How to Clean a Flat Top Grill: Fast, Easy, and Rust-Free

Just like regular grills, flat tops (or griddles) need some tender loving care, too.

After a while, grime builds up on the surface, leading to poor performance, weird tastes and smells, and an ugly sight to behold.

I’ll cover quite a lot here and will include not only how to clean a flat top grill but also how to remove any rust and prevent it from forming in the first place.

Here, I’ll discuss various methods of cleaning (vinegar, baking soda, brick,…), show some practical examples of cleaning various types of surfaces (cast iron, chrome, and stainless steel) and brands (Blackstone, Blue Rhino,…).

Note: The terms “flat top grill”, “flat top”, and “griddle” are used interchangeably here.

Go Straight to the Point

In a hurry? Don’t like long boring texts? Then skip the bull and go straight to it:

Why you should do it in the first place
The things you’ll need

After Cleaning: How to Season a Flat Top Grill

Why You Should Clean Your Flat Top Grill?

You cook the food that you’re planning to eat and/or serve it to your guests.

Cooking on a dirty surface is a recipe for a disaster, be it food poisoning or weird tastes.

After a while dirt and grime build up which is a haven for various germs and bacteria that will find their way into your body.

Also, you could be eating days (or even weeks) old burnt particles of food. Nothing ruins a good BBQ than a juicy burger filled with burnt pieces of steak that were fermenting on the griddles’ surface for weeks.

Another good reason to clean your flat top grill is to increase its life span. A clean grill is a happy grill. It will also look nice.

How Often Do You Clean a Flat Top Grill?

After each and every use – this is the best and most effective method.

Unfortunately, cleaning takes time and time isn’t something we always have on disposal.

In this case, cleaning after every second or third cookout is still acceptable.

What to Be On the Lookout

If you notice any of these signs, consider giving your griddle some TLC:

Food tastes strange
The grill is beginning to smell
Grease is building up on the cooking surface and/or around the grease pan
Uneven heating
Food is starting to stick to the surface
Burnt food particles, burnt food particles everythere
Grease fires or flare-ups

What You’ll Need to Successfully Clean a Flat Top Grill

Here are the tools and supplies needed:

Gloves (optional but highly recommended)
Your favorite cleaning agent
A sponge, brush, scraper, or something similar
Warm water
Towels
Squeegee (optional but highly recommended)
Oil (you’ll need it for seasoning after the cleaning)

Strike While the Iron Is Hot

Always clean the grill when it is warm as the dirt, grease, oils, and debris are easier to dispose of.

Various Methods on How to Clean a Griddle Top

These methods work on most flat top grills, regardless of the brand and the griddle material.

If you’re not sure whether this method is suitable for your particular model, consult the manual or ask the manufacturer.

Vinegar

This method is quite common because vinegar is cheap, effective, and you can get it almost everywhere (most homes already have a bottle or two laying around).

Be warned that vinegar has a strong odor and some might find it a bit too strong, especially when heated up.

Turn on the grill
Mix equal parts of water and vinegar
- Use an empty spray bottle if you have it. I found it to be the most convenient. If you don’t have it, use a bowl
Spray the solution on the surface
- Be generous
Start brushing to mix the solution with the dirt
Keep doing steps 3 and 4 until the surface becomes smooth and a thick black paste starts to form
Rinse
Wipe with a clean towel
Repeat if necessary

Here’s another method (this one is great for those who aren’t big fans of cleaning as you’ll have to do very little scrubbing):

Fire up the grill
Set it to hot
Spray a generous amont of the solution
Turn off the grill
Leave it for about 10 minutes
Scrape the surface
Turn the grill back on
Pour a jug of water
Scrape again

Grill Cleaner

Mesmerizing, isn’t it?

There are tons of grill-specific cleaners (3M and Stera-Sheen being among them) out there but all of them share the same procedure:

Turn the grill on and set the temperature on medium or high
Pour the solution onto the surface
Brush the surface
Drain with a squeege or scraper
(optional) Rinse
Wipe

Grill Brick

A grill brick is a mild scrubber that resembles a brick.

(optional) Pour warm water on the grill top to loosen up the grime
Place the brick on the griddle
Place a cloth on the brick
- Alternatively, you can use gloves
Gently scrub the surface by pushing it back and forth

What I really like about it is the simplicity: you only need the brick. Just place it on the griddle and off you go.

Baking Soda

Personally, I like this method more than vinegar because it does not give out that vinegary sour smell.

