Check your grill brushes!!

yzzi

I've heard some horrible stories about brush bristles attaching to food, getting swallowed, and wreaking havoc on the digestive track. I've noticed my brush is getting a little old and has left behind a few bristles on the grid the last few cooks. Just wanted to caution everyone to check your grid for bristles left behind. I think I may switch to a scouring pad type brush this time around.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wire-grill-brush-bristles-stuck-food-throats-hospital/story?id=16718881

CPARKTX

Interesting, just yesterday I noticed that the bristles had worn down/off of my brush and ordered a new one.

henapple

I threw mine away. This a scrubber u picked up at Lowe's for a couple of bucks. Get the coarse pad... The white, fine haired pads fall apart easily.

Owossoegger

I saw a news episode a while back about that. Scary. I always look now

erniemcclain

Owassoegger, how did the eggfest go for you guys?  I must have missed the update.  I am a former Muskegon, Jackson and Kalamazoo resident.

TonyA

I haven't had any noticeable issues with bristles in food, but invariable I wind up getting them stuck in my feet!

henapple

After watching the news show about the teenager that almost died... I wouldn't take the chance.

Mickey

Not worth it. Dump them.

Botch

A couple things in the article bothered me.  One brush company "rigorously tests" their brushes, but any brush will shed at any time, eventually.  Also, asking the question "How old is the brush?" is similarly flawed; a brand-new brush will probably shed more right at first, from manufacturing deviations (reliability engineers call these "infant mortality" failures).

Also, a question, if anyone has the answer:  does this danger apply to brass bristles, or just stainless steel?   

GK59

I have and use the 2 prong coiled one. Still use the brush on the stamped grate on the gasser but brush it over with my hand or tip it and tap it a few times.

Smokin_Trout

I leave the flavor crystals on the grill!

I keep a small shovel around to stir the coals up. U just use it to scrape the grill.

fljoemon

I use the Char-Broil hawg Brush with the Wire Mesh Heads (http://www.charbroil.com/brush-hawg-wire-mesh-heads.html). I bought mine at Lowes. BGE also sells Stainless Steel Mesh Grill Scrubber (http://issuu.com/biggreenegg/docs/bge_v3_2013_online_catalogue). My Pinch-A-Penny BGE dealer carries these.

Skiddymarker

Pull 'em hit 'em with the pressure washer, done - no bristles at all. 

johann

How do you get a bristle in your food? I fire the grill up, wait to temp, scrub when the grate is hot, and then typically fiddle for a bit more until temps are where i want them. I'm pretty sure I would see bristles on the grate. My brushes usually wear out quite a bit. Like half the bristles totally gone. 

I also scrape after a cook too. 

yzzi

If there is a bristle on the grid that you miss and you put a piece of food over it, it could possibly stick to the food and get swallowed. Never had it happen to me, but I've seen a few bristles stick on my grid. Haven't missed one yet, but I threw that brush out to be safe.

henapple

I guess my question is why risk it when you don't have to...

ShadowNick

if you insist on scraping of that extra flavor from the grill, just ball up some foil and run it over the grates.

henapple

I clean my grids.... Never. Just brush the top

TamaleTim

An occasional trip into the oven on self clean mode will make the grill look shiny new!