What's the best way to clean a charcoal grill? I've been using the "onion method" but not sure if that's the best way.
Brad is on the right track here (and America's Test Kitchen agrees with him. )
Their recommendation is to ball up aluminum foil around a few sheets of paper towel that have been drizzled in oil.
Poke some holes in the foil ball, and use your tongs to clean the grill with it. The aluminum provides a great amount of friction to get off hard-to-remove gunk, and the oil will gradually leak out while you clean and season your grilling surface.
9 Answers
For god's sake, don't buy anything. Take some aluminum foil, wad it up, and clean the grill with that. It works better than any brush I've used. Might take 3 sheets or so. And of course, wait until the grill's cool.
Heat up the grill, cut a lemon in half and rub it back and forth over the area you want cleaned. I like to use one of those big fork things to keep my fingers from cooking :)
I have never tried the "onion method" or the "lemon method", but I plan to try that! One thing I make sure to do every time I use my grill is immediately after I'm done cooking my food, I brush the grill. I find that the scraps and whatever else is left behind comes off much easier while it's still hot.
Bobby Flay, Alton Brown and a variety of other Food Network chefs subscribe to the point of view that you should keep the grill warm after you've finished cooking and use a long wire (BBQ) brush to clean it. If it's particularly dirty, take a worn-out kitchen towel, fold it and hit it with some olive oil (regular, nothing fancy like extra virgin) and drop that on the grill and then use the brush to move the towel over the dirty areas and the main cooking area (typically one and the same). Not only will the towel help pick up any grime that may have accumulated, but the olive oil will help keep the grill lubed and ready for the next trip.
A good piece of advice is to use this same method, especially before grilling fish and delicate stuff, before grilling as well as after. Hopefully, if you've kept the grill clean, the before will allow the grates to absorb the olive oil and help with keeping the to-be-grilled food from sticking.
The Grill Daddy is the real deal. It drips water in between the bristles, and steam cleans the grill. It makes the grill so clean you could eat off o... it makes it really clean.
Brad is on the right track here (and America's Test Kitchen agrees with him. )
Their recommendation is to ball up aluminum foil around a few sheets of paper towel that have been drizzled in oil.
Poke some holes in the foil ball, and use your tongs to clean the grill with it. The aluminum provides a great amount of friction to get off hard-to-remove gunk, and the oil will gradually leak out while you clean and season your grilling surface.
I just bought a Grill Daddy brush. http://www.uncrate.com/men/gear/grilling/grill-daddy-pro-grill-brush/