Tips for cleaning a griddle?

I have a commercial range that includes a flat top griddle. I am having a difficult time keeping it clean. Scrubbing it with a rag using lemon juice seems to clean it up in the short run, but over time it starts to turn brown and yucky looking as it sits idle.?

Any tips on cleaning it up and keeping it clean?

Thanks.

If its a professional unit you use a griddle brick: http://tinyurl.com/68gjdn RJF

By turning brown and yucky looking and you state it sits idle, are you referring to rust and just general overall dirt. Then would thoughly clean and season. Or are you talking, you cooked on it and and now it is sitting warm and idle waiting for next batch to cook.

quote:

Originally posted by RichardFriese

If its a professional unit you use a griddle brick: http://tinyurl.com/68gjdn RJF

Thanks for the response. I checked the link. I see a "grill brick" but not a "griddle brick". I assume that's the same thing (I'm not purposefully being dense!).

quote:

Originally posted by Curbside Grill

By turning brown and yucky looking and you state it sits idle, are you referring to rust and just general overall dirt. Then would thoughly clean and season. Or are you talking, you cooked on it and and now it is sitting warm and idle waiting for next batch to cook.

Thanks for the response. I am not referring to it sitting warm an idle waiting for the next batch. It has been sitting idle for a while (maybe months). It's not so much general overall dirt but this sort of light brown patina that developed since it was last used and cleaned. It's like a mixture of rust and I don't know what. Maybe the grill/griddle brick suggested above will be the answer. Any guidance on cleaning and seasoning? I am not sure it was ever properly seasoned to begin with and may be part of the problem...

Thanks again.

if the metal really is rusty, the best thing would be to strip it clean to bare metal and reseason it. if the rust is light, coarse scotchbrite should do the trick. if the rust is really bad it might need to be power sanded, preferably using a d/a or pad sander to avoid gouging the surface..

Never power sand it, that will leave tiny marks no matter how carefull you are. If in fact it's light surface rust try ketchup let it sit for a bit and scrub with either a scotch brite or grill screen.
My guess it's just oxidizing over time. It happens to all grill surfaces that aren't highly polished. After the next cleaning when dry apply either a very light coat of mineral oil or spray with Pam, just enough so it's slick to the touch. Chow Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats
Never power sand it, that will leave tiny marks no matter how carefull you are. If in fact it's light surface rust try ketchup let it sit for a bit and scrub with either a scotch brite or grill screen. Chow Jim

Jim
I'm curious why ketchup? When I hear or read something like this, I always wonder the why and how did it get started? I mean who had this problem many years ago and said "Oh man put some ketchup on it" LOL Is it the small amount of acid from the tomatoes???? Perspiring minds want to know.
Thanks
Jack

I have a flat top on my rig...when I'm busy and I need to clean my grill I throw ice on it let it melt then wipe it clean with a cloth(be careful of the steam).now this will cool down your grill it it wont take long to recover....When I'm done for the day...while my grill is still hot I pour ice on it and wipe it down.then brick it with plenty of oil...
There are chemicals out there that will make your grill shine like new....but, there is a lot to be said for a well seasoned grill.I really dont like stripping my grill of all the oils...

back in my younger years ie. 1995 I used to work at Ponderosa. What we did was pour a large pitcher of carbonated water onto the griddle. Then used one of those metal scrubby things(yes, thats the technical term) I dont know if the carbonation helped any more than just regular water but thats what we did and it worked great. brought a nice shine to the grill

Maybe others can respond on the ketchup, though ketchup is tomato paste, seasoning and vinegar. I'm guessing its the vinegar that is cleaning it, though the ketchup is thicker and won't run all over. Yes its a grill brick. RJF

We had a similar problem this year and it was suggested that we try coke or pepsi. It really cleaned up the griddle. At the end of the year we normally put vegatable oil and spread it out on the grill and put wax paper on the top of the oil. That usually works great and we have very little clean-up the next season. We did it to one grill this past year and forgot to do it on the other. Needless to say the one grill was quite a mess, but the soda really worked good,

I have never heard of using ketchup!

quote:

Originally posted by Dr of BBQ

quote:

Originally posted by Jimeats
Never power sand it, that will leave tiny marks no matter how carefull you are. If in fact it's light surface rust try ketchup let it sit for a bit and scrub with either a scotch brite or grill screen. Chow Jim

Jim
I'm curious why ketchup? When I hear or read something like this, I always wonder the why and how did it get started? I mean who had this problem many years ago and said "Oh man put some ketchup on it" LOL Is it the small amount of acid from the tomatoes???? Perspiring minds want to know.
Thanks
Jack

Hey I am there, do not despute this but why ketchup.
No, whatever you chose you have to get the rust off and season, have you ever had a cast iron skillet. Same thing, once seasoned. There are some strong soaps that you have to delute for griddles and grill screen, but have to keep it seasoned. Oh just looked you are around Memphis, Ok Google discount rest. equip. your area. Get phone number,call ask for griddle cleaner, $6-8.00/Gal., dilute and clean, season. That Gal. will last years in the home. Ex-Heavy duty soap, follow instructions. How you season is up to you,but edges are included, and if removeable back even. Fry up some Bacon, hopefully (Benton's) and will be over for BLT's, just give me a 3hr. heads up.

Ketchup? I use it often to clean the copper on the bottoms of some of my sauce pans. As I was having lunch one day looking at an old Griswold cast iron pan with some light surface rust, yard sale find, I said what the hell and tryed it on that. A light coating and I let it sit for half an hour or so and scrubbed with a scoth brite, Rust was gone.
I have recently used it on the top of my cast iron cook stove with great success. I'm certain it's the combination of the tomatos and vinegar causing the caustick reaction to the metal. So for light surface rust it's a cheap alternative and a time saver.
The original poster stated that it was a flat top griddle.
Many of those wern't highly polished or nickled and should be treated just like cast iron pans. As an old cast iron pan will turn black over time so will your grill top, a good thing.
Commercial grills are polished steel, non pourous and don't season like cast, but will turn darker when heat is applyed. Chow Jim

Keep the thing seasoned, pour water on it, steam it up, use paper towel to get excess grease.When you need to scrape it use your spatula upside down.

i learned this way back when i was a sous chef from my dishwasher. it worked then and i still use it today. get the cheapest lemon juice that you can buy. turn your griddle off and clean other things for a half hour. dump the lemon juice on and keep cleaning other things for 15 mins. take a green scubbie and just scrub your griddle. if you have been using it all day figure on 10 mins worth of scrubbing. wipe off with papper towel and then wipe with clean water. it leaves no grit like a brick does. it has no chemicals that will make anyone sick. it's cheap,quick and effective.
jack
ps. now if ya wanna get fancy after that wad up a piece of aluminum foil and go over the surface. it will look like brand new.

My grandma just usually threw hers in with the regular wash and then hung it on the clothes-line in the back yard by one of the stocking clips.......oh wait......you said griddle......never mind.

Try scraping it first to get the large stuff off. Then pour a bunch of table salt on the grill and scrub it clean with that. Just open the spout and spread it around. You can use paper towells with the salt. It seems to work better when the griddle is warm. The salt will remove residue and oil. Then just brush it off...Russ