Liberally sprinkle baking soda all over the surface
Pour water over it
Turn the grill on and leave it for about 10 minutes
Scrub or scrape the surface
- Most of the work (if not all) already did the baking soda so there shouldn’t be any grime left

Lemon Juice

This method is pretty similar to vinegar:

Turn on the grill
Mix equal parts of water and lemon juice
- Use an empty spray bottle, if you have it. I found it to be the most convenient. If you don’t have it, use a bowl
Scrape the residue as much as you can
- You don’t have to be thorough, though
Spray the solution on the surface
- Be generous
Start brushing to spread the solution
Keep doing steps 3 and 4 until the surface becomes smooth and a thick black paste starts to form
Rinse
Wipe with a clean towel
Repeat if necessary

Dish Soap

Who doesn’t have at least one bottle of dish soap at home?

If it can remove tough greasy stains from dishes, then it can clean a griddle too.

The process is the same, as well:

Add soap to a wet sponge
Wipe the surface

While it does a tremendous job of cleaning, I’ve noticed that if the surface was really dirty and there were lots of baked-on food, I had to add a bit more elbow grease.

Onion

The procedure is the same as you’d do it on a grill grate:

Cut an onion in half
Grab one half with a fork, tongs, or even your hands if you’re daring enough
Rub the onion (flat side down) on the griddle

Why an onion? It’s cheap, has antibacterial properties, is acidic, and the grill will smell oniony once your fire it up next time.

Coffee

If you thought an onion was a weird choice, then you’re in for a surprise.

It sounds strange but a cup of joe is a potent cleaning agent because of its acidic nature. Just look at what it does to your bowels.

Pour a pot of coffee over the cooking surface
Let is soak for about 20 minutes
Scrape or brush
Rinse

You don’t have to fire up the grill for this one.

Beer

Beer contains alcohol and bubbles, making it an effective cleaner.

Warm up the grill
Cover the entire surface
Start scrubbing

Water

Jup, you read it right. Just plain water.

Always use warm water. If you use cold, you run the risk of warping the surface.

Turn on the grill
- Set the temperature to low
Begin scraping until the grill warms up
Pour warm water and wait a few seconds
- Be careful of the steam
Brush
Rinse

This method works great for grills that aren’t very dirty.

Warning: If you set the temperature to high, you risk injuring yourself when the water starts boiling.

Oil

As the saying goes: “Fight fire with fire”.

It sounds counter-intuitive at first but warm oil will soften up the oil and grease already present on the cooking surface.

Fire up the grill
Pour a small amont of oil
Scrub
Wipe with a cloth

Salt

Again, it sounds a bit counter-intuitive (putting salt on metal) but it actually works – pretty well, to be frank.

It’s abrasive and softer than metal, that’s why it cleans well and doesn’t scratch the surface.

Sprinkle salt on the surface
Add water or oil
Scrub with a pad or a towel
Scrape away the gunk into the grease tray

Without Grill Cleaner/Chemials

Grill and griddle cleaners can be expensive and contain certain chemicals that aren’t either eco-friendly or good for your body.

In this case, try any of these methods:

Vinegar
Baking soda
Lemon juice
Onion
Coffee
Water
Oil
Beer
Salt

These methods are 100% eco-friendly and won’t do your body harm if accidentally ingested.

How to Clean Various Brands of Flat Top Grills

In most cases, you can use any method described above.

Let’s take a look at some practical examples:

Blackstone

A really easy way of doing this is:

Turn on the grill and set it to hot
Scrape the surface to remove as much gunk as possible
- You don’t have to be thorough
Pour your favorite cleaning agent (if the surface isn’t that dirty, you can use plain water)
Wait a minute or two
Brush/scrape
Wipe with a clean towel/rag

Blue Rhino

Turn on the grill and set it to low
Gently scrape the surface
Pour water
Scrub with a grill brick or sponge
Wipe with a clean towel

Nexgrill

Preheat the griddle on low temperature
Scrape off any visible debris
Pour water
Scrub the surface
Wipe clean with a towel

How to Clean a Flat Top Grill by Material

Cast Iron

Cast iron requires special treatment because it’s sensitive. If you’re not careful enough, you might damage it beyond repair.

Avoid harsh chemicals, detergents, and strong abrasives.

The best and safest method is to use plain water and a sponge:

Turn on the grill and set the temperature to low
Scrape the surface
Pour water
Brush
Wipe

It’s really important to season it immediately. If you don’t, it will rust.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel is much more forgiving than cast iron and here, you can try any cleaning method mentioned here, including vinegar, grill cleaners, and brushes.

