Easily Clean Your Grill Grates With A Fresh Pot Of Coffee

Grill grates are always sturdy, but often dirty. Between stuck-on food, residue from fire and soot, and exposure to the elements, they can end up accumulating significant levels of grime and bacteria — and no one wants to eat that. Luckily, all you need to get a good, deep clean is a fresh pot of coffee.

Coffee is slightly acidic, with a hot cuppa sitting between 4.8 to six on the pH scale, depending on the exact beans and brand. This acidity makes it a fantastic cheap cleaner for outdoor cooking tools and utensils. All you have to do is brew some fresh coffee, pour it into a large container that can hold your grill grates, and completely submerge the grates in the liquid. After soaking for one hour, give them a brisk scrub with your grill brush, hose them off, and you'll have a fresh set of grates free of gunk and grime.

The coffee method limits your exposure to harsh chemicals used in cleaning sprays and solutions, and is more affordable than many heavy-duty grill cleaners. You don't need to worry about using expensive, imported java, either. Just reach for a big bag of cheap beans to brew up plenty of your new at-home cleaning agent.

If you're worried about inhaling fumes from powerful chemical cleaners, natural cleaning agents and good old-fashioned elbow grease are all you need to get your grates in pristine condition. Whether you're cleaning grease, rust, or ash, you probably have all you need in your pantry. When you're out of coffee, baking soda is a powerful tool to easily clean grease off grill grates – and, you can combine it with the coffee trick. 

Make a paste of half baking soda and half coffee grounds and apply it evenly to both sides of the grates. Let the paste dry, then scrub well and rinse the grates clean. The acid from the coffee works in tandem with the abrasive, grease-lifting properties of baking soda for a double-threat, all-natural cleaning tool.

If your grill grate grime is particularly stubborn, try one of the many ways to clean your kitchen with lemon and make a scouring powder with lemon zest. Zest a couple lemons, spread it out on a tray overnight to dry and you'll have some abrasive yet 100% biodegradable flakes to tackle even the most caked-on messes. And to remove and prevent rust on your grates, try using halved lemons, which are also great rust removers for cast iron skillets.