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Comment by overcast | Hacker News Reader

I switched to using a wooden scraper a couple years ago, when I first read this report. Works great!

https://www.amazon.com/Great-Scrape-Woody-Paddle-Natural/dp/...

I have that scraper, and found that it really doesn't do a very good job. A balled up piece of aluminum foil works better than the wooden scrapers, in my experience. Unfortunately, the best results come from the bristle brushes.

Aluminum is just being wasteful honestly. Not sure how clean you're expecting, but this does a fine job at getting all the big chunks off (which is what you want). Heat will nuke the rest of it.

Depends on what you're cleaning it for. Some people are paranoid that the bits of carbon left clinging to the rails are known to the state of California to cause cancer and must be completely removed before it is safe to heat food.

Or you can be like me and just get the grill hot and give it a quick once over with a metal spatula to remove any chunks that are sticking up. I mean I'm cooking over an open flame here, it's already carcinogen city.

I find that an aluminum ball leaves little bits of aluminum on the grill that can get into your food.

Yeah, it baffles me why they didn't mention any alternative in the article!

When this article came up last year I thought about grooving a metal spatula with the Dremel, although I've not gotten around to it partly because I have never seen a bristle come off my brush and I always oil the grill with a paper towel and olive oil right before cooking. It's a good idea to quickly make one like this product from scrap wood. Maybe this season.

Another alternative is a synthetic scrubber pad:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018823HZG/

These have the added bonus of not scratching porcelain coated grills.

You can also get a 1x6 piece of oak (or other hardwood) from your favorite lumber yard or home improvement center. I grabbed an offcut of red oak for about $2 a year ago. Thirty seconds with a jigsaw to form a handle.

I was thinking about doing the same after I saw the parent. But just because you and I can does not mean everyone can.

Could also just slap some tape on unfinished wood and call it a handle.

I use a steel spatula to scrape the obvious stuff off, but don't really bother cleaning a grill very thoroughly. It gets hot enough to burn off most of the funk and germs.

Spatula does the same thing, only problem is that you have to clean between grooves separately. Wood forms channels inline with your grill.

I've had a similarly good experience with our wooden scraper – here in the PNW, Costco usually sells them in the summer.

The best thing about these wooden scrapers is that they also make a great paddle to beat your unruly children with.

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