Griddle cleaning!

alan,
give this a shot and i learned it from a dish washer
when the griddle is coming down from heat hit it with the cheapest lemon juice you can get and a green scrubie.
don't ask why it works it just does.
might take 2 tries if it is as bad as you said but try it it really does work and the nice part is it wont poison anyone or leave nasty gritty things around
hope it helps
jack

thanks for the tip, jack. i will sure try that on mine tonite.

i used to use sand paper and a 'red brick' and a green scrubbie ( back in the day). we had three huge grills that had to be done three times a day (24 hr operation). we would wrap the brick with the green scrubbie and the wrap it with the sheet of med sand paper. light coat of oil on the slightly hot grill, and go to scrubbing. front and back motion only, no side to side, as that will scratch surface.
of course all this depends on the type of metal your grill head is. if it is aluminum, then use keating powder and a 'pot-n-pan bristle brush.

coffee,
the really strange part is the cheaper the lemon juice is the better it works. it's about the only thing i've found in life where the lowest quality turns out to be best. weird huh??
jack
ps. peg and i have been meaning to get up your way if i can ever get a day off

i used lemon juice on my grill today. at first, i started to worry, cause it made a brown mess that dried and stuck to the grill. tossed on some h2o and the steam lifted it right up. happy to say the grill was shinier than usual.
thanks to a lemon.....
thanks jack...
oh yea, the smell was aweful! you should have warned me... it was like toilet bowl cleaners gone mad.....

coffe
i always leave the smell part out.
it is a good way to find out if someone really did try it and yep ya did pmsl
glad it worked!!!!
but like i said it sure is weird
other thing is i owe it all to a dishwasher. learned way back be good to the dishwasher. line cooks are ez to replace but a good dishwasher is a gift from heaven
jack

i was looking for a way to use more lemon juice. i buy it from sams in the twin pack bottles. by the time i get to the last bottle, it seems to me to be changed somewhat. i know it doesnt go bad, i guess its just a crazy chef thing.....
anyway, thanks for the tip, my grill is smiling too!

We clean out inside the smokers with the lemon juice, too. It works like a charm. Takes off the gunky stuff, but leaves the seasoning alone it seems to me. It's also good to soak your hands in it when you're all done cleaning to lift off some of that nasty black stuff that seems to get all under my nails and in the creases. Sorry for the beauty tip, but I have to have clean hands the next day for mammography!
It's great to find something that cleans well and doesn't cost much. When I'm done wiping and scrubbing with the lemon juice, I rinse with clean water. I just don't feel too good leaving an acid to sit on the metal.
Peggy
P.S. This, and disposable pans, have saved our marriage!

i will make a note of it with the misses....
mammography! eureka!!!!!

Something I didn't know before is that cheap citrus juices have added citric acid to give them "bite" - I found this out on FoodTV when Mike Martin was discussing his Key Lime Pie - he found out his less expensive "key lime" juice was really Persian lime with added citric acid.

I'm guessing the citric acid (natural and added) is what helps with the cleaning. I know I really like the orange cleaners and keep a bottle in my cook off sanitation bin.