Best way to clean my charcoal grill?

[iwannadie]

I have a weber one touch charcoal grill that I would like to really clean up. I've had it over a year now and the main kettle part is pretty nasty from ash and grease and junk.

I bought a can of easy off grill cleaner (basically oven cleaner) and it says not to use on any painted surfaces. Can I use that on the weber? I thought the surface was a baked on enamel, would that still qualify as a painted surface? I wasn't sure if the inside of an oven would be the same as the surfaces of my grill.

I tried just spraying water and scrubbing and it didn't really make a dent in the grim. It certainly doesn't effect the cooking ability but I'd just like to keep it clean ya know, without stripping / scratching the surface finish off.

 

[heyhar]

If you think about it, the inside of your range oven is baked on enamel also, and Easy Off does not hurt that. But, you mentioned that the product you bought is Grill Cleaner. It may very well be much stronger, as your food sits in the grill, not in pans or a casserole dish. I've used normal oven cleaner in my gas grille, but the body is cast aluminum, not steel. Maybe just scrub a small spot in the very bottom clean, and shoot some of the cleaner there, following directions. If it works satisfactorily, great. And, if it somehow ruins the paint finish there, it'll be a spot that is covered by the charcoal, and won't be seen.
I've been using a gas grille for twenty years, and I miss charcoal. The flavor, but not the mess.....

 

[iwannadie]

If you think about it, the inside of your range oven is baked on enamel also, and Easy Off does not hurt that. But, you mentioned that the product you bought is Grill Cleaner. It may very well be much stronger, as your food sits in the grill, not in pans or a casserole dish. I've used normal oven cleaner in my gas grille, but the body is cast aluminum, not steel. Maybe just scrub a small spot in the very bottom clean, and shoot some of the cleaner there, following directions. If it works satisfactorily, great. And, if it somehow ruins the paint finish there, it'll be a spot that is covered by the charcoal, and won't be seen.
I've been using a gas grille for twenty years, and I miss charcoal. The flavor, but not the mess.....

Yea good idea of spot testing, I just hate to take the finish off even in a small spot and get rust starting but it might be worth the risk.

As for the charcoal grill I love it, before I used gas only but since I've switched I never want to go back. The ash collection on my grill is a total breeze. There's a catch can under the grill and slots that allow ash to fall down and even a blade that scraps the bottom of the grill. I empty the catch can once a month with no mess at all. The only messy spot I'm dealing with is just grease mixing with ash higher up on the side of the grill...

You should try out a weber One touch grill even as a secondary grill to your gas.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

 

[mcantar18c]

Hmm..... need to remove grease..... sounds like a job for degreaser.

 

[Sniggs]

Simply Green, a nylon scrub brush and Hot water - rinse well....

Sheesh!

 

[iwannadie]

Simply Green, a nylon scrub brush and Hot water - rinse well....

Sheesh!

I thought simple green was terrible for paint, which goes back to the oven cleaner question. Does the baked enamel react the same as a painted surface...

 

[mcantar18c]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=enamel+cleaner

 

[Johnnie Walker]

Simple green is AMAZING! And usually a good scrub of the grill piece works good.

 

[Crawler]

Super-heated pressurized steam... it's the ultimate and there's no chemical residue.

 

[joe_peters]

"Honey, clean the BBQ grill."

That's all I do.

 

[RichP]

Got a new webber gas grill back in May, gotta say I love it. No more soup can dangling from underneath, has a tray that comes out and holds an aluminum pan that you can either clean or throw away. Those V shaped thingys that cover the flame bars are great. I do use oven cleaner on the upside down v bar things though and they are porcelain, no problem so far.
Until I owned one I never would have thought there was any difference between a webber and Sears end of season sale one on a kenmore.