How To Clean Cast Iron Cooking Grates

Cast iron grates are coated with porcelain to prevent rusting and to make it easy for cleaning.

How to clean cast iron cooking grates. Brighten those grates with a bit of hot water soap and elbow grease following a simple yet thorough protocol. Once you ve finished cooking and removed your food open all vents if using charcoal or turn up your grill to high if using gas and then close the lid to allow the grill to get hot. To make sure your cooking grates last as long as possible check out the tips below. However that statement is only true if you properly maintain your cast iron cooking tools including your grill grates. Your stove grates are likely cast iron so treat them with care to prevent damage.

While cast iron may seem sturdy enough to scrub with steel wool you re going to want to use a non abrasive sponge to clean the grates thoroughly. A key to keeping the grill grates clean is to clean them each time you are done cooking. Your best bet is to pair a heavy duty brush non scratch nylon scrubber or sponge with a cleaning product that scours like powder cleanser or baking soda see below instructions for more detail. After some initial maintenance you can let the dishwasher do the work. The process of how to clean cast iron grill grates may seem like a lot of work.

So grab your best grill brush and let s get. This is going to sound obvious but cannot be overstated. The best way to keep your grill clean and rust free is to give it a good cleaning immediately after every use. However in some low quality and cheap grills porcelain is used to cover up some poorly made cast iron metal. Luckily there is a super easy way to clean stove top grates no scrubbing required all you need is ammonia.

Before each use we recommend preheating your grill to 500 550 f brushing your cooking grates clean with a stainless steel. But it isn t much different from cleaning other forms of cast iron such as pans and griddles. It may require some additional elbow grease but it won t leave your grates with a bunch of ugly scratches. Cast iron gas grates can get dirty in a hurry though and that s why it s essential to know how to clean gas stove grates. Care when it comes to cooking grates the maintenance is the same for porcelain coated cast iron as it is for stainless steel.

After removing the food and turning off the heat clean the grates with the brush while they are still warm. The grates on our stove are heavy cast iron and anytime something bubbles over while cooking it just bakes onto the grates and sticks. Then apply a light cooking oil or grease to the grates so the grill is ready for the next use. The cast iron grates found on gas ranges can become rusty and dingy through the course of cooking. Just put the grates into a baggie with some ammonia and let it sit overnight and in the morning.