How to Clean a Flat Top Grill: Useful Tips and Advice

Lucky owners of a flat-top grill can turn the cooking process into a whole adventure by taking it outdoors. If you have purchased a Blackstone flat top grill, then you have made the right choice. They also have easier access to delicacies such as pancakes or scrambled eggs and don’t need to worry about situations where hot fat drips on fire, causing flare-ups.

And since the entire cooking surface of cast iron flat tops is significantly bigger than that of a regular cooking grate, it might not be an easy task to clean a flat top griddle. If you need to learn how to clean a flat top grill, we’ll show you the best conventional cleaning methods that work neatly and efficiently.

Getting a Flat Top Grill Ready for the First Use

Before using the flat-top grill for the first time, it’s important to take measures so the griddle surface would last at least as much as the manufacturer expected it to. Seasoning the flat top grill help prevent it from rusting, makes it much easier to secure a clean flat top griddle, and even gives a unique flavor to the foods grilled on it.

To season the flat top grill correctly, you will need to heat it first. Put your griddle at high temperature for about 15 minutes while it’s empty. If there were any unwanted particles on the cooking surface – they can be brushed off with ease after burning.

Put a thin layer of cooking oil over the griddle surface. It can be a vegetable, coconut, flax, extra virgin, or any other hot oil – as long as you’re satisfied with its smell and flavor in a dish. Make it spread evenly by adjusting the amount with a brush or a few paper towels.

Turn the heat on medium and wait another 15 minutes until the seasoning sets in.

Let the grill cool down and wipe away the remaining oil if there was an excessive amount of it. If needed, repeat the cleaning process 2 to 4 more times until you’re satisfied with the result.

When you’ve finished, your flat top grill will be covered with a thin layer of hard oil that prevents the entire surface from becoming moist and doesn’t allow the food debris to stick to it.

If there is a risk of the flat top grill getting scratched, the seasoning will also take the damage first and just needs to be restored later – keeping the grill clean is cheaper and easier than repairing the grill surface or buying a new grill, so don’t hesitate on trying it out.

Does a Flat Top Grill Need to Be Cleaned?

It’s recommended to clean the grill regularly. If you neglect cleaning the flat top grill for a long time – the food particles and leftover grease buildup can form a layer that is quite hard to get rid of. To prevent this from happening, it’s better to clean a flat top grill after each time you’ve used it.

Grilling, just as any other type of cooking, requires high sanitation. No matter how delicious a meal might look – if you prepare food on a dirty grill, it won’t taste good and might be even dangerous.

Residue from the previous meals gives an odd flavor to anything you cook next and also doesn’t allow the products to heat up evenly, since it covers a part of a cooking surface. That’s even a stainless steel flat top grill must be cleaned whenever you feel like it needs some attention.

A flat-top grill is also much easier to clean than the regular one since there are not many places on it for the food particles to stick in-between. That’s why it won’t hurt to get it cleaned up as soon as possible.

How to Check If It’s Time to Clean a Flat Top Grill Surface

If the taste of grilled food is not what you expected it to be – check how it looks. Color changes might be a sign that something is wrong with the grill.

If there is a change in color or taste – check the grill’s condition. It might have a couple of places where the food sticks. Even if there are not any visible parts – clean it just in case.

Tools You Might Need to Clean a Flat Top Grill

Before you started cleaning up the grill, make sure you have at least some of the following items.

A dishwashing liquid specifically made for flat-top grills from all-natural components. Some of them are expected to work at a high temperature which means you can start using it right after cooking.

Grill screen – cover your grill with it before you deep clean. A rayon grate covered with aluminum oxide does a good job of protecting the surface while you rub off all the food residue.

Griddle pan holder – use this tool to hold both the grill screen and the scrubber simultaneously, which comes in handy when the grill was just used and is still hot. Your hands will also remain clean throughout the procedure.

A sponge, similar to the ones used for dishwashing, but sturdy enough to work against the grease, food debris, and dirt on the surface of the flat top grill.

