Cleaning a griddle

[Dwayne Henson]

Need suggestions.  Our church has a huge older gas stove, 6 burners and a very large built in griddle. Any ideas on how to clean that griddle?  It's not removeable, if it was I'm not sure that I'm a big enough boy to move it as it is aprox. 2" thick. So I'll have to clean it in place. Thanks

[Roger Barfield]

Dwayne, you could spray it down with oven cleaner and put a sheet of plastic over it and tape down so it keeps the lye working.  

[Ray Armstrong]

You could use a griddle stone similar to this.

http://www.cpapc.com/Griddle-Stone-P2196C315.aspx

You should be able to get one at your local restaurant supply store.

[Jeff Seago]

Dwayne Use What Ray A. Has Suggested.  I can't tell you how many thousand times I have cleaned grills like you are talking about  :-/  I will give you some advice:

Clean it while it is still warm (not hot and you will see why).
Use a liquid food grade oil (veggie or canola) and spread it liberally across the surface of the griddle.
Hold the pumice stone parellel to the side of the grill and move only in that direction.
If your stone stops working as well clean the pores out in fresh oil (you will see what I mean)
Do not make swirls as the stone actually scratches the griddle (but it is supposed too)
When you get the direction all cleaned off the go the opposite way for the front and back sides (1 brick wide)
Scrape the oil into the trough that should be on the left side of the griddle
Wipe it clean with paper towels (don't use rags!!!)
Finally wipe it off with wet paper towels

Don't get that black crap on any of your clothes as it will never come out of them.

That should get you a clean stove.

[Dwayne Henson]

Thank you all so much!

One other question do you have to season these griddles for them to work well?

[Jeff Seago]

Dwayne there is not need to season them ahead of time.  They will self season nearly instantly.  You want to make sure to put on some butter or oil before you start cooking.  You should also have a grill scraper with replaceable blades like this one

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=grill+scraper&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=2108844222640317355&ei=Vz6pS-KSGJHKNfD2mJsB&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CB8Q8wIwAA#ps-sellers

You can even use the cheap paint scraper ones that you buy from the hardware store.  I always cleaned the grills after we were done using them for the night and we never had a problem with food sticking.,

[Dwayne Henson]

Thanks again, for a moment I was trying to figure out how to get it in the lye bath. ;D

[Jeff Seago]

I took one apart to fix the oven once Dwayne and I can tell you that buying a new one is not a bad option at that point!!  Have you ever taken something apart and then called the repair man??  They get really mad and charge you extra when they can't find all the pieces  :-/ :-/

[Dwayne Henson]

I'll say no, but I'm not going to let you speak with my wife. ;D