Rusty and Crusty will always teach you how to properly maintain your grill and keeping it clean. They will also preach over and over the importance of cleaning safety.
Grill cleaning can be tough if not extremely challenging (even for us professional grill cleaners). There are numerous times we come upon a grill that has never been cleaned before or has years and years of hard burnt-on carbon that literally needs to be chiseled off. If we have the tools and the know-how to clean these grills and it still kicks our butt to clean, how can you be expected to clean your grill with any success?
When you’ve tried all the “natural” pastes, rubs and sprays just to get no result, this is when most people turn to the heavy-duty option of using an oven cleaner.
This post is not going to promote the use of or against oven cleaner but rather teach you what dangers oven cleaner can have on your grill.
Can using oven cleaner on your grill pose health risks as well as cause permanent damage to the grill?
As mentioned, cleaning a grill can be extremely difficult and challenging at times. Sometimes you just need an extra little muscle to help get thru the thick heavy carbon.
Common “off the shelf” oven cleaners tend to work pretty well because they often have a high pH (making them caustic). A common chemical compound found in these products is sodium hydroxide (Lye), or “caustic soda”, that have a very high levels of alkaline.
Sodium hydroxide (Lye) is an effective cleaning chemical because when left to sit it reacts with the baked-on grease and carbon in your grill and decomposes the fats and sugars into a soapy compounds that can be washed away.
Can using oven cleaner on your grill pose health risks as well as cause permanent damage to the grill?
Sodium hydroxide is very CORROSIVE and will cause severe burns to your skin, can irritate your eyes and your throat if inhaled. It’s pretty bad stuff if you’re not careful using and handling it.
Simply put, if you decide to spray your grill while there is any wind, the mist from the spray might come back towards you and cause burns to your face and eyes.
Using oven cleaner on your grill can cause unnecessary damage if you’re not careful.
In most cases, damage caused to the grill comes down to the user. With all chemicals, it’s important to know how to use them properly. Sometimes you just don’t know you damaged the grill until the damage is done. Maybe you didn’t know you shouldn’t spray the cleaner on a painted surface? Maybe you didn’t realize you shouldn’t let the product dry in the sun?
Always read the label on the product you are using.
Plain and simple – NO!
Why?
Do you use oven cleaner on your grill? The whole grill or just certain areas or parts?
What fears or concerns do you have using oven cleaner on your grill?
Tell us in the comments below.
Husband, Father, grill cleaning visionary. Founder of The Grill Cleaning Superstore and Prestige BBQ and Oven Cleaning, a Denver based professional Grill Cleaning Company since 2012.
