
Surgeons urge people to throw out bristle BBQ brushes (2016) - navinsylvester
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/barbecue-brushes-dangers-swallow-throat-wire-bristle-dempsey-1.3741578
======
nvusuvu
Once, I got a bristle in a waffle cone from an ice cream parlor. Fortunately,
I noticed it in my mouth before I swallowed. The parlor used a steel brush to
scrub the griddles clean. Their policy is to bake a waffle cone after cleaning
and immediately throw it away to catch stray bristles. One employee didn't
follow the policy.

~~~
giarc
That's a terrible policy and doesn't get at the root cause of the problem.

~~~
snissn
Yes they should bake and throw away two waffles to be extra sure that they get
all of the bristles

~~~
davidsawyer
"Just another put another if statement in there, you know, just in case."
-Anonymous

~~~
emaginniss
Test is failing... increase timeout

------
AStellersSeaCow
When this news first came out, I tried practically all the alternatives. My
personal experiences:

Wadded up aluminum foil: really does not work well. It gets loose grime off,
but anything at all burnt on will take very vigorous scrubbing and possibly
result in shredded foil everywhere. Also feels like a huge waste of foil.

Wooden scraper: works ok, since it's not flexible doesn't get between the
slats well, need to put a lot of elbow grease in to get stuck-on stuff, and if
you leave it outside in my high humidity region - even under a cover - it will
get disgusting fast

Abrasive pads/steel wool - work surprisingly well, but need to be replaced
constantly and it's fairly disgusting work (you will feel like you need a
shower afterwards) because you are basically in the grill

Nylon brush - did literally nothing.

The solution I'm currently on is a wire brush that is continuous spirals of
wire rather than bristles. Available from your preferred online merchant, etc.
Does not work nearly as well as a traditional wire brush: have to use quite a
bit more force, and very awkward to maneuver it between the slats. That said,
it gets the job done very well and it's durable.

~~~
lostlogin
I wonder if there is a non mechanical way of cleaning it and instead a
chemical reaction like oven cleaner. Ideally it would be something that wasn’t
seemingly related to a chemical weapon but maybe that’s what it takes.

~~~
odonnellryan
Fire, man. Just let the fire clean it. Never saw the point of wire brushes
unless you're leaving food on the grill when you're done with it.

~~~
karlkatzke
I think a lot of people don’t let their grill get hot enough. I know I have
problems with cleaning my smoker racks (and my wife won’t let me run them
through the dish washer) so I have to throw them on my charcoal grill when I’m
heating it up.

~~~
odonnellryan
Yeah, probably. Charred food is not good for you really, but it's going to be
on there anyway after you cook on a grill no matter what (unless it's like, a
George Foreman...?). I can't imagine the bit of carbon on the grill from the
last session would ever cause more harm than normal charcoal!

------
conistonwater
The caption to one of the photos is priceless:

> _Kevin Gallant, of Summerside, P.E.I., had part of his small intestine
> removed after he swallowed a bristle from a barbecue brush. He still uses a
> bristle brush, but inspects the barbecue thoroughly after using it._

He still uses a bristle brush.

~~~
Spivak
Can you really blame him? The brushes are so apparently so good at cleaning
that it's worth his time to inspect the results after than switch to an
alternative. It's not like his approach is unsafe.

bristle brush cleaning time + inspection time < alternative cleaning time

~~~
conistonwater
That approach sounds wrong to me: bristles breaking off is pretty rare
already, and inspecting the barbecue for bristles is only as good as your
ability to pay attention while doing it, while not finding anything most of
the time. People often overestimate their ability to pay attention, because
the cost of missing something is usually low and the consequences manageable.
People's intuition regarding very rare events is also pretty bad in general.
So attention would be the limiting factor, which is why it still seems unsafe.

Also, I felt like the goal is to avoid having a portion of your intestine
removed, not really so much to save time.

~~~
_vertigo
As the comment you're replying to stated, the man inspects the barbecue, not
the food. This seems to me to be easier and less error-prone.

~~~
conistonwater
Oh you're right, I read that wrong ("inspect the results"). I still don't
think it's a good idea, it's the same problem.

------
monkeynotes
How is it that the manufacturers haven't had a class action put their way? I
mean, they are knowingly making a product that fails in regular usage in a way
that is almost impossible to prevent or detect completely.

