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Flickr Find: Clean the Grill With an Onion?

2008_07_21-CleanGrill.jpgWe came across this Flickr photo entitled "Matt cleaned the grill with an onion..." and we were instantly intrigued. Cleaning the grill with an onion?

 
 

We had never seen this particular method before, so we did a little searching.

It seems that rubbing a hot grill with half a cut onion (cut side down) will loosen up baked on grit and grime and basically take it all right off the grill. It's best to heat the grill super hot first and burn down any remaining food or crud, then rub it hard with an onion stuck on the end of a fork (as seen above).

We haven't tried this yet, but we love that it's a totally green option too! No icky grill cleaning chemicals.

Have you ever cleaned your grill like this?

Related: Grilling Questions for Diane Morgan: How To Clean a Grill?

Recent Hot Posts at The Kitchn


(Image: Flickr member allygirl520 licensed for use under Creative Commons)

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Cleaning, Grilling, GREEN IDEAS, Flickr Find, onion, grill

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Comments (34)

This is a traditional way of cleaning the grill where i come from(Juarez, Mexico). But it does have to be super hot.

posted by Sofia E on July 21st 2008 at 1:07pm
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Interesting idea, I would have never thought.

posted by Sarah on July 21st 2008 at 1:22pm
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We do that here. We have a friend that hates onions though so we have to hide this process from him!

posted by buda on July 21st 2008 at 6:25pm
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I shall have to give it a try...

If it works, great!

posted by Eyebee on July 22nd 2008 at 6:28am
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That's funny because when I was a boy my father used to clean the grill using this same method.

posted by gooder on July 23rd 2008 at 7:58am
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My boyfriends from texas (ie: he thinks he's a grill god) and he swears by the onion method. The only downside is that the grill has to be SUPER hot for this to work.

posted by hekela9 on July 24th 2008 at 3:57am
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I'm Mexican and agree with sofia this is the way my whole family cleans the grill when we have bbq's!

posted by witchbaby on July 31st 2008 at 3:25pm
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My mom used to use this technique all the time for a slightly different purpose. When you are cooking something like an omelette using a non-stick frying pan, there's no good way to prevent the little oil used, from beading up. The trick is to dip the onion in a little cooking oil and then painting the non-stick surface with a fork stuck into the cut side of the onion - it spreads the oil beautifully and doesn't damage the non-stick surface like a sharp implement or even a wooden spoon wood.

posted by ccharles on August 1st 2008 at 7:34am
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Basically ANYTHING will work on a very hot grill that's burned away the stuck bits. An onion, an oiled paper towel, a wad of alumnium foil, a raw potato half, balled up green corn husks... go nuts and use whatever you've got on hand.

posted by drmcninja on August 5th 2008 at 10:08am
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The single method that I knew is with the bacon. But I think it's easier with an onion. Thanks !

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posted by EddieSmith on October 6th 2008 at 3:43am
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Same here! I'm Mexican and that's how we do it -- although, I have to admit I've never asked exactly why.

posted by Alex on October 6th 2008 at 10:47am
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Yes...me and my GF have been using this technique for several years now!

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posted by jeffr on November 21st 2008 at 8:51pm
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I have been using onions for years, it has been in my family ever since I can remember, and i am around 40 years old. I was not aware that everyone did not know this.

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posted by Marlin on December 11th 2008 at 10:58pm
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One of the reasons I gave away my portable mini grill was because I had to deal with cleaning the grime and gunk after each meal. I would buy special cleaners, but they would never do the job right. Keep in mind that I'm a pretty lazy person, and I hate having to do any "additional" work... :p

I think this technique was featured on a network like HGTV, and I had my parents use an onion when they grilled. It worked! Now I regret giving away my barbecue grill :(

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posted by water damage restoration on December 18th 2008 at 12:02am
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Nice advice. So far I have just heated the grill and hope the heat will kill all the germs. That didn't kill the aftertaste though. Grilling chicken that still has some salmon aftertaste is not for everyone! =) Will give this a shot!!!
Thanks!

posted by The Silk Tie Man on January 29th 2009 at 1:14pm
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Btw, can I use the onion afterward? =)

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posted by The Silk Tie Man on January 29th 2009 at 1:15pm
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Good advice and who would have thought of it? I wonder what other affects this would have on hygiene.

posted by Web Design Bangkok on February 19th 2009 at 5:31am
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This is a traditional way of cleaning the grill where i come from(Juarez, Mexico). But it does have to be super hot.
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posted by donblack11 on February 22nd 2009 at 4:50pm
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My mother used to use this technique all the time for a slightly different purpose. When you are cooking something like an omelette using a non-stick frying pan, there's no good way to prevent the little oil used, from beading up.
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posted by TonyMike on March 29th 2009 at 7:25pm
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My husband, son, and I attended his co-worker's little post-housewarming barbecue, and he was struggling with cleaning some previously cooked-on gunk when we got there. So I told him about using an onion even though he didn't think it would work, and now he thinks I'm some grilling guru :)

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Thanks for everyone who posted tips and ideas. I enjoyed reading them....and will try a few.

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