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kateskouros

do you use your range top grill?

kateskouros
10 years ago

i've been cooking away for over a year and can't bring myself to use the grill on my capital range that i HAD to have. it will get messy. the stainless grates will no longer be shiny and new. and i'll have to clean it. i just keep envisioning this huge mess and i don't want to deal with it.

but i need you to save me from being completely ridiculous and going out and buying one of those counter top grills. i know. that would be silly ...right? they don't get hot enough, they won't give me near the results my range will and they're hard to clean as well.

we haven't invested in an outdoor grill yet and i really need a grill. i want to grill! so talk some sense into me, please.

from what i understand i won't have to clean it after every single use -is that right? and if i were to fire it up, is there anything special i need to do for first time use? i'm a little afraid. talk me down!

Comments (10)

  • sas95
    10 years ago

    We use our grill all the time in the winter. My husband cleans it with a brush and wipes it down each time we use it. Nothing major, but we don't let stuff build up. Once you use it, the grill will no longer be shiny. That's what the shiny cover is for.

  • oldbat2be
    10 years ago

    Great question. We rarely use ours and I occasionally wish I'd bought the griddle instead. (We do have an outside grill which we use regularly).

    I find it takes quite a while to heat up, too. I like it for charring peppers. I'd love to learn how to use (and clean) it better. How about some KAW range top grill photos/threads?

    sas95 - where do you keep the brush to clean it?

  • nycbluedevil
    10 years ago

    We use our BS grill all the time. I use a grill brush while it is still hot. That gets the grates clean of stuck-on bits. I keep the long grill brush in a pots and pans drawer that holds the ones I don't use that frequently. My housekeeper cleans the inside of the grill every couple of weeks. She changes the foil in the drip trays and cleans the metal piece that covers the burners. Is it perfect? No. But it's a working kitchen, not a museum. And I don't even use the cover. I just don't care enough to do that. The top of the grill looks pretty good and no one is going to peer inside to look below.

    I love your kitchen Kate. It's on my top three GW kitchens and I can't even name the other two! But use it. Life is too short to stress about stuff like this, IMO. I think this is like getting the first marble etches. You get upset and then get over it.

  • liriodendron
    10 years ago

    Maybe three or four times in the nearly twenty years I've owned my range.

    Truthfully, I took the whole messy, hard to clean, PITA assembly out years ago, capped the burners and now have a very handy slab of granite right on my cooktop.

    Stupidest kitchen purchase I ever made! (In my defense it was something my DH just had the hots for and I didn't know what a pain it would be so I said, OK.)

    Plus grilling over gas is never as tasty as grilling over real wood, which is definitely an outdoor thing. Having a a wiff of hydrocarbons on my food is not nice, IMO.

    The granite on top of my stove rocks, though!

    Liriodendron

  • Fori
    10 years ago

    I totally forgot I have one! It's in a closet. I have one of those old Jenn-Airs that you can swap out elements. It's a downdraft that isn't vented so needless to say, I won't be trying it out.

    BUT YOU SHOULD!!!!!

    Start easy--warm up a couple tortillas.

  • sayde
    10 years ago

    I had a grill like fori's on my old Jenn Air. I was too lazy to use it so just went out to use the Green Egg even in winter.
    So I didn't get one for the new BS.

  • sayde
    10 years ago

    I had a grill like fori's on my old Jenn Air. I was too lazy to use it so just went out to use the Green Egg even in winter.
    So I didn't get one for the new BS.

  • michoumonster
    10 years ago

    so far, i use mine only to grill onions. for that, i don't really clean it because it doesn't seem to get that dirty (though i guess i should). i am hoping the infrared burner would kill any germs for the next time.. but i love having it inside since we don't have a bbq yet and i would never contemplate grilled onions if i had to run outside to do it.
    i had heard that you can actually use onions to clean a grill, though maybe that is a myth?

  • Cindy103d
    10 years ago

    We bought a 4-year old used stove/hood off Craigslist. I cannot begin to tell you how much grease we cleaned out of that thing around the grill. Spent most of two weekends cleaning the stove before we'd even move it into the kitchen and most of the crud appeared to originate from the grill area. The hood was totally clogged with grease. It looks beautiful now but I've held firm that we will do no grilling in the kitchen, especially since we have a charcoal grill just off the kitchen. Use the griddle all the time.

    We keep the covers on both grill and griddle when not in use. So handy for sitting stuff down when it comes hot out of the oven. Handy for plating food for serving too.

  • Fori
    10 years ago

    If you just grill veggies and stuff you won't get too gunky.

    But what's the fun in that?