I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

On Feb 18, 5:04*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. *It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? *IIRC, they are porcelain. *And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? *And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? *Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. *Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

Many applications of Easy-Off oven cleaner works for me. Only problem
is that you may have to sign for it, here in IL it is considered a
dangerous chemical.

On Feb 18, 3:04*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. *It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? *IIRC, they are porcelain. *And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? *And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? *Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. *Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

My neighbor turned me on to using Oven Cleaner.
We just place the BBQ parts on many layers of newspaper and spray.

Spray at a shallow angle so the spray that "over spray" will hit other
parts of the grills.

I put one grill on top of the other but offset slightly so I waste
less of the spray.
Let it sit for 1/2 hr and just keep spraying the stuff on if areas
are dry or if gunk isn't loosened.

The interior of the BBQ I scrape with a putty knife or old spatula.
To avoid scratching the stainless steel I make sure my putty knife
doesn't have sharp corners or I use a plastic scraper.
I sometimes use the oven spray on the interior too.

I either scrape, wipe (old disposable rags) or hose off the loosened
gunk.
Scraping is slow, wiping is a bit messy and hosing generates messy
runoff.

Sometimes I run the grill through the dishwasher but be
forewarned.....
there can a fair amount of carbonized residual that will require a
number of dishwasher runs to eliminate.

I would avoid running the BBQ very long on high without a cooking load
in it.
I would suggest maybe 20 to 30 minutes on low or medium....... just
enough to dry everything out without overheating the parts.

cheers
Bob

"hr(bob) " wrote

Many applications of Easy-Off oven cleaner works for me. Only problem
is that you may have to sign for it, here in IL it is considered a
dangerous chemical.

In a lot of places, you have to sign for a lot of things now, as they are
used in the making of drugs.

Steve

On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:04:21 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:

I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?


You want something with lye in it. I like the Grill and Stove
cleaner from Sams club-
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/pr...oductId=123954
[in the janitorial section- not the detergent section. It is
labeled commercial use]

That stuff is fairly inexpensive, and works fantastic. Soak and
wipe. for the worst of it, spray, wrap in a garbage bag and leave
overnight.

Jim

On 2/18/2012 6:16 PM, hr(bob) wrote:
On Feb 18, 5:04 pm, "Steve wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

Many applications of Easy-Off oven cleaner works for me. Only problem
is that you may have to sign for it, here in IL it is considered a
dangerous chemical.

A drop of strong caustic can put out your eye. I'm surprised that there
aren't more accidents with oven cleaners.

On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:04:21 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:

I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve


My grill had not been cleaned for a number of years. Grabbed several
cans of oven cleaner from the dollar store. Removed the grills,
"diffusers", burners, etc.... Spray them and allowed to set and soak.
Sprayed the inside of the grill -- allowed to soak.

Then used to power washer to clean. A wire brush is also handy (not
sure about the brush on porcelain). My unit is SS with brass burners.

Check all the orifices in the burners to ensure they are clear.

On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:04:21 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:

I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve



Just a wild shot but wonder if this stuff can go inside a self
cleaning oven (assuming you have one) and use it to clean the parts???

On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:04:21 -0800, "Steve B"
wrote:

I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve


I like my VC grill until it rusted to crap after about 8 years. The
drip pan fell and almost burned through the propane hose. Any place
on the frame that had a hole through it rusted away. Very
disappointing for the money I spent for it.

Best way to clean the grates is to soak them in ammonia. Do this
OUTSIDE, of course. Put them in a plastic bag, wet them down and
pour the rest of a quart in the bag and seal it up. Let it stand
overnight. Open the bag and let the fumes dissipate. Wash the grates
with a hose and they will be as good as new.

Use the putty knife on the diffusers.

Last year I dumped the VC and bought a Weber Summit.

Just a wild shot but wonder if this stuff can go inside a self
cleaning oven (assuming you have one) and use it to clean the parts???

I have without a problem, run on short self clean cycle.

As a matter of fact I put the top half in my self cleaning oven it
came out so clean I ground off the bolts and did the same thing with
the bottom half.

My grill is alunimum. remove parts like wood handles that can be
damaged by high heat

Steve B wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take
it apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred
mammal fat? And do I really go through it all thoroughly, or is
there a soak that I can use, and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of
it just needs a putty knife, some elbow grease, and TLC. Or
should I just power wash and scrape everything, put it back together,
and run it on high for an hour or so to burn off the excess?


fat + lye = soap

Easy off contains lye. You can buy just lye (caustic soda). You can make
lye with wood ash and water.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

On Feb 18, 6:04*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. *It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? *IIRC, they are porcelain. *And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? *And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? *Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. *Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

Like others have said "use oven cleaner", also whenever the wife runs
the self clean cycle on the oven I put grill pats that can stand the
heat in it. Some of the sheet metal bits will warp up but cast iron
and porcelain can handle it just fine. NaOH is also a good cleaner.
When I workeded in a fast food joint years ago we pulled the grill
every night and stored it in a vat of it for cleaning. Worked great.

Jimmie

On Feb 18, 6:04*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. *It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? *IIRC, they are porcelain. *And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? *And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? *Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. *Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

I tried burning mine off like that and warped the cook surface. It
also takes the season out of cast iron and makes it rust. Cleaning in
a self cleaning oven works good. Coat with cooking oil as soon as you
can get the door open.

Jimmie

On Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:06:09 -0600, Doug wrote:

Just a wild shot but wonder if this stuff can go inside a self
cleaning oven (assuming you have one) and use it to clean the parts???

Yes it can. I do it all the time.

"Steve B" wrote in message
. ..
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? And
do I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can
use, and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty
knife, some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?


Oven cleaner - garden hose
Drain to a place where you don't care if it kills the vegetation

"Frank" wrote in message
...
On 2/18/2012 6:16 PM, hr(bob) wrote:
On Feb 18, 5:04 pm, "Steve wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? IIRC, they are porcelain. And
the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat?
And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can
use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? Some of it just needs a putty
knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so
to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

Many applications of Easy-Off oven cleaner works for me. Only problem
is that you may have to sign for it, here in IL it is considered a
dangerous chemical.

A drop of strong caustic can put out your eye. I'm surprised that there
aren't more accidents with oven cleaners.

Yup
Don't run with Easy-Off in your hand..
snicker

On Feb 18, 5:04*pm, "Steve B" wrote:
I have a Vermont Castings grill that I like a lot. *It's time to take it
apart and clean it up.

What's a good way to clean the grates? *IIRC, they are porcelain. *And the
flame diffusers, which are coated with layers of charred mammal fat? *And do
I really go through it all thoroughly, or is there a soak that I can use,
and a power wash/air jet finish up? *Some of it just needs a putty knife,
some elbow grease, and TLC. *Or should I just power wash and scrape
everything, put it back together, and run it on high for an hour or so to
burn off the excess?

TIA

Steve

Old fashioned Drano is all NaOH, sodium hydroxide, lye. Make up a
strong solution and soak the parts for a few hours. Follow label
precautions, use a bare steel container.
If the finish is really porcelain, mechanical plus heat is needed,

Joe
Joe