How To Clean Your Grill Without A Grill Brush

Put the grill brush down and try these alternative grill-cleaning methods this summer.

For an all-natural clean, try using an acidic ingredient like coffee or onions on your grill grates. You can either soak your grill grates in coffee for about an hour before giving them a scrub and a rinse or you can rub the hot grill grates with a halved onion, cut-side down, to help loosen debris and grease before cleaning.

Balling up aluminum foil is another easy way to clean your grill grates, brush-free. Use a pair of long-handled tongs to grip the ball of foil and then scrub away at the hot grill until the messy aftermath of your cooking is gone. You can even use the same aluminum foil that you used to do the cooking: it's a great way to repurpose foil before tossing it.

While it is time-consuming (and wasteful of gas), getting rid of excess grease and debris on your grill grates can be as easy as burning it off — no accessories or cleaning agents required.

A nylon-based sponge or scouring pad (available in lots of sizes and levels of durability) is another tool that helps you scrub the grime from your grill grates. Just be sure to look for wire-free scouring pads so that you don't risk leaving dangerous pieces of metal behind when you clean the grill.

You can also make grill clean-up easier (which, in turn, makes using a bristled brush less necessary) by preventing food from sticking to the grates in the first place. Try oiling the grill grates before you cook on them.