Do you want to know how to clean a flat top grill with vinegar? Yes?
Give yourself a tap on the back because knowing this can make your grill’s cleaning facile. Otherwise, removing the hard stains, food debris, and grease buildup are no less than a ticklish job for both a novice and a pro.
With so many grill cleaners available in the market, most people complain that their flat-top grills got rust spots. Having a benefit on one side and facing a loss on the other side is a good deal? Indeed no!
We know you have been looking for this content for so long. Therefore, we’ve come up with super-effective methods to ease the cleaning of your flat top grill with vinegar. Let’s dive deep into this content, and we’re sure you’ll get all the essential points here.
How to Clean Your Flat Top Grill With Water Vinegar Mixture?
If you’re a regular user of chemically prepared cleaning products, immediately bring a stop to their usage. That’s because you can get the same results with the ingredients readily available in your kitchen. One of the best conventional cleaning methods is a mixture of vinegar and water.
You can use it in different ways to make your stained and greasy grilling station a new one.
What Do You Need?
For using a mixture of vinegar and water, you need the following things.
- White Vinegar
- Water
- Spray Bucket
- Grill Brush
- Rag
Did you face any difficulty in finding the things mentioned above? Indeed not because you can easily arrange all of them from your kitchen cabinet. Not just finding the materials, but you’ll also find the whole process easy-peasy.
This process to clean a flat top grill includes the following steps.
Step 1
Firstly, turn the burners on and heat your grilling surface. Take two cups of white vinegar and pour them into the spray bucket. Take the same quantity, i.e., two cups of water, and add into the same bucket.
Step 2
Shake and spray this vinegar-water mixture all over the grill surface. Make sure this mixture goes in all the sides and the corners.
Step 3
Now turn the burners off. Let the vinegar-water mixture on the grill for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Doing this will soften all the food debris that is badly stuck on the surface.
Step 4
Add the remaining liquid again to the surface. Take the grill brush or grill brick, scrub the grill surface and remove all the debris and the greasy matter. I’ll recommend using grill bricks for removing the debris thoroughly.
Step 5
Use a grill scraper to remove all the waste or debris. In the end, use paper towels or tissue to dry the surface and ta-dah! Your grill is shining like the new one and is perfectly ready to use again.
How to Use Raw Vinegar For Cleaning?
Undoubtedly, there are many ways to clean a flat top grill with vinegar. One of them is by making its mixture with other things. But using it individually can also amaze you with its results. No matter if you’ve made a Philly cheesesteak, shrimp tostada bites, BBQ ribs, or anything else, the only thing that you’ll get in the end will be messy and greasy grill.
The more the mess and the stiffer the stains, the more potent the cleaning agent you need. In this case, you’ll need to clean your flat-top grills with the raw vinegar without diluting them.
Let’s have a glimpse at the steps of using this effective ingredient.
Steps of Using Raw Vinegar For Cleaning
Before starting this process, make sure the flat top of the grill is hot. If it is, leave it for a few minutes to bring it to a temperature of 250 to 300 degrees F.
If it’s not in use and is cool, turn the burners on a medium to high setting and heat the cooking surface at the mentioned temperature.
Step 1
Take one cup of vinegar and add it to the spray bottle.
Step 2
Spray the vinegar so that it reaches all the corners and nooks. You can also directly pour the vinegar on the grill surface. But spraying it will let it entirely go all the sides and corners of the grill.
Step 3
Now turn the burners off and leave the grill for 5 to 10 minutes. Let the acetic acid fully soften the hard flecks of food.
Step 4
Take a wire or grill brush and use it in a small concentric circular motion. It’ll remove all the hardened and stuck ingredients from it.
Step 5
When all the debris gets separated from the surface, take a grill scraper to add it to the bin.
If any food particles are still there, turn the burners on for a few minutes. When it’s hot, again, turn them off. Now pour the remaining mixture on the surface and scrub it for the second time.
In the end, take a scraper to remove the debris and use a soft cloth to make the surface ready to use again.
How to Use Vinegar and Baking Soda to Clean your Flat Top Grill?
Vinegar and bicarb soda both are outstanding cleaning agents. When used together, they give you extraordinary results. Without any delay, let’s head towards the process of using both these ingredients together.
What’s the first step to follow? Probably mixing the ingredients?
No, safety is the priority. So we recommend you pull your sleeves up in the first place. After this, wear gloves and bring all the ingredients and tools in your access.
What are the Essentials of this Process?
Don’t you know which tools you’ll need to clean a flat top grill in this process? Nothing else but,
- Vinegar
- Baking soda
- A large deep dish to mix the ingredients
- Stirrer
- Scouring pad
And also a grill bush in case there are any food particles in the corners.
Complete Process of Using Vinegar and Baking Soda Solution
Step 1
To clean a flat top grill, first of all, make sure your grill is hot at a temperature of 300 degrees F. For this, turn the burners on to the medium setting. When the surface is properly hot, turn the burners off. Doing this will soften all the hard stains and the food particles. It’s an important step that all of our readers must know.
Step 2
Now make the mixture of both the ingredients. Take two cups of vinegar and half a cup of baking soda. Mix both of these in a large-sized deep dish.