Griddle scraper – a blade, used mainly to scrub off the dirt from the grill. The handle is made of plastic so you can use it without waiting for the grill to cool down. It is also suitable to chop the food before you started grilling it, so the idle time on this tool is minimal.

Bench scrapper – a large piece of metal with a handle and an angled edge. It covers a bigger area than a grill scraper can and also is quite sturdy so you can put a lot of pressure on your tool without worrying about breaking it.

The downsides are that it’s both heavier and can damage the surface of the flat top grills. That’s why even though the bench scraper performs well, it still needs to be used with caution.

Grill brush – a brush with a wooden handle (since it doesn’t transfer the heat) and thick bristles that can rub off the stuck-on food easily. Using one is almost mandatory to deep clean flat-top grills. Alternatively, you can replace it with a wire brush.

Grill brick – a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to cleaning grills. If you just want to get one tool to get the job done – this would be a good choice, since grill bricks can be used instead of most previous items and don’t need any additions. It comes in two variants – with or without a handle.

Besides these tools, you will also need some oil to do the seasoning of the surface afterward, as well as a cloth, some warm water, and soap. Also, don’t throw the remaining grease in a sink – use a grease holder instead so you can store it later with another trash since it’s more ecologically appropriate.

The Procedure of Cleaning Flat-Top Grills

When it comes to cleaning flat-top grills – there are two kinds you need to choose from, depending on the current state of the surface. If it doesn’t seem to have any problems but has been used already, then a routine cleaning procedure is what you’re looking for.

Here are the steps to get your griddle ready for the next usage.

First of all, use any of the tools mentioned above and scrape the leftovers from the surface. The best scenario is when you do it right after every grilling so the food debris doesn’t cool down and harden.

After removing the food, give the grill some time to cool before spraying it with warm water.

Dry the grill’s surface from remaining liquid by wiping it with a clean cloth or paper towels. It’s important to keep the grill dry so it doesn’t get corrupted from rust in the future.

Now that the flat top grill is completely dry and clean, you can put a light layer of cooking oil on top of it – there is no need to do the seasoning again as the existing layer will get restored by this.

Deep Cleaning With a Grill Brush

When a commercial flat top grill serves for some time, at some point it might look unusable because of all the debris layered on top of it together with food debris or even some rust.

Those signs show that the time has come to deep clean, and here is how it’s done.

First of all, it’s safer to start cleaning when the grill has cooled down a little. Don’t put it in a long box since the cold food residue will be harder to tear off, but also don’t start right after you’ve served a meal – you don’t want your hand to slip while the grill is still burning hot.

Now grab a grill brush, or a scraper (or just a metal spatula if you don’t have one), use it to scrape the surface, and try to remove most of the grease. If some of it just doesn’t want to come off – don’t worry yet!

Wash the most problematic parts with warm water as well as some elbow grease. Another important thing to remember is that the surface of the grill won’t like the interference of chemicals, so use them only as your last resort.

Besides possible damage to the flat-top grill, some portions may also remain in it and transfer to the food, essentially ruining it. By avoiding chemicals you will take care of both the grill and the family that you share your meal with.

Instead, you can mix some soap (or other substances e.g. dishwashing liquid) in the water and use a brush or a grill brick to spread it across the surface – in most cases, this will be enough. After you’re done with the main part, don’t forget to get some paper towels or a clean cloth and wipe up anything that’s left (including water).

Useful Video on How to Clean a Flat Top Grill

Alternatives to Cleaning Chemicals

Since we agreed on the fact that using chemicals won’t do us any good, let’s explore other accessible solutions on how to clean a flat top grill.

Vinegar and Water Solution

Many people ask the question, can you use vinegar to clean flat top grill? Using vinegar is a very easy and safe way to clean your flat top grill. You need to apply it evenly across the griddle and scrape all the dirt away as usual. It’s nothing too complicated, but using vinegar instead of chemicals offers the same effect while not inheriting their downsides.

Lemon Juice and Water Mixture

Since lemon juice is technically an acid, its properties become in handy when cleaning up the soy sauce, salt, spices, oily food, and herbs that could form thick layers on a flat top grill if left without attention.