You need to clean the surface thoroughly and let any moisture evaporate. Otherwise, the grill will start to rust.

I’ll explain the vinegar method because it’s the easiest (you can substitute it with grill cleaner or lemon juice if you don’t like the smell of vinegar):

Turn the grill on
Set the temperature to medium or high
Mix the same amounts of vinegar and water
Pour the mixture
Leave it for at least a couple of minutes
Scrub the surface
Drain
Rinse
Wipe

Chrome

Chrome flat tops are pretty similar to cast iron when it comes to scrubbing: avoid using abrasives.

That’s why the safest and most common method of cleaning chrome surfaces is the same:

Turn on the grill and set the temperature to low
Scrape the surface
Pour water
Brush
Wipe

Got Rust? Here’s How to Clean a Rusty Flat Top Grill

Over time your flat top might get a rust spot here and there.

Fortunately, a few brown spots aren’t a reason to panic and you can still use the grill as you did before.

The issue becomes when it starts looking like this:

Again, fortunately, there’s a way to fix this and save precious money in the process.

Method 1: Dissolve It

Here, the trick is to let others (i.e. the cleaner) do (most of) the work for you:

Warm up the grill to loosen the rust
Let it cool down
Scrape as much as you can
Pour vinegar/coke (the black one not the white one)/lemon juice
- Be generous and cover every square inch
- I recommend vinegar because it’s the most accidic
Let it sit for a least a couple of hours
- You can also leave it overnight
Scrub to remove any remaining pieces of rust
Rinse
Wipe

If there is still some rust remaining, you can repeat the process or continue with the next method.

Method 2: Sand It Down

This method requires much more elbow grease and time than the last one but you have more control over the process.

For this, you’ll need something abrasive like:

Steel wool
Medium grit sandpaper
Angle grinder
Drill with a wire wheel
Orbital sander

The last three are the most convenient but are also the most expensive.

All you need to do is sand down the entire surface until the rust is gone. Then clean and season it.

How long will it take depends on the amount of rust and the tool you’re going to use.

Here’s how to do it with an angle grinder (stop at 2:55):

Method 3: Oil and Brick

An unusual method but it’s recommended by the folks at Blackstone, so it deserves a shot.

Here’s the short version:

Fire up the griddle and set the temperature to high
Turn it off after 20 minutes and leave it to cool off
Scrape
Add 3-4 tablespoons of oil and scrub with a grill stone
- Use steel wool or medium grit sandpaper if you don’t have one
Wipe with a clean towel
Add another 3-4 tablespoons of oil and wipe the surface again
Repeat the previous step until the rust is gone

How to Clean a Restaurant/Commercial Flat Top Grill

Most commercial flat top grills are either stainless steel or chrome.

Now, if you have a stainless steel one, you’re spoiled for choice as you can use most of the methods described above but if you have a chrome one, you have to be more careful and avoid anything and everything abrasive.

For daily cleaning, plain water or soapy water does the trick.

For a more thorough clean, I suggest a water-vinegar solution, lemon juice, or grill cleaner.

How to Clean a Plancha Grill

Planchas aren’t exactly the same as flat top grills but when it comes to cleaning them, they are identical.

You can use any method described above. My recommendations are:

Vinegar
Water
Placha-specific cleaners

You’re Not Out of the Woods Just Yet

Cleaning is only half of the job.

The next step is just as crucial as the cleaning itself: seasoning.

Seasoning not only makes the surface nonstick but also protects the metal from rust.

Here’s how to season a flat top grill:

While the grill is still warm, pour a bit of vegetable oil
- Keep in mind the saying “less is more”
- The type of oil isn’t that important as long as it’s vegetable: peanut, canola, coconut, olive, linssed, flax seed,… all of them are just as good
Spread it around with a towel
Push the excess oil into the grease tray
Crank up the heat to high
Turn of the grill once you see smoke

Alternatively, you can use griddle-specific seasonings like the one from Blackstone. There are also some that look like stick deodorant.

Both look cool and do the job surprisingly well but I don’t use them personally because I’m happy using plain cooking oil.

Conclusion

When it comes to cleaning a flat top grill, you’re spoiled for choice.

In this cleaning guide, I have included all of the cleaning methods that I could think of.

Some are better than others and it’s up to you to decide which one will be your go-to choice.

Experiment a little and have fun.

If you’re planning on cleaning your griddle with all of these methods, you’ll have to cook a lot to make it dirty. Now you have a great excuse to spend more time cooking outdoors.

Which method do you like the most?