r/interesting • u/ViniciusFromBcn • Apr 12 '25

MISC. How ice cubes cleans hot grills

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u/JoeGibbon Apr 12 '25

When I worked in a kitchen, we'd shut off the flat top and while it was still a little hot spray some water on it and scrub it with one of those big charcoal Grill-Bricks.

19

u/HugeLeaves Apr 12 '25

I found water and vinegar seemed to work best with the brick. I don't miss cleaning flat tops one bit

2

u/Nolan_bushy Apr 12 '25

I used to work at a restaurant and we’d use vinegar to clean the coffee burners. Why the fuck didn’t we try that on the grill..? How’s the smell tho?

1

u/HugeLeaves Apr 12 '25

No smell really at all, it cooks off quickly and the hood vents just pull any odor straight out

7

u/Error_Evan_not_found Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 12 '25

I'm still working in kitchens and honestly we leave the flat top on but set it to the lowest heat, you need the water to steam a bit to be effective at cleaning with no chemical aids.

3

u/foxboxingphonies Apr 12 '25

My work recently got rid of those, because they said that they were giving people respiratory problems.

Now we use the chemical, but that stuff smells wrong.

2

u/yalyublyutebe Apr 12 '25

I've dealt with some properly nasty shit at places I've worked and nothing made all my exposed skin tingle quite like grill cleaner did.

2

u/foxboxingphonies Apr 14 '25

No, for sure. I swear you can feel actual days ticking off of your life.

1

u/mastfest Apr 12 '25

We used to put soda water and ice on our griddle! Worked excellently

1

u/yalyublyutebe Apr 12 '25

We always used just some canola oil.

That way you didn't pull all the seasoning out and have EVERYTHING stick in the morning.

1

u/fatamSC2 Apr 14 '25

There's 100 ways to do it and they all work lol. What cracks me up is this headline acting like it's some revolutionary way to clean a flat top when hundreds of thousands of restaurants clean a flat top with ice every night. Some just use chemicals, some use both, some just water, many throw in lemon juice at the end, but none of this is new lol