Before You Start Scrubbing Your Grill Grates, Clean Them With Heat

Let's get back to grilling. It's an art mastered by many and envied by even more. The humble (or not-so-humble) grill is capable of cooking a myriad of delicious foods, from steak to fish and even its fair share of veggies. The delights of a perfectly charred dish are unmatched. But what about cleaning? The not-so-fun (or delicious) part of grilling is just as vital for the grill as seasoning your meat or letting your steak rest. Still, it's often a tedious and opaque process that leaves many would-be grill masters in a state of confusion. Luckily, there's one simple step that can make cleaning an absolute breeze: lighting up your grill. Yes, letting your grill's fire burn for a few minutes before cleaning is a great way to cook off any potential pathogens and food debris.

To pre-clean your grill with fire, simply light your grill and set it to a high heat, then keep the fire burning for a few minutes in order to fully kill off harmful bacteria. Now, this isn't a full-blown replacement for properly cleaning it — you'll still need to give your grill a scrub between cooking sessions (you can even do this using a halved onion if you have one handy). But this high-heat method is a great way to prime the surface for actual cleaning. Plus, it'll give you a chance to really see those grilling flames at work.

Pre-cleaning your grill with fire only takes a few minutes, and you may be tempted to call it a day once you've gotten your grill top nice and crispy. There are, however, a few key cleaning steps you'll want to follow after you extinguish the flames. First, you'll want to use a grill brush with tough bristles to scrub off any excess food debris and chunks of blackened food. Afterwards, you'll have to work to remove any other debris and grease that might be caught in the grill grates. If your grill has a removable grate, you can degrease the cook top by placing it in a solution of baking soda, vinegar, and water and soaking it for at least a few minutes. This will help lift stubborn debris and buildup.

Now, when you're using a grill that you aren't able to deep clean (think public grills), you can always preheat the grates in order to clean them in a pinch. If that's not up to your standards, you can always use a layer of foil over the grill to cook your food. This works best for charcoal grills — just remember to pierce the foil before use to facilitate proper airflow.