Grates: How Clean is Clean?

[Count Porcula]

I just "cleaned" the top grate from my WSM after smoking a belly two days ago. I guess trying to persuade the wife to do it was a waste of time.

Before going the nuclear route, I decided to try Citrusafe, a degreaser made from citrus peels. It's supposed to be food safe, environmentally friendly, yada yada yada.

The grease came off without hesitation, along with the chunks, but most of the grate is still black. Is this what most people mean when they say "clean"?

I never trust products whose manufacturers brag that they are green or natural or safe, because often, they are garbage that doesn't work, like Simple Green. You know how this is. You ask a bunch of people how to kill roaches and they say stupid things like, "White vinegar! Magic crystals! Peppermint oil!", when the real answer is poison and none of the things they recommend actually do anything.

I thought it would be nice to avoid using a real product and breathing lye fumes, so if black, smooth grates with small areas of shiny chrome mean "clean," this will work.

 

[Fueling Around]

Don't have an R2D2.
When I feel the urge to do a deep clean of the Weber grates it is usually good old elbow grease and a SS scrubbie

 

[Compulsive Smoker]

Clean for me is a basic scrape down every few cooks and a pressure washing once or twice a year!

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Only time my weber grates were silver shiny. Was the first 5 cooks.
I let my grills come up to temp. Hit them with a wet scrubber and go. Knock off when I'm done and let fire burn out.
Rinse and repeat.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

I got hooked on the Scrub Daddy “bbq daddy”. After a cook I’ll hit the grates with it while it’s still hot and cleans it pretty much back to a shiny finish

 

[SMOKEOCD]

Ball of foil on hot grates, followed by paper towel, sometimes an oiled paper towel. If you’re not putting grease marks on your food (vs grill marks) I think that’s pretty clean.