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I read an article about the many incidents where people have swallowed the wire bristles from cleaning grill grates with a wire brush.  I suppose the bristles came loose and stuck to the grill grate and then stuck to food they were cooking.

What precautions can we take for this?

Wood grill scraper is what I use...


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Quote from: meopilite on May 25, 2019, 02:41:39 PM
I read an article about the many incidents where people have swallowed the wire bristles from cleaning grill grates with a wire brush.  I suppose the bristles came loose and stuck to the grill grate and then stuck to food they were cooking.

What precautions can we take for this?

Well, that's really insane...

I replace mine all the time.  Probably 3-4x per year but I grill a lot.  I only use Weber brand grill brushes.  They have a lot of skin in the game to make a crappy brush.

Never use those cheap plastic ones with the wires jammed in a hole.  That's probably where most of the issues come about. 


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well...looking up videos about wood scrapers, I bumped across this one, where he speaks of that loos wire bristle issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oflBSJe6w1Y

now that said, I've been grilling all my life and can't say I've ever had that as an issue.

I'm curious how clean the wood scraper does...it will be smooth, even if grooved, and not really 'scrape'. then there is the issue of what wood to use. Amazon shows cedar and oak samples.

I can see these working well with cast iron grills...but no to much porcelain/stainless steel.

I worry about it all the time too
I'll occasionally use the wire brushes that are twisted, but never the ones where the wires are just in the holes
That being said, I think I've only used balled up foil for years now. Does a great job getting the edges and working into and around the grates


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I don't use them anymore after I seen the special about the chap who got a bristle in his intestine nearly killed him.
I use the Weber grill brush scrubber since obviously its Weber and we all rave on the Weber products and because Walmart had them on clearance last winter so I bought all they had.
Seems to work really well it gets caked with grease so I do the charcoal grate too that way I'm keeping that covered so it doesn't rust and hasn't yet.

Currently using Weber wire brush with no issues. After brushing, I go over with either balled up paper towel sheets soaked in some oil or half onion to clean rest of the gunk of the grate before cooking. Just don't use those cheap dollar store wire brushes. I have seen one come apart.

Next brush to be used.
(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/rsz_t7.jpg)

(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/t8.jpg)

I wipe down the grates with a paper towel or rag coated with oil after cleaning with a brush may help as it makes me feel better.

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Metal spatula for me.


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Thanks guys. Food for thought :(

You could always use my system which is just to burn off whatever is on there and never clean the grill ;)

A safe option is just throw away the grate after every cook and just go buy a new one😏

I don't know man, my grate is too heavy to drag to the garbage can :P

Aside from the bristle issue, A grill brush of any kind is like wiping with used toilet paper imo.


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My favorite grill brush is actually a stainless steel paint scraper. This one is about 7 years old. Some bristle loss but they are big ass bristles.  I've also used welding scale brushes but my fav is the paint scraper.


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also...for how many decades have these bristle brushes been used by grillers around the world...with literally no issues? I think this is an exception to the rule that the wires come out, stick to a grill and then the food. I would suspect one would find it in their mouth while masticating their meat, if something did happen to leak through.

Quote from: cigarman20 on May 26, 2019, 12:03:11 PM
My favorite grill brush is actually a stainless steel paint scraper. This one is about 7 years old. Some bristle loss but they are big ass bristles.  I've also used welding scale brushes but my fav is the paint scraper.

Plus, the varnish seals the pores of the meat and keeps it moist, which reduces the risk of burning and shrinkage of that AA brisket :P

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Quote from: Marzipan on May 26, 2019, 12:39:11 PMI would suspect one would find it in their mouth while masticating their meat

Hey! This is supposed to be a family show! Oh, masticating ;) Never mind. That oughta give us something to chew on...

I have never had any issues with my Weber 12 in. three sided wire bristle brush. Perfect.

I don't care for the continuous loop wire safety brushes - I don't think they do a very good job cleaning.  I use a Brustech B108C and replace it when it starts showing wear.  I also wipe the grate with a paper towel/vegetable oil after brushing.  I won't use Chinese made brushes.

