What is the best way to clean a propane grill?

[Metalhead]

I have been using dish soap and water, but it is not as efficient as I would like it to be. I was wondering if any of you had any better ideas.

 

[Outdated]

The best is what all the commercial fast food places use - Caustic Soda.

A dangerous chemical if you get it on your skin and even worse in your eyes but it does the job. Let the grill soak in caustic soda overnight and all the dirt just about falls off.

If you don't want to use caustic soda many other degreasing agents will work, even engine degreaser does a good job. That's what you're really fighting against, the oils that hold all the dirt together. Dissolve those and cleaning is easy.

 

[Aspychata]

Oven cleaner you can buy, and just wipe it off. It sits for awhile then rinse it off. Just an idea.

 

[FreeDiver]

Lye, caustic soda or oven cleaner will all work. They all contain the same active ingredient of Sodium hydroxide(NaOH). What you need is a chemical that's acidic or alkaline to dissolve the harden grease.

Another option(If you don't wanna mess with harsh chemicals?) is to use a stainless steel wire brush to scrape off all the burnt and charred food off your grille without having to remove the cake on grease. Leaving the caked on grease can give you a no stick surface on your grille. Much like seasoning a cast iron skillet.

 

[Gerontius]

A good grill brush is nice, but I have never really cleaned stuff that I was cooking on like that--just keep burning it. Like Freediver said, get the gunk off but leave the black stuff on the grill itself, and you will have a non-stick grill.
It's also possible to take the grids out of a gas grill and cook in a hole in the dirt over a bed of coals once your hardwood fire burns down.