CARE AND CLEANING
Maintain peak performance with your GrillGrates.
Prior To Using GrillGrates: Clean Your Grill
Clean your grease trap and inspect your burners and flame tents. Remove debris that has accumulated on the ledges that hold your old grates. This will prevent flare-ups from igniting grease and debris in the bottom of your grill.
Tip: Should a grease fire occur, turn off the burners and leave the lid closed until the fire is out. Do not use water to extinguish a grease fire.
Use An Onion
To Season Grates
One of our favorite tricks is to cut an onion in half and rub down the tops of the rails of clean, hot grates. Onions (and all alliums) contain many sulfur compounds that when heated, creates a super slick, rock-hard surface which is good to 1000°F before it degrades. Onions also contain antibacterial compounds that help keep your GrillGrates safe to cook on.
The First Few Cooks
The first few times you grill, sparingly use grill spray or canola oil on your GrillGrates. This will be come unnecessary over time as your GrillGrates season. ALWAYS oil your food before putting it on the grill. It is best to grill foods with high fat content the first few times you use your GrillGrates. This will aid in the seasoning process and is also a tasty way to break in your new GrillGrates.
Tips: Use an oil with a high smoke point such as canola oil or avocado oil. Do not use extra virgin olive oil since it smokes at 400°F and gets sticky.
Allow Your
Grates To Season!
Avoid over cleaning your grates in the beginning to allow them to season and develop a non-stick coating. We like to compare GrillGrates to a good cast iron pan: seasoning is the KEY to good food! Your grates will go from gray to light brown to black over time (as shown here) – this is a good thing!
850°F/454°C
DISHWASHER
CLEANER
Cleaning Tips
Warning: Do not put in the dishwasher.
Do not use oven cleaner or harsh caustic cleaners.
On-The-Grill Cleaning
Clean the rails during warm-up with our Grate Valley Grill Brush or the Commercial Grade Grill Brush. Less is more. The technique is more wiping than aggressive brushing. Use the fingers of the GrateTool™ to keep debris out of the valleys. You can also use our new food-safe Grill & Grate Cleaner Spray in tandem with our Commercial Grill Brush to keep your GrillGrates in tip top shape.
Tips: Don’t do high heat burn-offs after grilling since this only bakes on debris. Additionally, prolonged exposure to very high heats (850°F +) can warp your grates over time.
Best-Selling Care & Cleaning Tools
Off-The-Grill Cleaning
For the occasional deep-clean, GrillGrates can be cleaned in the sink or washtub. This method is optional, but can be good for removing marinades and sauces. Soak GrillGrates in regular dish soap, Simple Green or our Grill & Grate Cleaner Spray. PLEASE NOTE: We do not recommend harsh or caustic chemicals. If you have to wear gloves, it’s too strong for your grates and can pit the aluminum.
Use a sponge, Brillo Pad or a Commercial Grade Grill Brush to scrub your grates. Blackened surfaces are part of the seasoning process. Therefore, deep cleans should only be done occasionally.
Tip: If you over clean your grates, you will need to re-season them or you will stick your next meal.
Pro Tip
Use GrillGrates with a few panels right side up and a few panels flipped upside down. The benefits are two-fold. 1. You’ll have an area on your grill that serves as a griddle. 2. By occasionally rotating grates, they will self-clean.