Bumping this up for awareness. Just cooked up some nice burgers and while eating felt something pricking the roof of my mouth. Had a pretty good idea what it was. Tried finding it for about 5 minutes and also trying to rinse it out while not swallowing. Was a little scary specially after reading stories about people that have swallowed a bristle and had serious medical issues. My wife came home and was able to take a look and the damn bristle is stuck in my tongue (sorry no pics).  Hopefully none of us swallowed any.
I've read these stories in the past but didn't think much of it. Now I do. Needless to say I threw away all my brushes with bristles.
The brush I was using was probably just under a year old and that was probably the reason but will still stay away from wire brushes.


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Quote from: foshizzle on January 02, 2020, 08:01:36 PM
Bumping this up for awareness. Just cooked up some nice burgers and while eating felt something pricking the roof of my mouth. Had a pretty good idea what it was. Tried finding it for about 5 minutes and also trying to rinse it out while not swallowing. Was a little scary specially after reading stories about people that have swallowed a bristle and had serious medical issues. My wife came home and was able to take a look and the damn bristle is stuck in my tongue (sorry no pics).  Hopefully none of us swallowed any.
I've read these stories in the past but didn't think much of it. Now I do. Needless to say I threw away all my brushes with bristles.
The brush I was using was probably just under a year old and that was probably the reason but will still stay away from wire brushes.


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Wow that's gotta be a scary . I haven't used a wire brush in a long time . And after this story I can say I won't ever again .  Glad that you are ok!  The price we pay for good food!!!!


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I have a stainless steel brush that has the round coils.  They aren't great but on the other side there is a 3 inch flat scraper and the sides of the scraper can fit between the grates.  It works fairly well and I don't need to worry about the wires falling out.  Between that and just burning the crud off I am good.

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Glad nobody got hurt. I haven't used a wire brush of any kind for 10 years and don't miss it.

I just use an old spatula. Give the grate a scrape and sometimes use the corner of the spatula to go between.  Works great.

However, there is still a risk if you go to other people's houses for cookouts. It's tough to avoid entirely unless you only eat grilled food at home.


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Can you show us the brush so we all can see which one not to buy?

Quote from: foshizzle on January 02, 2020, 08:01:36 PM
Bumping this up for awareness. Just cooked up some nice burgers and while eating felt something pricking the roof of my mouth. Had a pretty good idea what it was. Tried finding it for about 5 minutes and also trying to rinse it out while not swallowing. Was a little scary specially after reading stories about people that have swallowed a bristle and had serious medical issues. My wife came home and was able to take a look and the damn bristle is stuck in my tongue (sorry no pics).  Hopefully none of us swallowed any.
I've read these stories in the past but didn't think much of it. Now I do. Needless to say I threw away all my brushes with bristles.
The brush I was using was probably just under a year old and that was probably the reason but will still stay away from wire brushes.


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I've got a scraper  on a screw driver handle like this. It works well enough to knock the big chunks off.
(https://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/0/8/6/2/7/6/webimg/515773589_tp.jpg)

It was one of these brushes.
I was cooking on GrillGrates at the time.


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Is that a weber brush?

IMO the most common things to cause brush bristles too break off is either

A. It's a cheap brush.
B. The user it's too rough with the brush , pushing down on it too hard,  or trying to clean between the spokes.
C. Never cleaning the muck and carbon out of the brush.

The Weber 6493 brush is the best one on the Market. I've been using mine since either 2012 or 13 , and while there's been plenty of bellyaching around here since then, I am very confident it's never had a problem with breaking apart.

In my opinion having a bristle break off, become dislodged, or get swallowed and injure somebody is extremely rare.

It is rare but it can happen. A brush is just an unnecessary item imo.


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Quote from: Hell Fire Grill on January 04, 2020, 07:02:34 AM
Is that a weber brush?

IMO the most common things to cause brush bristles too break off is either

A. It's a cheap brush.
B. The user it's too rough with the brush , pushing down on it too hard,  or trying to clean between the spokes.
C. Never cleaning the muck and carbon out of the brush.

The Weber 6493 brush is the best one on the Market. I've been using mine since either 2012 or 13 , and while there's been plenty of bellyaching around here since then, I am very confident it's never had a problem with breaking apart.

In my opinion having a bristle break off, become dislodged, or get swallowed and injure somebody is extremely rare.

I use this Weber 6493 brush and have NEVER had a problem with it. Sturdy, well made, does the job extremely well.