I'd suggest these types of scrapers be legislated against since they are
incapable of being used safely in reasonable intended usage.

~~~
numbsafari
Yeah, well, good thing we have OpenBazaar so that people like you won't be
able to keep me from exercising my freedom to use a real manly brush to do a
real manly job. I'm sure that really offends you, but I'm no snowflake. I can
make my own bristle material decisions for my self and on behalf of everyone I
cook for./s

~~~
mrhappyunhappy
You ruined it with /s

~~~
gpvos
Actually he saved it.

~~~
firefistace77
I don't know, it's my opinion, but I feel like the /s trend/adaptation has
ruined a lot of the jokes for me by being overly explicit and not leaving any
ambiguity...where is the fun in that :P

~~~
gpvos
I think on HN the need for clarity is seen as more important than having fun,
because misunderstandings can do more damage than fun can create pleasure.
This unfortunately limits the number of meta-levels (or ambiguity) you can use
in jokes or sarcasm. But I guess it's worth the tradeoff. And actually with a
bit of effort you can often have both.

~~~
bookofjoe
HN quote of the year IMHO: "I think on HN the need for clarity is seen as more
important than having fun..."

~~~
lovemenot
2018 is still only 1/4 through.

------
overcast
I switched to using a wooden scraper a couple years ago, when I first read
this report. Works great!

[https://www.amazon.com/Great-Scrape-Woody-Paddle-
Natural/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Great-Scrape-Woody-Paddle-
Natural/dp/B013S1SM4I)

~~~
zedpm
I have that scraper, and found that it really doesn't do a very good job. A
balled up piece of aluminum foil works better than the wooden scrapers, in my
experience. Unfortunately, the best results come from the bristle brushes.

~~~
overcast
Aluminum is just being wasteful honestly. Not sure how clean you're expecting,
but this does a fine job at getting all the big chunks off (which is what you
want). Heat will nuke the rest of it.

~~~
jandrese
Depends on what you're cleaning it for. Some people are paranoid that the bits
of carbon left clinging to the rails are known to the state of California to
cause cancer and must be completely removed before it is safe to heat food.

Or you can be like me and just get the grill hot and give it a quick once over
with a metal spatula to remove any chunks that are sticking up. I mean I'm
cooking over an open flame here, it's already carcinogen city.

------
lr4444lr
Steel wool is safer, no doubt, but this shouldn't really be anything more than
a freak occurrence if you clean a grill properly. The wire brush is just the
first step to remove the coarse stuff. Soap, water, and some kind of fine
abrasive pad or scrubbing cleaner should remove these barbs. I guess at some
restaurants, they're more concerned about speed and don't take the care...

~~~
wyattpeak
I'd say products that are only safe if used properly are unsafe products.

Being safe is a perfectly good strategy for an individual, but it's asking for
trouble on a societal level.

~~~
striking
So do you think Home Depot should close down? They sell hammers.

~~~
hnuser1234
I wonder if he was making the opposite point. That enforcing safety at a
society level is not productive.

~~~
cloverich
I don't think so. Its a common argument that generally available products
should be safe by default, not safe because of training. The reply is a bit of
a straw man, there's obviously nuances to that stance. In this case, expecting
_everyone_ to know exactly how a wire brush is unsafe is not realistic. If
there weren't alternatives, well, there wouldn't be much to do. But in this
case, there's plenty of safe alternatives to wire brushes, thus a strong
argument can be made that they should simply be banned.

~~~
jcims
What would such a ban look like? No wire brushes for BBQs? What about the wire
brushes they have in the hardware aisle? Do they need to add 'not for BBQs' to
the label?

Seems like good fodder for tabloid evening news and then just let it be.

~~~
khedoros1
Most people are just going to go to the barbecue aisle and find the "safe"
brushes. Someone really determined to buy a wire brush might find the rust-
scrapers or something, but that's no different from paint thinner not being
sold as a household cleaner.

It makes sense to me to make the safe option into the easiest, most obvious
path to take. Stop labeling wire brushes as "barbecue brushes", and stop
stocking them directly alongside the cooking tools. That's the form I imagine
a ban would take.

------
korethr
I am mildly surprised this is a problem. I've used a wire brush to clean the
grill for as long as I've grilled and had no issues. But then, I've always
combined using a wire brush with pre- and post-cooking heating the grill at
full power to burn off accumulated stuff. The wire brush is far more effective
at scrubbing things off when the crud is beginning to ash, as opposed to the
partially-caramelized state it was in when the food first came off.