Before using lemon juice, switch the grill on so it produces some heat and makes the layer of grease a bit softer. Try removing it as is by using a wire brush or a griddle scraper.

Spray the parts that didn’t come off with water and lemon mixed in a 3:1 proportion. Once again, use a brush, a grill brick, or a grill scraper to lay it out evenly across the surface. After five minutes of waiting the acid will seep into food debris and corrode it.

When acid started working, scrub it again until you make the surface clean, now by using the scouring pad and doing the circular motion – everything will come off much easier. Don’t forget to dry your grill with a paper towel – it’s better to not let the acid remain on it for too long.

Lemon and Soda Water Mixture

To polish the grill even better, you can use baking soda water instead of regular water. The procedure is the same – additionally rinse the griddle with plain water at the end of the process and pay extra attention to drying it off with a paper towel or damp cloth afterward.

Onion or Beer Cleaner

Onion scrubbing can be used not only for grills but for trays as well, even though they’re much thicker. Rubbing the hot flat top griddle with the onion can replace the usage of grill brick – but keep in mind that after you’re done, onion juice must be removed as well. Another unexpected trick is to use some beer. Since it contains alcohol, beer has antiseptic properties, so your grill will become both clean and aseptic.

Water and Steam Method

Even without any grill cleaner, you can still take care of your grill by using steam. It’s possible because while boiling water is hard to heat and has a maximum temperature of 100C, the same doesn’t go for vaporized water.

Due to its gas properties, steam can raise the temperature rapidly while melting away all the unwanted parts stuck to the grill. The method to produce the steam is rather simple.

Turn in the heat on a grill and pour some water into it. Be careful to not spill any of it since it might be dangerous. Use the brush to spread the water across the grill.

After the water is applied, just wait until it vaporizes. When there is no more water left – turn off the grill, then try and scrape off the food debris again. You will be surprised by how easily it can come off after contacting the steam.

If some of the leftovers are still hard-stuck on the surface – just add some water again. Repeat the process until the grill becomes completely clean, which won’t be too long.

The same goes for hot oil cleaning – except you use oil instead of water. This might be even better since you won’t ruin the seasoning and possibly won’t even need to reapply it later. Still, the excess oil should be removed when the cleaning is done.

This cleaning method sounds the easiest, but do be careful since it requires operating both the hot grill and boiling water at the same time, so obviously some risks are present.

Others

When you wonder how to clean a flat top grill without chemicals, there is a surprisingly big amount of choices. Many other natural ingredients can work wonders when combined with a griddle brick or other scrubbing tool. You can pour half a cup of leftover brewed coffee.

When you made sure the grill is clean, the final step is to boil it down to prevent rusting and restore the non-stick layer you’ve got after doing the seasoning. If there is not any oil at hand – the cooking spray can be used as well.

After the grill is cleaned up and oiled, you can consider it ready for the next cooking session.

You will also be interested in reading: How to clean cast iron grill pan and How to clean cast iron grill grates.

Tricks to Avoid Dirtying the Grill

Now that we know how to clean a grill properly, you might’ve noticed that this task can be quite troublesome. Luckily, there are some ways to minimize the number of times when your grill needs a deep cleaning.

The first method is to clean it regularly. By doing the cleaning often, you can reduce the number of efforts needed each time. So this is one of the cases where bigger quantity leads to higher quality.

Second – heat the flat top grill for some time before placing any food on it. This will reduce the chance of products sticking to it.

And the last option is to oil the grill. This way you minimize the contact of food with the surface and the following clean-up shouldn’t have any troubles.

Summary

After reading this article carefully, you are now able to master the ways of grilling, since we know exactly how to clean a flat top grill effectively, as well as how the flat top grill is used to get delicious food.

We also listed most of the tools you would need for this task along with tips on how to choose the proper utensils. In the end, no matter what item or substance you’ll choose – it all comes to a personal preference and the frequency of cleaning procedures.

Now that you learned how to clean a flat top grill – all that’s left is to apply this knowledge wisely – go out and have some fun, you can thank us later!

Read also: How to clean Pit Boss pellet grill and How to clean George Foreman grill.