I wonder what happened here? Did someone sue them and win? Got an alert from Amazon last night.

The whole entire reason I only ever bought Weber wire grill brushes is because of the implied quality that this kind of thing would not be happening with bristles breaking off.

Very disappointing, I’m going to imagine they will simply stop making any sort of wire grill brush at all:


Weber Recalls Over 3.2 Million Metal Wire Bristle Grill Brushes Due to Ingestion Hazard

They supposedly will send you a replacement, but it’s a nylon brush you can only use on a cold grill, which I am not doing.

Going to try the type that’s a single wound metal wire.

Hazardous brushes made in chicom? What a surprise.

I like Weber grills. Will buy a weber again when mine dies. But every OEM should suffer the consequences when they put profit over quality. Their brand equity goes down by 25% every time I see them sell something made in Chico.

I have one of the wood handled weber's but the model number is not part of the recall. All the wires are mashed up so it is probably past it's prime.

I use a solid scraper and/or a bunched up piece of aluminum foil to clean my grills and smoker these days.

Consider a chainmail scrubber?

Get one of these:
https://www.smartereveryday.com/smarterscrubber

Made as much as possible in USA.
The youtube series talking about all the stuff they had to make happen to build in America is a good watch.

People have been raising safety concerns on wire brushing grills for at least 15 years. One of those wires coming out of the brush, going into food, and entering someones digestive tract is going to cause bad things to happen.

That's why they've pushed the grill stones, chainmail, and "bristle free." Personally, I switched away from bristles to grill stones prior to becoming a big Amazon user 15 years ago and then in 2023 switched to the stainless steel bristle free option. I prefer the stainless steel bristle free over the grill stone.

Excerpt 1 from yesterday's USA Today article:

quote:

More than 3.2 million metal wire-bristle grill brushes are being recalled by Weber as the bristles could break off and get into people’s food, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said.

Excerpt 2 from yesterday's USA Today article coincides with my previous 15 year timeline:

quote:

6277, 12-inch brush with black plastic handle (sold 2021 - 2026)
6278, 18-inch brush with black plastic handle (sold 2021 - 2026)
6463, 12-inch brush with bamboo handle and metal scraper (sold 2011 - 2021)
6464, 18-inch brush with bamboo handle and metal scraper (sold 2011 - 2021)
6493, 21-inch brush with black plastic handle and metal binder (sold 2013 - 2021)
6494, 12-inch brush with black plastic handle (sold 2013 - 2021)

Bristle grill brushes are a known hazard regardless country of manufacture. Used properly, you won’t have problem.

^^ People would have to take their nose out of their phones and actually be observant to use properly and not have a problem. That's a big ask in today's phone addict society.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
People have been raising safety concerns on wire brushing grills for at least 15 years. One of those wires coming out of the brush, going into food, and entering someones digestive tract is going to cause bad things to happen.

That's why they've pushed the grill stones, chainmail, and "bristle free." Personally, I switched away from bristles to grill stones prior to becoming a big Amazon user 15 years ago and then in 2023 switched to the stainless steel bristle free option. I prefer the stainless steel bristle free over the grill stone.

Thats what I use on the grill.

https://youtu.be/3ZTGwcHQfLY?si=qjVL0XDwOG__zxtx

Smarter Every Day YouTube video about the quest to create a USA chain mail scrubber.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
... One of those wires coming out of the brush, going into food, and entering someones digestive tract is going to cause bad things to happen...

I know a healthy woman who was suddenly having health issues. About 6 months later, Doc figured it out to being bristles in her intestines. After surgery, went back to normal.

Even though I'm careful about thorough cleaning, I still tossed the brushes after her experience.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
People have been raising safety concerns on wire brushing grills for at least 15 years. One of those wires coming out of the brush, going into food, and entering someones digestive tract is going to cause bad things to happen.

This is why I avoid wire bristle brushed like the plague when using anything to clean the grill.

TBH - I learned a long time ago a grill doesn't need any cleaning at all (the charcoal preheating accomplishes this) unless I left the out in weather allows the grate to become rusty.

I use a Chargon grill tool to remove large chunks, like cheese that melted off a burger, but don't religiously remove all buildup or scour it clean. It's unnecessary.

https://a.co/d/09lQg5o5

I use a wire brush paint scraper. It’s cheap and the wire is so big. I also remove the grates and clean them in the strong afternoon sunlight.

I have a scraper like Rogue posted that perfectly fits my Big Green Egg grill.

I also use these Grill Rescue brushes (can get them from Amazon, there are also cheaper knockoffs available). I have given everyone in my extended family a proper Grill Brush as a present and let them know to throw their wire brush away.

I went to some barbecue classes 8 years ago and there was an internal medicine surgeon in the class with us. He said he had operated on people from eating a burger with a bit of wire brush in it. You cannot inspect close enough to find a tiny bit of wire on your grill, that might wind up in your intestine. I'm an anti-wire brush evangelist! Toss 'em and use something else.

Just bought Scrub Daddy BBQ Daddy brush. I've only used it once, but I like it.

BBQ Daddy Grill Scrubber

My grates on my smoker are expended steel so not any of the commercially available stuff works that well. I don't want my grates to be sparkling clean anyhow. Depending on the amount of usage I usually just burn everything clean. Start a nice hot fire until I have a good chamber fire going and let her burn. A few shakes of the grates afterwards knocks the burnt chunks off.

I use a wood scraper, something like this:

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/...fxkOIzxoCUVgQAvD_BwE

Heat up the grill and give it a cursory scrape. As said, it’s not really necessary.

You guys clean your grates?
I just turn on my grill at high and let it burn off anything left over after I’m done cooking. Next use I might scrape off anything with a tool like Rogue has depicted

Ball of aluminum foil held in a pair of tongs?