Edit: I will additionally add that I also scrub the grill plates on occasion,
because as mentioned in other comments, the accumulated crud makes food more
likely to stick and can also impart a bad taste.

~~~
nvahalik
I couldn't find a wire brush when I bought my grill but was surprised to
discover that the actual grill plates were "Porcelain-enameled cast-iron". I
just dump them into the sink and let them soak every couple of weeks and they
basically come out nearly spotless.

However, I don't normally clean them except for using a plastic brush when
they are cold—mostly to get rid of the big pieces. I rather like the
"seasoning" :)

~~~
korethr
It seems to me that porcelain-enameled grates are becoming more common, even
on cheaper grills. And yeah, that style of grate cleans a lot easier than the
straight metal wire grate I've seen on older grills.

------
ams6110
Why do you clean a grill?

Let the carbon build up. It's seasoning and food doesn't stick to it.

Just preheat the grill to burn off any remains from the prior use. If there's
really heavy buildup, use a straight edge scraper like a paint scraper or
heavy spatula.

Cleaning a grill down to shiny bare metal is a sure way to have all your food
stick to it every time.

~~~
emodendroket
I don't know about you, but after grilling I usually have hanging chunks of
fat on the grill. Not exactly appetizing if that's been around for months.

~~~
LeifCarrotson
I think that part of the disparity is in frequency of use: if you cook on a
daily (restaurant) or even weekly (enthusiast) schedule, you won't have
problems. If you only grill on major holidays, you won't be able to just use
it without cleaning.

Also, a grooved scraper with the right spacing for your grate does a great job
of removing large chunks. You don't need to polish it to bare metal, just
remove that excess. Scrape after grilling while it's hot, wait a week, wipe
with a paper towel dipped in olive oil when it warms up, and it works well
enough for me.

~~~
davvolun
Incidentally, the occasional griller is also the exact person who would most
likely be least aware of the danger with a wire brush... sort of a perfect
storm situation

------
taneq
I threw mine out after using it once, and seeing that the BBQ had quite a few
bristles stuck on it. I can't believe people actually use those things, it
seems horribly unsafe.

~~~
orblivion
No doubt. This advice seemed a long time coming.

------
bgribble
I have used a wadded-up piece of aluminum foil for this purpose for years.
Works better than a bristle brush and no bristles!

~~~
dmoy
Those shredded reconstituted blocks of glass that look vaguely sponge like
work really well too, though you gotta rinse it down pretty aggressively
afterwards and wipe with a cloth cus it gets powder all over the place.

~~~
delecti
If you mean the melamine foam blocks ("Magic Erasers"), then they're not
actually glass.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melamine_foam)

~~~
dmoy
Ah no not those, I mean literally chunks of ground up bottle glass that just
vaguely look like sponges. They're not at all actually sponge like in
absorbance property.

~~~
delecti
Hm, then I'm not familiar with what you're describing.

~~~
dmoy
Sure, something like this:
[https://www.amazon.com/EarthStone-750AZ003-GrillStone-
Grill-...](https://www.amazon.com/EarthStone-750AZ003-GrillStone-Grill-
Cleaning/dp/B000LF61TI)

------
uptown
I'm not sure if it was exactly the same type of brush, but a number of years
ago I found a wire from a grill brush in my mouth after taking a bit at an
Outback Steakhouse. The restaurant was profusely apologetic and comped our
meal without our asking them. I feel very fortunate to have felt it before I
swallowed in light of this, and other articles I've read, since that meal, but
unfortunately there's no way to control whether restaurants change the tools
they use in-light of these warnings.

~~~
maxerickson
"No way" short of sensible government regulation.

Too bad regulation is bad for business or we could all enjoy our food without
fear of wire bristles.

~~~
hueving
Banning bristles is unnecessary as long as they are used correctly, which is
only before further cleaning.

~~~
ams6110
I've worked in restaurants and we always used stiff plastic brushes and
abrasive pads for cleaning the grills.

Restaurant-grade grill cleaner (basically industrial-strength oven cleaner) is
pretty effective. You don't need to do a lot of heavy scrubbing if you use it
properly.

