Never use steel wire brushes to clean BBQ grates

[Old Ironmaker]

I just watched a report on CHCH Hamilton. A young woman was eating at friends this weekend and felt a stabbing pain in her mouth. The pain continued every time she moved her tongue. Long story short she had to have a 1" long piece of BBQ brush wire removed from her tongue surgically in the hospital. They also reported on an incident where a wire from one of these brushes perforated a mans intestines that required major surgery and could have been fatal. They also said if this young woman had have left this as is she most likely would have had to have a portion of her tongue removed. Scary stuff.

 

Not only these things are obviously hazardous they are bad for your BBQ grates as they will take the non stick material off and only makes cleaning tougher. Porcelain I think. I tried the soft material that comes on some brushes but it basically melted the first time I used it. I guess that type is used when the grates are cold. The thing didn't come with the instructions I wouldn't read anyway. An onion cut in half works. I will use a soft cloth held by tongues wet with veggie oil to clean the grates and it prevents sticking too.

 

Throw that steel bristle brush out , now.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Old Ironmaker

[manitoubass2]

Maybe I have some stuck in my brain, that would explain alot????

 

Ive always used a steel brush with a heated grill to clean.

 

Sounds horrible I guess Ill look at other options

 

Thanks for the heads up?

[Burtess]

I use a stainless steel welders brush to clean my Broil King stainless steel grates. If you don't use a metal brush you can't get all the crud off. You have to visually inspect both the grates and the brush for loose wires before you cook. As long as you pay attention you shouldn't have a problem. For those that don't this is a good wake up call....

 

Burt

[Old Ironmaker]

There isn't really anything on a grate that will harm you. edit, except a wire. Any bacteria I think should be killed at 500F. Please if that's not true correct me. That crud actually stops sticking, to me it just doesn't look clean. Every once and a while I give the grates a good splash of Spray 9 and wash with the power washer. Another excuse to fire up the power washer, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I used to use a welders brush too. I think you need some good eyes to detect a thin wire. I don't think it's worth the risk is all. I would feel terrible if one of the little one choked on a wire. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Old Ironmaker

[Freshtrax]

Walking down the street is dangerous too. I will continue to brush my bbq and walk down the street. Can't be scared of everything

[Roy]

Slow news day for Hamilton. Maybe some people shouldn't be using BBQs. I think the government should start a wire brush registry.

[aplumma]

Dang it NOW what am I going to get you for your birthday Roy?

 

Art

[FloatnFly]

That 'crud' is where all your unique flavours are developed. I had a customer come in at the end of last summer, and pick up 2 bottles of diana sauce, I question them on it since they NEVER buy sauce, and they said they just got a new bbq and they were dumping the sauce on the hot grill to build the flavour profile

[kickingfrog]

I'll stick to not eating the bristles.

[Moosebunk]

That 'crud' is where all your unique flavours are developed.

 

That's what I was thinking too. lol

[ketchenany]

having cleaned BBQs for the last 40 years, I do use them, I use a cloth to wipe the grills down. I take it up to temperature and then use an oil covered applicator be it cloth or paper and wipe the grills again.

If your grills are V shaped as mine are I run scarper down between all of the grates. Once done I run the BBQ for a few minutes to burn off any build up grime. Always clean and ready to go.

I just had a perfectly grill NY strip loin, wife seems ok with it.

[Burtess]

Crud gives the flavour?? That crud is basically just carbon build up.... after a good burn off (and before using the wire brush) you can tell the crud has nothing left in it as it will no longer smoke or anything.... just carbon.

 

Crud on the grates (and vaporizer plates) will just create flare ups and insulate the grate, preventing those nice grill marks. Flavour comes from the juices dripping down onto the hot metal plates above the burner and being vaporized and settling on the surface of the meat.

 

Burt

[NAW]

My mother in-law choked on one from my brush a few years back.

 

I didn't know what she was choking on until I chomped down on one the next time I had a BBQ.

That brush went in the garbage. It was a cheap dollar store brush. Never again.

 

I'm sure it's happened to lots of people, no?

[John Bacon]

Slow news day for Hamilton. Maybe some people shouldn't be using BBQs. I think the government should start a wire brush registry.

 

Only for Quebec.

[woodenboater]

while the grill is still hot, I use Weber wire brush to clean off the easy bits then run it real hot to burn off the crud till bbq is smoking, then turn off. I always oil the grill before use so a brush or paper towels will pick up any left over stuff. but this story has made the rounds before but I guess CHCH is priming for summer time. can't blame them as it's basically PSA.

[SirCranksalot]

My mother in-law choked on one from my brush a few years back.

 

 

 

So, was that bad news or good news??

[BillM]

I use a brass brush, haven't died of ingesting any part of it yet

[woodenboater]

I use the brush in this link and will have to test the bristles some day.

 

http://www.weber.com/weber-nation/blog/grill-brush-safety

[craigdritchie]

Nothing wrong with a stainless steel brush provided it's one of good quality and you replace it every other season.

 

You hear about experiences like this every few years, and it inevitably results from people using a cheap, made-in-China brush that they found at the dollar store.

 

As with everything else in life, you get what you pay for.

Edited June 30, 2015 by Craig_Ritchie

[dave524]

CTC has s stainless Brillo type pad thing that I use now after catching a few loose bristles on the grates.

Edited June 30, 2015 by dave524

[Steelheadphycho]

Every once in a while I'll have one of my employees bead blast my cast iron grates then after a good wash with dish soap I'll soak them in veg oil.

[netminder]

Walking down the street is dangerous too. I will continue to brush my bbq and walk down the street. Can't be scared of everything

This.

 

Also, that "crud" has been proven to be carcinogenic.

 

People scare too easily.

[mr blizzard]

Can Tire sells a block that looks similar to a chaulk brush in size, they wear out fairly fast avg about 4 uses but it brings the grill up like new, we use it once every 3 weeks and in between use a brass brush

[crappieperchhunter]

Your supposed to clean your grill

[mr blizzard]

Your supposed to clean your grill

LOL