How often do I really need to clean my cast iron grill?

Question

I have a cast iron "grill box" that goes on top of a camp chef. It's been working just fine, but I don't like having to scrub and oil it after every use. We BBQ maybe 2x a week, sometimes more, and I'm wondering if it would hurt if I only cleaned/oiled it once a week. On our old regular grill we just left the grease on until the next time we grilled and then heated it up good then scrubbed with a wet metal brush prior to cooking. Would something like that work (scrub, oil, cook)

Answer 1

Yes ,that's how public grill users do it.

A grilling tip & especially if  you're using cast iron:

Spay it with the nonstick cooking spray for grills. Use a wad of your aluminum foil when your finished, right then when the grill cools enough to touch it & rub all you can off. That will help tremendously & you may not have to do much after that.....

Answer 2

yes, scrub-oil-cook but do it more often.  Left on grease could cause problems.

Answer 3

That's what me & my hubby do and we've had ours in the family for years!

Answer 4

My cast iron grill I hardly ever wash. Just as it cools to a point where the fat or oil is still warm I just wipe it out with a paper towel and leave it at that. It's clean , oiled and ready to use next time.

The worst thing you can do with a cast iron grill is to over heat it. It has a very interesting surface. When heated to a high point, the pores of the iron open up and that's when you pour oil onto it and let it cool slowly. It should be hot enough to make the oil smoke a little. When just warm, wipe out with a paper towel. This is know as conditioning the pan. You finish up with a non-stick surface and easy to clean. Cast iron is best used just below the smoke level of the oil you are using after that.   Non rusting too.