------
purple-again
Wow what a nightmare, in the article that poor women couldn’t even get it
taken out after dozens of x rays and attempted surgeries. I saw from another
comment this is from 2016 but somehow I missed it and appreciate the link.
Throwing mine out right now.

~~~
cf498
I had the same problem. This is from 2016 and the issue was likely known a lot
earlier, yet I never heard of it and most people I know with a bbq clean it
that way.

Which in itself references a huge problem. How do you combat conventional
wisdom and traditions?

------
drewcon
Can confirm this is terrifying. Zero out of 5 stars.

I once pulled a bristle out from between my molars. Thought about it for 5
minutes...realized it was from the grill (was eating a salad made of leftover
grilled chicken). Googled “wire grill brush swallow”. Read horror stories.
Immediately freaked out. Even used a metal detector like you would use on a
beach on my stomach to see if I swallowed more (didn’t work). Spent the week
waiting for disaster to strike (it didnt). Immediately threw out all wire
grill brushes forever.

------
josefresco
"Hospitals in the Halifax area are seeing at least one or two cases each week"

Wow - that's an incredible rate - I wonder what the national statistics are
like?

~~~
Emma_Goldman
How are these things not banned? If something is sold for casual private use
that predictably leads to hundreds of people having metal barbs stuck in their
throat every year, and if the procedure to extract those barbs is sufficiently
difficult that it has become recognised as a national problem among surgeons,
then there seems to be pretty good grounds for banning it. As this thread
attests, there are plenty of alternatives.

~~~
josefresco
They've been selling these for years - if the rates of failure are so high I
don't understand why we haven't heard more about it. Puzzling.

------
Robotbeat
It's infuriating that articles about a problem like this don't spend just one
single sentence on possible alternatives, even though the surgeons are
begging.

Fire the editor.

Alternatives I've seen in this thread are a ball of wadded up aluminum foil, a
wooden scraper, abrasive pads, and stiff plastic bristles (EDIT: and an
onion). This proves once again that the HN comments section is often better
than the article itself.

~~~
marpstar
I let my grill heat up and then use an onion to clean it off. works wonders
and adds a bit of flavor, too.

------
woliveirajr
I think this exactly article was already discussed here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12409425)

There were some good tips on how to avoid the brushes for once.

~~~
djsumdog
Yea, I remember when it was posted last time on here. I think HN is the only
place I've heard about this; have been using those things for most of my life
without realizing this could be an issue.

------
rootusrootus
My solution:

1\. Use a grill with wide slats instead of round steel bars 2\. Run the grill
on high for ten minutes after cooking to burn everything to a fine ash 3\. Use
grill mats when possible so I don't have to clean the grill to begin with

I just use damp paper towels to clean up the grill before I use it since I
burn everything off after the previous cook session.

------
woliveirajr
The easiest way to clean it is:

1\. Let the grill get hot, simple by waiting some minutes with the charcoal on
fire

2\. Rub with something to clean old grit, with paper, half of an onion, piece
of fat from some meat and any sponge slightly wet being good.

~~~
koolba
I think you mixed up the order of step 2. The piece of fat should be at the
end to lubricate the cooking service. Wetting it again after would be counter
productive.

Also I don’t recommend a regular sponge for the water cleansing step due to
the materials involved not necessarily be heat safe. Soaked paper towels work
great.

~~~
CodeWriter23
I would not use paper towels on the same basis you choose not to use a sponge.

~~~
koolba
It’s likely not ideal but I rather breathe and possibly consume trace amounts
of burned paper than burned sponge.

EDIT: _... and immediately after writing this I googled “paper towel
carcinogens” and ruined my day._

~~~
CodeWriter23
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

------
nimbius
having worked in a commercial kitchen with a grill station, believe it or not
the easiest thing to do with dirty grates was to throw them in the dishwasher
or soak them overnight with the soda fountain tips in a mild solution of
bleach. our grates were mild steel and cast iron.

We would start our grills at 5-6 AM for breakfast sausage and ham, which did a
great job of re-seasoning the grates if youre curious. day shift would take
over from there with the station menu from our chefs. Generally we were
careful to avoid sticky marinades or mops for the grill to keep things tidy
and sane. Ribs were cooked in the oven, then transferred/finalized on the
grill station. When this got too cumbersome we leased a commercial smoker for
a few years.

speaking from experience though, the sanest way to keep those grates from
getting insane was to wipe them down as you go with an oily onion or oily rag
in some tongs. Avoid teriyaki or yogurt marinades like the plague and never
leave the station "wet." get to things before they set, especially proteins.

------
mr-roboto
So what are some alternatives?

