo for grill cleanliness. I'm gonna be an expert eventually, but meantime, my food is great, objectively A- to B+, and safe to eat.

The grill cleaning ritual must consider:

1. The materials your grill is made of (mine is Aluminum and Stainless Steel);

2. Your tolerance of stink, filth and rotten grease and attracting flies who love that stuff;

3. Your time and budget.

4. Your conscience.

Ciao.
 
For previous 30 years of grilling/smoking with carbon steel contraptions or brick, bluestone and cast iron pits, I was haphazard about cleaning and oiling resulting in flaking coatings of burnt grease and old smoke stink from twenty feet away, so now want a continuously cleaner experience. I've twice cleaned the upper and lower aluminum castings of the new PK360 with 4/0 steel wool and Barkeepers Friend and with Dawn and 3m pads and with Brillo pads. Muchos horas de trabajo.

I don't want to get too anal about it but like to see and smell clean, well kept equipment for all cooking, indoors and out, close to what a restaurant or catering service would perform for health inspections. Hence the industrial restaurant degreaser approach, probably with steel wool or 3m pads, then heavy water rinsing.

I wish this forum had one area just for grill cleaning techniques. As my overall quality of all types of cooking has advanced over decades, I have become cleaner and better organized. Perhaps the prep, planning and cleanliness is causal in the transition.

I take mine to the carwash a spray with the high pressure soap wand
 
I would also think too that the grill/smoker needs to be seasoned again like the first time we used it out of the box after each washing correct?
 
I would also think too that the grill/smoker needs to be seasoned again like the first time we used it out of the box after each washing correct?

It depends on what degree of cleaning you do. On my smoker, when I get through I throw another split in the FB, get my water hose and spray the grates and inside of the smoke chamber. The temp goes back up and dries everything. I do not re-season, using this method.

Gary
 
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Same formula as the consumer version. Just can buy in larger quantities with "industrial." Dilution is the key. Start with a MINIMUM of 1:1. Probably will take less than you think. It's good stuff if you use it right.

After a successful whole brisket smoke on PK360 last weekend,

1. I soaked stainless steel grates in large tub overnight, water to Simple Green 6 to 1, then next day easily scrubbed clean with industrial vinegar, then rubbed with dry 4/0 steel wool: like new again.

2. For inside aluminum top and bottom of PK360, I detached, then scrubbed each with 5 SOS pads, rinsing between and after. Close to new again and I've gotten cleaning chore from 6 hours down to 2 hours.

What a joy to start out on a clean, sanitary grill!
 
Don't use steel wool. Use brass or bronze wool. Steel wool or for that matter steel tools will leave microscopic amounts that will rust. Just look at SS screws that are installed with non SS drivers.
 
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