# Flat top grill scraper and cleaning method



## caron bdc (Oct 22, 2015)

Anyone have a recommendation for the best brand??  I have a Catering Co. and acquired a nice ...but used... gas 36" flat top that is portable for events.  It need a good cleaning and it will sit at times for a month or more between uses.  I am looking for suggestions on a cleaning method and best products for that.

Thanks in Advance !!


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Scaper, grill brick, grill pad, splash with vinegar while still hot.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

I'll second a grill scraper. Get the large one with the knob on the back of the handle. Those are tremendously helpful. 

Your local restaurant supply store will have numerous chemical cleaners in addition to grill bricks, screens and more but Kuan is right; however you clean it, doing it while hot makes a huge difference. 

Once clean, you'll want to coat it lightly with oil if it will sit unused for that long. Otherwise the grill surface will rust.


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## akat (Jun 9, 2015)

caustic soda is pretty common for cleaning. lemon juice makes it more "shiny" than vinegar, gives it that "new" look.


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## sherman452 (Apr 21, 2013)

Hi Caron,

The hands-down, best method I've come across for cleaning flattop grills (after years of splashing caustic amounts of grill cleaner and other horrible chemicals on them), is oil and kosher salt.  A flat top grill is like a cast iron pan.  Once it's been seasoned well, it performs beautifully and doesn't take that much to maintain.  My husband and I have been in this business all our lives and we use this on all the grills we cook on.
 

The grill needs to be hot for this method, but not "cooking" hot... like a few-minutes-after-you've-turned-it-off hot.  Scrape off (with a grill scraper) as much of the residue of as you can.  Pour a high-heat oil (like sunflower, grapeseed, peanut, etc) on the grill (depending on the size of the grill, but about 2 cups) and then sprinkle a very generous amount of salt (like a cup) on the oil.  And then scrub with a grill brick.  Initially, if you are cleaning the grill for the first time, it will take quite a bit of elbow grease, a griddle screen under the grill brick and maybe a few back-to-back cleanings, but you will be rewarded with a nicely seasoned, low-maintenance flat top.

Scrape the salt and oil residue with the grill scraper and then wipe the grill down with a clean cloth, dampened if necessary.  It has been my experience that anything acidic, like vinegar or lemon juice or grill cleaner, is damaging to the grill surface and creates pock marks over time.

Hope this helps!


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## turtile (Jun 9, 2015)

3M 700 grill cleaner will take off all of the residue with no scrubing.  Just heat it up, pour it on and clean it off with water.


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## akat (Jun 9, 2015)

that is brilliant ! i too have poured gallons of caustic over those things over my years .... its so simple, so obvious, i LOVE it !


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## bigginslack (May 28, 2017)

My kitchen we have a high temp grill cleaner, i usually turn my grill off and apply that cleaner, spread it around with a wet towel, i let sit for about 10-15 min. Enough time to do my floors. One trick i use, i take some phase 1 chemical from our dish machine, which is a red acid solution, i pour it on the surface and let sit for about a min or 2, and literally all the carbon scrapes off with a putty knife without any effort. I pour some more on, and take my grill scrapper and a green scrub pad and scrub. Then i rinse a couple times with water, then i take a mix of 70/30 of lemonade and water. Hint is to not use straight lemonade because if ur grill is still hot is caramelizes the sugar in it. With this mix i use another srcub pad and go over it again, wipe clean.




  








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bigginslack


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May 28, 2017


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