~~~
gumby
Seriously you can clean them the same way you clean any other greasy cooking
utensil. Those green plastic scrubbers (like scotch guard) work fine.

I have a small bbq and I just take the grills off and put them in the
dishwasher! That has a non-stick coating so I wouldn’t want to use a wire
brush anyway. The large bbq just gets a hand wash.

~~~
morsch
What kind of nonstick coating survives the high temperatures present in a
grill?

~~~
HankB99
Probably a ceramic coating.

------
newnewpdro
I'm inclined to primarily blame the general loss of consumer goods build
quality over the past ~25 years.

What proportion of these brushes giving up their bristles in sufficient
quantities to be on Surgeons' radars were made in China?

Growing up we had zero plastic-handled brush options. They were all well-
built, wood-handled beasts and the bristles would be mutilated and disgusting
prompting replacement long before they were falling out of the holder.

You can't even buy a manual can-opener that doesn't deform into a useless
paperweight on first use at a big-box store anymore. Why expect their grill
brushes to be any better?

Edit: To clarify, I've seen many plastic grill brushes on shelves at stores.
It has become increasingly difficult to find anything made of wood in the
kitchen-related isles of stores like Wal-Mart and Target. There are obvious
problems with a plastic-handled grill brush. The tendency is to heat the grill
prior to brushing, which softens the plastic, loosening the grip on the
bristles over time.

------
SlugWithLux
Does it make a difference how the wire brush is made? I know of two types, let
me call one flat and the other wound. Flat is where wire bristles are inset
into a flat head on a handle. Wound is were the bristles are held by wires
twisting around (which often have a triangle head for BBQ brushes and are made
the same as typical bottle brush).

Are they equally bad?

~~~
kevinmchugh
if you're talking about these:
[https://www.buygrilldaddy.com/assets/images/TriBrush_other2%...](https://www.buygrilldaddy.com/assets/images/TriBrush_other2%20GW001506.jpg)

I think that's just as bad. Small enough to be easy to miss, only attached at
one end. There's also this kind of wound one, where the wire is a heavier
gauge, and is attached at two ends: [https://smile.amazon.com/Clean-Grill-
Brush-Bristle-Barbecue/...](https://smile.amazon.com/Clean-Grill-Brush-
Bristle-Barbecue/dp/B01MYC1C2D?sa-no-redirect=1)

those are, afaik safer, though I don't think anyone has studied the issue.

~~~
SlugWithLux
Nice! I had never seen that round kind where the wire is one continuous piece
instead of using many small bristles.

------
bacon_waffle
Wow, such a surprisingly severe consequence for (mis)using an innocuous tool
as a wire brush!

Incidentally, our household switched away from brushes a few years ago; we
stumbled on a very quick and effective solution after dad got in to reloading.
A few of the shorter 2.75" shells loaded with rock salt from the 12ga work
wonders on the grill.

~~~
xenity7
I would love to see video of this if you aren’t joking!

------
pcunite
These products need to be pulled from stores. Use a copper sponge with soap
and water. Cleans the grill up great.

~~~
grandpoobah
Yeah soap isn't really an option if you have a real barbeque with a well
seasoned cast iron grill.

~~~
lr4444lr
I've read that's a common myth, that a little soapy water for a few minutes is
going to do nothing to a polymerized fat coating that was seared into the
pitted surface of cast iron under high heat, but even if you were concerned
about it, a brief re-seasoning afterward would be more than enough to restore
any stripping.

~~~
rpenm
Low pH cleaners are fine. Higher pH such as dishwasher detergent will strip
the seasoning.

------
rdtsc
Last time I saw this here in 2016 I tossed my wire brush and got wooden
scraper. It works pretty well.

------
innocentoldguy
I use chainmail to clean my grill to avoid this very thing. I also use a
power-washer occasionally.

------
slantyyz
A trick I learned from a friend is to cover all the grills with sheets of
foil, close the lid and heat the bbq to a high temperature for a short period
of time and then remove the foil. Most of the crud should come off easily
after that.

~~~
brandon272
All I have ever done is give the BBQ a bit of time to heat up before I plan on
actually cooking the food. A few minutes in high heat chars any remnants of
the last BBQ session and then I just knock the stuff of the top with a spatula
before throwing that day's food on.

------
intrasight
I went to buy a BBQ brush last year and all they had were metal bristle
brushes. I was surprised given all the bad publicity about this. Needless to
say, I didn't buy a brush that day. Any recommendations for a good non-metal
brush?

