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Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

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311–320 of 324 posts

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#311

Wow, such a surprisingly severe consequence for (mis)using an innocuous tool as a wire brush! Incidentally, our household switched away from brushes a few years ago; we stumbled on a very quick and effective solution after dad got in to reloading. A few of the shorter 2.75" shells loaded with rock salt from the 12ga work wonders on the grill.

I would love to see video of this if you aren’t joking!

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#312
post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wiping with vinegar will cause rust. You want to go the other way - alkalis will convert grease into soluble compounds without damaging the steel.

So say something like a solution of baking soda and water?

Yes, but it'd be very slow. Lye would be much more effective. But any solution strong enough to saponify the grease will be strong enough to damage your skin, so use gloves.

I usually just burn it off.

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#313

When this news first came out, I tried practically all the alternatives. My personal experiences: Wadded up aluminum foil: really does not work well. It gets loose grime off, but anything at all burnt on will take very vigorous scrubbing and possibly result in shredded foil everywhere. Also feels like a huge waste of foil. Wooden scraper: works ok, since it's not flexible doesn't get between the slats well, need to p…

Take a cheap onion. Cut it in half. Flame up the grill real hot. Take an oven glove and rub the onion really hard on the grill. It will sizzle. Mmm. Amazing all the way around. (Surgeons are super cocky and for them to explain "man this is tricky to fix" ---> I am out).

> a cheap onion

Not my top shelf, special occasion onion?

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Take a cheap onion. Cut it in half. Flame up the grill real hot. Take an oven glove and rub the onion really hard on the grill. It will sizzle. Mmm. Amazing all the way around. (Surgeons are super cocky and for them to explain "man this is tricky to fix" ---> I am out).

> a cheap onion Not my top shelf, special occasion onion?

Not the organic, gluten-free, free range, cageless red onion.

You want to use the GMO round-up ready, depleted soil/less nutritious [0] factory farm, antibiotic, growth horomone, pesticide laced, persistent organic pollutant laden yellow onions.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#315

When this news first came out, I tried practically all the alternatives. My personal experiences: Wadded up aluminum foil: really does not work well. It gets loose grime off, but anything at all burnt on will take very vigorous scrubbing and possibly result in shredded foil everywhere. Also feels like a huge waste of foil. Wooden scraper: works ok, since it's not flexible doesn't get between the slats well, need to p…

Take a cheap onion. Cut it in half. Flame up the grill real hot. Take an oven glove and rub the onion really hard on the grill. It will sizzle. Mmm. Amazing all the way around. (Surgeons are super cocky and for them to explain "man this is tricky to fix" ---> I am out).

Cleaning vinegar and a wad of paper (not toweling as it leaves fluff) on the hot grill works well.

You'll also see a lot of guys using a splash of beer and newspaper on the public grill - depending on what you have on hand.

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#317
An acquaintance once told me she had accidentally inhaled a sewing needle as a child. She had loaded it into a straw and was planning to blowgun it at her little brother. But she made the horrible mistake of deeply inhaling after the straw was in her mouth thereby inhaling the needle.

IIRC the doctor advised her to eat cotton. She eventually passed the needle in a wad of cotton. Personally I am skeptical of this story. Does anyone feel that this approach might work when a bristle from a BBQ brush is not recoverable by surgery ?

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#318
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually he saved it.

I don't know, it's my opinion, but I feel like the /s trend/adaptation has ruined a lot of the jokes for me by being overly explicit and not leaving any ambiguity...where is the fun in that :P

I also understood it as a joke before I reached the `/s`, but not everyone might’ve. Case in point, there’s another post on this thread[1] where another joke (as I see it) was made and the first reply is someone taking it seriously.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16708477

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#319
post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah no not those, I mean literally chunks of ground up bottle glass that just vaguely look like sponges. They're not at all actually sponge like in absorbance property.

Hm, then I'm not familiar with what you're describing.

Sure, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/EarthStone-750AZ003-GrillStone-Grill-...

Re: Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016)

#320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

those chainmail squares are often marketed for cleaning cast iron based on the canard that soap is bad for cast iron. I'd much rather use soap than steel. Steel's certainly gonna dig into the seasoning.

seriously though, don't use soap. Just get a nylon scrubber or stiff bristled nylon(or whatever) brush and use salt. Soap is going to remove the seasoning and probably leave a soapy flavor behind

This is incorrect. I can show you my cast iron pans and various pieces of carbon steel which are well-seasoned and do not impart soapy tastes. Soap does not damage the seasoning on a pan: https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-cast-iro....

Every cleaning solution that doesn't include a surfactant is worse. It's slower, more labor, intensive, more water-intensive, and it leaves baked-on crud behind. The latter two are both much worse for cast iron than soap.

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