grillin leasons

[zooker]

i hate to start with this, but i guess i'll have to...
one of the most important things you MUST do as a grill cook, is clean the grill...man does a filthy grill grate ever make me livid.. especially if i have to cook my food on it..i have both gas and charcoal grills. so can give pointers on both..

cleaning is simple weather you use steel wire, ceramic coated wire, or cast iron.the clean up is the same heat the grill up in the heat mode-before cooking- let it get hot 450-500 degrees. those with out a temp gauge let cook on high heat for about 5 mintues or just prior to loading the food on it. use a quality metal grill brush and brush the grate.this removes most of the icky off them.

note never do the following with hot grates..
once every couple of months on my steel grates i use oven cleaner and hose this gets about 99% of the crap off the steel grates i then do a hand wash in the kitchen sink..

now with cast iron grates you can NOT use oven cleaner as it will remove the seasoning..after a good wire brushing every time it is used,i do a hand washing every week-i use mine 3-4 times a week btw- once a year i take my grates out an lightly sand blast them.-they will turn a light grey- then spend several weeks and half a bottle of oil seasoning the grates..

that being said my next point is..

pre cooking oiling of the cooking grate..i know i am going to hear about this,so let me explain.
most all cooking oil is flamable.weather it is canola, peanut, soybean, or olive oil..i learned the hard way belive me.

i can't count the number of times i set the paper towel on fire during preoiling.since i started using a combo of soybean and olive oil to oil my hot grates i have not had the paper towel ingintion.i guess the soybean oil has a higher flash point than olive oil. all i know is it works,the food don't stick and i don't singe the hair off my hand while oiling the grill..

any body want to add there 2 cents go for it..

zooker