~~~
luckydude
Just a chunk of wood works quite well. If you want to get fancy you can use a
file to round out some grooves but that will happen naturally.

[https://www.amazon.com/Scraper-Natural-Barbecue-Non-
bristles...](https://www.amazon.com/Scraper-Natural-Barbecue-Non-bristles-
Cleaning/dp/B074CW69L1/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1522333911&sr=8-9&keywords=wood+bbq+scraper)

~~~
intrasight
You reminded me that last year I used a brick and a piece of wood -
combination did take off some crud. Also tried some of that chemical spray -
which didn't seem to do a thin.

------
louprado
An acquaintance once told me she had accidentally inhaled a sewing needle as a
child. She had loaded it into a straw and was planning to blowgun it at her
little brother. But she made the horrible mistake of deeply inhaling _after_
the straw was in her mouth thereby inhaling the needle.

IIRC the doctor advised her to eat cotton. She eventually passed the needle in
a wad of cotton. Personally I am skeptical of this story. Does anyone feel
that this approach might work when a bristle from a BBQ brush is not
recoverable by surgery ?

------
GrinningFool
I use a chain scrubber to excellent effect - the same that I use for my cast
iron. I find it does a better job than the bristle brush, though it does tend
to get my hands a little messier.

[https://www.amazon.com/Ringer-Original-Stainless-Cleaner-
Pat...](https://www.amazon.com/Ringer-Original-Stainless-Cleaner-
Patented/dp/B00FKBR1ZG) (This is a direct link)

------
simonbarker87
Just take the grill off the BBQ at the end once it has cooled and wrap it in
wet newspaper, leave over night and wipe down the next day. Like new.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
What is this "newspaper" of which you speak?

Seriously though, i only buy newspapers now when i need the paper for table
coverings for craft activities and such.

~~~
kevinmchugh
newspaper is also very useful for chimney starters, the best way of starting a
charcoal fire.

~~~
windexh8er
Try a Looftlighter (or something similar) if you've never. You don't have to
use paper/chimney anymore. I started smoking things about 10 years ago and
have tried it all. With regard to speed, ease, and cleanup you can't beat
electric. Wax starters are another good option if you're out of range of A/C.
I'd put my old chimney in third at this point. I'd rather recycle the paper
quite honestly.

I don't cook meats anymore but still use my BGE quite a bit.

------
iambateman
Serious question: how do I clean my grill instead?

~~~
jim_d
I was worried about this as well and found a nice product called CharGon that
I've been using since last May, no bristles and it makes short work of
cleaning the grill:

[https://www.amazon.com/CharGon-PATENTED-PERFORMANCE-
CLEANING...](https://www.amazon.com/CharGon-PATENTED-PERFORMANCE-CLEANINGS-
cleaning/dp/B00UI1X0L2)

I am not affiliated with the company at all, just like the product and know
it's safe

~~~
windexh8er
^^^^^^^^^ THIS.

I tried them all, it's so simple and works great. It's reasonable cost / build
quality as well. I think it's ~$20.00 on Amazon and it's not flimsy and the
wood is quality with decent heft. The leather tie it came with failed quickly,
but the tool itself will last forever. I've had mine for over a year and a
half now. I'm not affiliated in any way other than wishing I would have
thought of it years ago.

I won't eat anything off anyone's grill who uses any wire brushes anymore,
there's no reason to risk it.

------
wemdyjreichert
I just never clean my grill... problem solved.

~~~
Faaak
Came here to say the same thing. Frankly I didn't know a grill had to be
cleaned…

------
bookofjoe
Is there anything better than finding there are 263 comments here on this
article? I'm settling in for while.

------
PaulStatezny
I got freaked out when I learned about this a while back.

It seems wire brushes for grill cleaning come in various levels of quality,
and it’s the lower-quality ones that tend to have this issue. The problem is
that you can’t truly know the quality of your brush until you use it. (And
either find bristles in your good or not.)

~~~
ams6110
If you like a wire brush for the grill, go to a hardware store, and buy a wire
brush with really coarse bristles. They are probably in the paint section, or
with the welding supplies, not the BBQ grill section. The bristles are about
an inch long and quite stiff.

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Covzire
My brother got a bristle from a grill lodged in his throat, it took a couple
trips to the surgeon to remove and was extremely painful. And I still have a
bristle brush, but I always scrape with the straight edge a few times
afterwords (ever since).

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odog_
I literally just went to an ENT doctor to get a bristle removed from my throat
yesterday. It didn't effect my breathing or eating, but it was very
uncomfortable. I went a week without getting xrays of my throat. It's not fun.

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VectorLock
I've been using a small square of chainmail to clean my grill (and
occasionally my cast iron pans) and follow it up with a damp paper towel It
works well but is kind of a PITA compared to a wire brush.

