Hello To keep the propane gas grill grates cleaner, we tried wrapping tin foil over the top. We grilled lamb tips, changed the foil and grilled salmon. Do you use foil? Pic 1 - Grillee Lamb tips Pic 2 - changing foil - grates not to dirty Pic 3 - grilling salmon - foil helps hold on juices Pic 4 - put on the veggie racks to grill the vegs
It is harder to keep the grates clean without covering them with tin foil. Here is the best way I found to clean the grill grates using a HF Soda Blaster. Cleaning Grill grates with Soda Blasting like the Statue of Liberty I did get some grill marks with the tin foil but it would be better without. Also for grill marks are cast iron grill grates better than Stainless Steel but harder to clean?
Have a friend that uses the grill mats and swears by them. Cooks everything he normally would on a grill with them. I guess if the tin foil works for you, stick with it. Judging by your pics, I’d say they worked well!
I bought some grill mats for those times I'm not grilling at home. Usually, a public picnic area where the grills are crusted with who knows what. At home, I have a Weber Genesis that's going on 35+ yrs. I got the stainless steel upgrade. They clean up just fine as it comes up to temp before cooking. There is a small warming rack that is not SS. When I plan to use it, I will cover in foil because of the rack being rusted.
No foil here , I want the juices to burn when they hit the flames for flavor. Burn it hot , grill brush and let it rip. I think the only time I use foil is on the smoker for wrapping something like 3-2-1 ribs.
I would think at that point (covering the grates) that you might as well just use the broiler in the kitchen. Imho if it's not on a fire, or at least a propane flame, what's the point? Of course I'm a wood snob and haven't cooked outside with propane for 15+ years. Until my wood fire settles down, it's kissing my grates and cleaning them thoroughly, 5 seconds with a wire brush and we're cooking.
After many years of grilling the grates are seasoned “just right” and a quick wire brushing, bring up to sear temp and away we go!
Keeping the grates clean is easy with a wire brush, but the real mess of gas grills is all the crud that piles up inside them. Makes for a good fire when it eventually catches.
This is my tip regarding foil and gas grills....if the electric is out and the stove don't work, don't be too hasty to throw a pound of bacon on foil over the grill. In my particular case I ended up with a pound of half cooked, half black-charred bacon after the grease fire lit up. Hindsight tells me that cooking it right on the cast iron grates would have yeilded better results. The foil allowed the grease to pool rather than burn off as it cooked. Not my proudest moment, but I wanted bacon.
I don't see any reason to cover grill grates with foil. Keeping my grill grates clean is way low on my list of priorities when it comes to cooking...I'd rather my food taste like it was grilled.
