Consumer Reports: Brushes to Clean Your Grill

Who wants to cook on a grungy grill? We’re thinking nobody. Well, the folks at Consumer Reports came up with a great way to put grill brushes to the test to tell which ones will give you a clean cooking surface, whether your grates are cast iron or stainless.

To mess up the test grills, Consumer Reports testers roasted sticky chicken breasts on stainless and cast iron grates.

Although CR says a hot grate cleans up the best, the brushes were tested on cold, warm and hot grates using a systematic method of 50 strokes and the surfaces were assessed for removal of this crusty crud.

“We were surprised in testing to find that a lot of grill brushes have short or flat handles that keep your hand over the hot grates. When you shop for a grill brush, look for one with a long handle and an angled head,” said Paul Hope, Consumer Reports Home Editor.

Some brushes didn’t perform well. The Char-Broil Cool-Clean Brush has a nylon

head designed for “cool to the touch” grates. In our tests, it did a poor job of

cleaning on cool and warm surfaces.

Local

The latest news from around North Texas.

Dallas 14 hours ago

Dallas council member calls public safety meeting to address recent violence

Fort Worth 14 hours ago

City of Fort Worth spending millions to resolve pair of whistleblower lawsuits

The Char-Griller Wood Grill Scraper is a wooden paddle that becomes notched as

you scrape it along hot grates. But it didn’t do a very good job in our tests on any

of the surfaces, or between the ribs.

Some did a better job on the grimy grates.

The Nexgrill Grill Brush has a replaceable stainless steel head, that does a very

good job on hot grates. The long handle keeps your hand away from the heat, but

wear a glove if you put pressure on the knob.

CR staffers were impressed by the performance of the Earthstone Grill Stone. It’s

made of recycled materials, and did an impressive job of removing the cooked-on

chicken on cold, warm and hot surfaces. But it leaves a lot of residue, both on the

grates and inside the firebox, that must be cleaned thoroughly before cooking. But

if you’re tackling a really gross grill, this is the tool to have

Some brushes didn’t perform well. The Char Broil Cool Clean Brush has a nylon head designed for “cool to the touch” grates. In CR's tests, it did a poor job of cleaning on cool and warm surfaces.

The Char Griller Wood Grill Scraper is a wooden paddle that becomes notched as you scrape it along hot grates. But, it didn’t do a very good job in CR's tests on any of the surfaces, or between the ribs. Some did a better job on the grimy grates.

The Nexgrill Grill Brush has a replaceable stainless steel head, that does a very good job on hot grates. The long handle keeps your hand away from the heat, but wear a glove if you put pressure on the knob.

CR staffers were impressed by the performance of the Earthstone Grill Stone. It’s made of recycled materials, and did an impressive job of removing the cooked-on chicken on cold, warm and hot surfaces.

But it leaves a lot of residue, both on the grates and inside the firebox, that must be cleaned thoroughly before cooking. If you’re tackling a really gross grill, this is the tool to have.

CR says to heat your grill for 15 minutes before starting to scrape. And if you’re going to use a wire brush, to be safe always wipe the grates down with an oiled paper towel afterwards.

Those tiny bristles can easily attach to foods and be ingested, don’t let this happen to you!