~~~
kevinmchugh
those chainmail squares are often marketed for cleaning cast iron based on the
canard that soap is bad for cast iron. I'd much rather use soap than steel.
Steel's certainly gonna dig into the seasoning.

~~~
seymour333
seriously though, don't use soap. Just get a nylon scrubber or stiff bristled
nylon(or whatever) brush and use salt. Soap is going to remove the seasoning
and probably leave a soapy flavor behind

~~~
kevinmchugh
This is incorrect. I can show you my cast iron pans and various pieces of
carbon steel which are well-seasoned and do not impart soapy tastes. Soap does
not damage the seasoning on a pan: [https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-
truth-about-cast-iro...](https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/the-truth-about-
cast-iron.html).

Every cleaning solution that doesn't include a surfactant is worse. It's
slower, more labor, intensive, more water-intensive, and it leaves baked-on
crud behind. The latter two are both much worse for cast iron than soap.

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btbuildem
I grill probably twice a week.

I rarely clean the grill, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference whether
there's any buildup on the bars or not.

I've read about this some months ago, what a nightmare scenario!

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honopu
My father in law got sick of crappy brushes, so he created one:
[http://grillbros.com](http://grillbros.com)

It works really well for a "standard" grill.

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emodendroket
I read about this a couple years ago and now live in complete terror of
bristles. Unfortunately the alternates are kind of a pain to use, but hey, it
beats what these articles describe.

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John_KZ
Freaky. Are iron wool scrapers safe? Or do the fibers affect you too?

~~~
xkcd-sucks
Iron rusts, so it breaks down in your body pretty quickly. Brass doesn't rust,
so brass wires stick around forever.

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cbar_tx
the trick is to brush the grill before it gets hot. you can always rinse the
gunk out of your grill brush but you can't un-melt the plastic that keeps the
brisles attached. Give it a quick second brushing after it's heated up, if you
want. Since it is already mostly clean, you don't spend as much time
loosening/melting your brush. I figured this out when I found one of those
bristles on some ribs I made. Fortunately, it was before I put it in my mouth.

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mmagin
I once found a bit of wire in a sausage I was eating that I'd bought from my
favorite local sausage maker. I've been too scared to try their sausages again
:(

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tyingq
If the grates are removable, wouldn't the clean function (crazy high heat) of
your oven clean them? Basically turns everything into easy to wash off ash.

------
Havoc
Had one stuck in my throat. It's absolutely terrifying

~~~
myegorov
My wife found a bristle in her burrito last year. Luckily, she noticed it
before swallowing. The place kindly offered her a free burrito as a
consolation :(

------
solarsavior
What kind of cheap brushes are being used? I've used Weber bristle brushes for
years (the spiral ones) and have never seen a single detached bristle.

------
pmarreck
This entire comment thread is the most Reddit thing that I've ever seen on
Hacker News (and I'm not sure how I feel about it)

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Mikeb85
I got a grill brush with bamboo bristles. Works great. Metal wire brushes are
terrifying.

------
hkmurakami
I had this happen once at a Chinese rwstaurant. I should have complained more
I guess =\

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Dowwie
What are people using as an alternative to a bristle brush?

~~~
checker
I was told to try cutting an onion in half and dragging it up and down the
grates (after warming up for a bit). After trying it I would say that it’s not
perfect but does a decent job of removing the big stuff. I’m still looking for
a more reusable solution since I like to grill a lot.

Maybe just a wet rag would work? I’ve seen hibachi chefs use them on a flat
grill along with a scraper.

------
grill_cleaner
After serving my family a delicious snack, I typically smash into my grill
full speed with my Hummer H3, super hemi. That knocks all the nasties away.

------
discreditable
(2016)

~~~
sctb
Updated, thanks!

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awinter-py
If the surgeon can't access the bristle w/out damaging surrounding tissue,
they should use a strong electromagnet on the axis of the wire.

(Don't try this at home).

if the angle is bad (threatens other structures as it comes out), potentially
clip the wire as it emerges.

