How Aluminum Foil Can Make Cleaning Your Grill Easy

The heat of summer is dissipating, and that means it's time to start thinking about the best way to store your grill this winter. But before you pull over that cover and wheel it into your garage or garden shed, you need to clean your grill to keep it in tip-top shape. Between the baked-on grease and endless scrubbing, that's not a task even the most enthusiastic grillers relish. Thankfully, you can bypass the hard work with a simple ball of aluminum foil. "The abrasive texture of the foil will help to remove any stuck-on food debris," Shawn Hill, blogger at The Grilling Dad, says to Homes & Gardens.

Think of your ball of aluminum foil as a makeshift steel wool scourer. The jagged edges created when you crumple a sheet of al-foil work similarly to the fine, sharp fibers found in steel wool. They snag the debris — bits of meat, nail-like shrimp shells, and burnt fat — caked onto your grill wires as you move the DIY cleaning tool back and forth. You can use a grill or oven cleaner to aid the process, but do so only outdoors or with adequate ventilation. The active ingredient in these cleaners, sodium hydroxide, reacts with aluminum to create hydrogen and other gases.

The piece of al-foil should be about as wide as your grill. Using one hand, crumble the sheet into a tight ball about the size of your fist. The idea is that it runs over several grill bars at one time, not slips through them. If you wish, you can turn your BBQ on for a few seconds. The heat will help loosen the leftover food and oil dirtying your grill surface. Just don't let it run for long, or you'll risk burning your hand on the hot metal as you move the foil ball over the grill. Be sure, too, to shut off the gas before you start cleaning. If you really want to protect your skin, use a pair of tongs or heat-proof gloves to hold the ball in place of your hand. Flip your grill plate over to clean the other side, run a clean rag over both sides, and you're done!

Don't have a roll of the silver stuff in the cupboard? Get a 75-foot roll of 18-inch wide, heavy-duty Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil from Walmart for $22.20. If you're more eco-minded, Amazon has a 100% recycled aluminum foil roll for $25.96. There are other everyday household items you can use to get your BBQ looking like new again, too. The "damp sheets of newspaper" hack makes cleaning the grill effortlessly easy. Or slather on and wipe off a paste of baking soda, vinegar, and dish soap.