Here the primary purpose of using a large deep dish is because the soda will bubble up and will cover a large area. Stir both the ingredients with the stirrer to make a foamy solution.
Step 3
Take this solution and pour it on the hot grill surface. Better to leave it overnight. But if you can’t wait for so long, leave the solution on the grill for 4 to 5 hours.
Step 4
As time passes, you’ll see the hardened food debris bubbling and becoming soft. Take a scouring pad and scrub the surface to loosen the gunk. When all the food debris gets completely soft and separated, use water to wash away the solution.
Whether it’s your restaurant flat top grill, a teppanyaki iron griddle, commercial griddle, or flat grill for home use, you won’t face any difficulty cleaning with this solution.
Step 5
In the end, let us tell you that the results of this process are equivalent to beer cleaner. So you can say hell yes to this homemade cleaner rather than going for the chemical-based cleaners.
Worried About the Cleaning of Grill Grates? Here is How to Do This.
Have you been using grill grates on your stainless steel flat-top grills? That’s a good idea to utilize one thing in two different ways. Without the shadow of a doubt, you can easily make your grill clean. But what about cleaning the grill grates?
Is there any specific process for their cleaning?
You’ll need a large plastic basin filled with hot and soapy water. After this, dip the grill grates in this soapy solution. Dipping it in this solution will easily remove all the charred remains that got stuck on the grates.
An Effective Tip For You!
When you’re done removing the food debris and the food stains, don’t forget to season your cooking grates. Seasoning might not be a step in cleaning, but it’ll act as a shield from further sticking of the food particles and the grease buildup. Moreover, it’ll also make your cleaning process easy peasy.
Take a clean piece of cloth and pour olive oil on it for seasoning. Wipe the grill grates with this cloth. Nor grates aren’t just shielded but also made easy to clean now.
What Makes the Flat Top Grill Challenging to Clean?
As a regular user of the flat top grill, you know this cooking station makes almost all types of food items. Whether it is fried rice, turkey burger, grilled salsa verde, chicken Philly sandwiches, shrimp tostada bites, or the tasty chicken fajitas, nothing is difficult to make.
It makes the flat top grill the real star of the show. But the food ingredients like soy sauce, pepper, mustard sauce, lemon juice, and herbs, when dehydrated at high heat, become sticky and form debris. It’s what makes your grill challenging and hard to clean.
Apart from this, cooking oil can also become the reason for the grease buildup of the grill.
But how?
When the oil is scorched on high heat, it becomes viscous. When the debris and the food particles get mixed with this hot oil, it strongly lingers on the surface. It makes the production of grease and food debris on the surface.
A Few Tips to Maintain Your Flat Top Grill on Daily Basis
Who doesn’t agree that a flat top grill is a one-time investment? Can you spend again and again on the same gear? Indeed not.
So you must take great care and maintain it in your daily routine. If you properly keep it, it can serve you for more than decades. But vice versa of this can make you stressed.
Therefore, we recommend you properly care for it daily or mainly whenever you become free from cooking on it.
What to do for its maintenance?
When the food debris starts to make it on the surface, immediately remove it after getting free from cooking. But make sure not to touch the hot flat-top grill.
To prolong the life of your grill, remove the ash from the ashtray or other wood pellet debris after every single use. Also, empty the drip tray.
Above all, don’t forget to season your flat top grill to increase the lifespan by preventing it against notorious griddle rusts. An increase in the lifespan of your flat top grill can get you more value.
Frequently Asked Questions about Cleaning the Flat Top Grills
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about cleaning the flat top grills. Let’s go through these questions to get some additional knowledge.
How do you clean a cast iron flat top grill?
Cleaning a cast iron Blackstone flat top grill can become kids’ stuff if you know the points mentioned below.
- Initially, turn the burners on to the medium setting and heat the cooking surface. Here you should know that 250 to 300 degrees F is the ideal temperature to clean your grill.
- Spray lemon juice and soda water on the cast iron flat top grill to adequately cover the surface.
- You can also make a lemon juice mixture by taking 75% soda water and 25% lemon juice.
- Take a wire scrubber and remove the hard stuck food particles.
- Remove the food residue with a scraper and clean the surface with paper towels.
- Let the grill completely dry and cover it with the grill lid.
In the same way, you can also clean cast iron griddle tops using salt.
Can you use vinegar to clean the Blackstone griddle?
You can surely use vinegar to clean your Blackstone flat top grill or griddle. Vinegar is one of the best cleaning agents. You can either use raw vinegar or mix vinegar and water.
Final Thoughts
No matter which method you opt for, make sure to clean your grill frequently. Cleaning your grill after every use can increase the lifespan of your grill to a great level. All the methods mentioned above are highly effective.
We’ve discussed various methods on how to clean a flat top grill with vinegar. Each of them is matchless and gives you fruitful results. Just follow any of the above-discussed methods and let your grill look like the new one by just making a little effort.
Cleaning your grill is directly proportional to the quality of the food you cook on it. That’s why if you want to keep enjoying mouth-watering meals, pay special attention to the cleaning of your flat top grill.
Happy Cleaning!
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