Occasionally I Will Clean My Grates

[MacEggs]

[Hell Fire Grill]

Mac I occasionally will use a weed burner to do a couple things with my grates. But not all the time because extreme high heat and/or thermal shock can (not "will" but "can") cause warpage if its over done.

If I want to recondition a rusty grate, in a rush, I'll use the weed burner to heat it, slow & even, to help loosen any scaly rust. Then it can be brushed clean enough to begin a new seasoning process. The weed burner works great for loosening build-up from sugary sauces like teriyaki or KC style sauces.

A quick sanitization is another good use for the weed burner, it'll heat up a strange grill in a few minutes and with proper oil/heat combo added during the process you'll end up with a nearly perfectly seasoned grill grate in minutes. Might not be non-stick but your burger wont taste like iron, that and expecting a working grill grate to be perfectly non stick 100% is crazy.

IMO the trick is too heat the grate slow & even, without getting it red hot, or holding the weed burner in one spot to long.
 

[MacEggs]

Excellent advice, HFG.  Thank you!

I did this yesterday.  The grate was from a cook-up Sunday January 21st. 
I had bacon wrapped chicken thighs on there.  BBQ sauce was also applied …. As you can see, quite a mess.
Using the weed burner, most of the gunk will catch on fire and burn-off on its own.

I then gave it a quick scrape, spray with vegetable oil and it's almost as good as new.
It doesn't get done very often, but in this case, it needed it. 

[Jules V.]

Or just use this.   

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Norton-2-Coarse-Crimp-Wire-Brush/1000213181