Cleaning the Mak, griddle, sear grates, etc.

[weatehrwimp]

Trying to refresh my memory but does this sound correct to clean the following?

Exterior Grill - mild soap and soft cloth, unless a bit more is needed for smoke stains then use something like barkeeper's friend or a degreaser like Greased Ligthning. Can use pink or red scrubbie if you go with the grain.

Inside of lid - steel wool when black stuff gets really bad / peeling. Anything better? Maybe a degreaser.

Thermal Coupler - supposed to be wiped down often with cloth, but mine has been neglected. Should I use emory paper or steel wool to make it shiny again?

Stainles steel grill racks - can use wire brushes (but I don't like them) but something like scotch pad can work...plan on trying olive oil on the grates this season to aid cleanup. Maybe I should use a degreaser here too, lol.

Sear grates with the hard teflon coating - Blue scotch brite pads

Griddle with hard teflon coating - Mak Grills says to only use mild soap and water, but others boil some water to loosen crud and sometiems scour with a non-apprasive scrubbie

FlameZone and deflector parts - degreaser, non abrasive scrubbie.....powerwasher?

Missing anything? I know Bruce posted he puts a lot of the parts in a big tub with a cup of amonia for half an hour and rinses...but not sure I'm on board with that.

 

[TentHunter]

On the thermocouple, I wouldn't use emory paper. I normally tear off and use a small piece of S.O.S or Brillo Pad moistened with a bit of warm water for a light scrubbing. The degreasers in those break the stuff down very quickly, so it doesn't take much scrubbing at all. Then I wipe it off with a paper towel.

I use a plastic scraper every now and then to scrape the black build-up from inside the hood AND the vents. DON'T forget to scrape out the vents!!!

For the stainless grates/racks, I just wipe them down and scrub with one of those grill scrubber things (looks like a thick scoth-brite pad) or grill brush. Then a couple times per year they go into our self-cleaning oven, along with whatever other stainless drip pan parts fit in.