Rusty and Crusty love healthy grill cleaning methods. “The greener, the cleaner” they always say…well, sometimes they say it. Not always, but I’ve heard them say it once?!
Anyways! there are lots of posts and videos about people cleaning their grill grates with a cut onion claiming it “cleans” their grates and “kills bacteria”. How true is this? How well does the onion work cleaning the gunk on the grates? Does it really kill the bacteria on the grates?
Let’s dive into this subject.
Does an onion really kill the bacteria on your grates or is this an old wives-tale?
Onions, other than tasting pretty darn good when caramelized, or grilled are packed with nutrients and have a lot of health related benefits when consumed.
For centuries, people have used onions as a preventative medicine. Onions are highly regarded to be one of the earliest crops cultivated ranging back some 5000 years. Onions have even been mentioned in the Bible (Numbers 11:5, KJV – We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic”). That’s pretty cool right?
Onions are packed with nutrients to help you ward off diseases and bacteria. Not only do they have vitamins and minerals, but are naturally fat and cholesterol free. They are a great source of dietary fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, potassium, and other key nutrients which might boost your immunity to stay healthy during cold and flu season.
Cleaning your grates can be one of the most challenging tasks on the entire grill. Does cleaning your grates with an onion really work?
Essentially, cleaning your grill with an onion would be considered a “natural”, “healthy”, “organic” type of cleaning. You really can’t go wrong with this method.
Turn your grill on and let it heat up. Cut a white onion in half and place it on the hot grates. Using your tongs or poking a long handled fork into the onion, rub it back and forth on the grates (rubbing front to back). The juice from the onion will loosen the burnt on carbon and remove it during the back and forth motion.
That’s it?!
Does it work?
Cleaning your grates can be one of the most challenging tasks on the entire grill. As a professional grill cleaning company, we can attest to the challenge grates present.
While I’m sure an onion can work, I have to imagine the grates need to be pretty clean to begin with. Trying to remove heavy, crusted, built-up carbon sitting on top of the grates would take a lot of passes of an onion to remove it all.
The juices in the onion reacting to the hot grates is what helps loosen up the carbon. The reality is an old rag soaked in water can produce the same result…except without the added flavor.
There’s no reason for us to not recommend using an onion to clean your grill grates.
And
When cut, the onions juice is released and is known to kill or inhibit the growth of several types of microorganisms, including some of those capable of causing food poisoning. So, by rubbing a fresh cut onion on your grates you quite possibly could be stopping the spread of bacteria sitting on your grill grates?
But, let’s face it. Rubbing the onion on top of the grates is only cleaning…well, the top of the grates. You’re not actually cleaning the grates except for the top surface. You wouldn’t clean your dishes with an onion, put them back in the cupboards and consider them clean so let’s not consider the grill grates clean – let’s call them…seasoned or prepped for grilling.
Have you used an onion to clean your grates?
Did it work for you? If not, tell us why it didn’t work.
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.
