Why Does the Bottom of My Grill Rust Out?

Rusting causes black stains on metal. They appear similar to what you would find on a milk jug when you heat it up. They are also known as burnt spots or firebrick marks. They are unsightly but can easily be removed with soap and water or other abrasive materials.

To maintain the bottom of your grills from rusting, you must do regular checkups. Your best option is to get a soft sponge and use it to rub down the bottom of the grill. This way, any stubborn stains can be dissolved and treated to keep it from worsening.

Never use steel wool to rub down steel because steel wool can actually damage the finish on your grill. Once used, use a little oil to keep the area around the metal clean.

One thing that is commonly overlooked as a potential cause of rusting is water leaking onto the metal. If the water gets into the welding area, then it could cause the metal to rust. A good way to combat this is by using a little cooking oil spray on the area that has rust.

Let the spray sit for a few minutes, then wipe it off with a clean damp sponge. If the problem still persists, then you may have found your answer. Use baking soda to scrub away rust.

Lack of maintenance

Yes, lack of maintenance and cleaning is a major reason why grills rust. If you follow proper care and cleaning instructions, you won’t have to worry about rusting. However, many grills are poorly made and can’t resist high temperatures.

When you turn it on to cook dinner and it gets too hot, the grill can begin to rust almost immediately.

Eliminate food residue

The best way to prevent rusting is by preventing food residue from building up. One way to keep food residue off of your metal surface is to always wipe your grill with a damp sponge after every use. You also should never leave leftover food residue on your grates.

Food residue, especially grease, can turn into rust if it becomes allowed to stay there. On every cooking session, before turning on the grill to be cooked, it’s a good idea to also spray the grill with a silicone cooking spray.

This spraying can help to keep food from dripping onto the grates, making it much harder for rust to form.

Neglecting the edges of the grill cover

If you neglect the edges, your grill will likely rust out. Since the sides of the grill are designed to be cleaned by wiping it with a moist cloth, this is usually sufficient to prevent rusting.

However, if there is significant rusting along the hinges or handles, it may be necessary to use a different kind of cleaning equipment.

Why Does My Grill Keep on Rusting? What Needs to Be Done to Fix It

If you’re new to barbecuing, this might be a hard question to answer. After all, when you buy and use a brand new grill, it comes with an installation manual that tells you all the steps you have to take to make your grill functional.

However, once you start using it, there are chances that your grill can get rusted because of the frequent usage. So in order to prevent rusting, let us discuss some of the factors that may cause this to happen.

When you first bring your grill home, it would look brand new as you set it up. But after a couple of weeks, it would look like a rusty mess. The main reasons for this are:

• The grill used to be oiled when it was brand new
• The grilling plates used to be coated with a special grease
• The temperature used to seal the plates in the grilling station may have been too low
• The plate may have been damaged somehow.

Whatever the reason is, the bottom line is that if any of these things happened to your grill, it would start rusted very soon.

When you use your grill regularly, the water and oil get soaking up by the grates and then dripped down onto the food being grilled. If you then do not dry it off properly, the food will begin to rot as soon as the moisture seeps into the food.

One of the biggest causes of this is moisture seeping into the grill from the surrounding air. If you live somewhere that has warm weather for most part of the year, then this is a big factor for rusting.

Whenever you are doing your grilling, you need to pay close attention to the area around the grilling unit. Check the level of water and the level of the water tank. If you find that there is more water than expected in the water tank, then you should empty it or have the grill’s drain pan filled first before you even think about refilling it.

Do not touch the burners directly with dirty hands, because you might just spread the grease around and spread the rusting bacteria. Make sure that there is nothing in the way of the burner, but it should be clean, dry, and free from cobwebs before you even think about lighting your fire.

Sometimes, people make the mistake of trying to repair their grilling equipment. In order to prevent rusting and corrosion, never try to repair anything with an iron-like material.

You should also refrain from changing the oil in your grill once it has started rusting. If you see rust on the knobs or the cooking surface, then you should immediately replace the old one with a new one.

You can also try putting new covers over the grill once in a while. This will prevent the grill from getting dirty, which allows the grill to have good working conditions.

It is very important to clean your grill properly and often, and you should never try to clean it using abrasive materials. If you do not use cleaning agents such as steel wool and pad cleaners, then your grill will just keep on rusting.

How to Fix a Rusty Grill Bottom

The question of how to fix a rusty grill bottom has been around for quite some time.

As we all know, anything made of metal will eventually become weathered and rusted, but this rust comes in two flavors:

• Organic
• Inorganic

Organic rust is usually found on metal tools and home appliances; the rusted area will be a dark reddish brown color. To get an organic rust look on a metal grill, use a combination of lemon juice and dishwashing soap.

If you want to use dishwashing soap or ordinary table soap to clean up your grill, it is important to apply very thin layers of it to prevent any scratches on the metal surfaces.

After that, you can scrub the rusting areas with a steel brush or steel pads. The process should be done very gently so as not to damage the metal surfaces further.

After you have cleaned up the rusting areas, it is time to try repainting the surface.

Steel wool and Toothpaste

One of the best ways to fix a rusty grill bottom involves using steel wool and toothpaste. This method involves dipping steel wool into the dishwasher’s chemical solution for 15 minutes before scrubbing it onto the rusty areas.

To get a lighter effect, make sure that you spray the steel wool with lubricant before scrubbing it onto the metallic surfaces.

This method should also be used in case there are several layers of rust on the metal object.

Use Lemon Juice and Steel Wool

Another way to get a good shine on the rusty grill bottom is to use a combination of lemon juice and steel wool. The rusting areas should be vacuumed using a wire brush before putting salt on the surfaces.

When the solution dries, rinse the grill surfaces using warm water and then put oil over the surfaces for further protection.

In case there are still rusting on the surface after using the above mentioned methods, it is advisable to use dishwashing soap.

Take care not to use regular dishwashing soap as it might damage the metal surfaces. Use only the dishwashing soap meant for rusting. This will ensure that your grill bottom will be restored to its former shine.

Baking soda

The final step to treating rusting on a metal object is to use baking soda and steel wool. The citric acid should be kept on a stainless steel wool pad while waiting for the citric acid solution to react with the remaining rust.

When the solution reacts with the rusting pad, the steel wool will remove excess acid from the rusting area. Repeat this process until the entire grill bottom is restored to its former gleam.