[Mike Harry]

I’ve got an old gas grill with grates that have seen better days. My old wire brush left some scratches, and I’m wondering if the GrillWizz would do the same. It looks like it has a stainless steel head, so I’m a bit cautious. Anyone use it on grates that aren’t exactly new?

[Sam Reads]

My dad has the same kind of beat up grates and his stainless brush definitely added a few more scratches over time. The GrillWizz spins though, so it’s a different motion. I’d probably test it on a corner first if you’re worried.

[Jake Holloway]

Anything stainless spinning against old grates is going to leave some marks. Mine took the loose rust off but also polished a couple spots down to bare metal. Doesn’t affect cooking, just looks rough.

[Luna Sketch]

Mine’s an old hand-me-down grill too and the GrillWizz has been way gentler than my wire brush ever was. It’s more of a light polish than those deep gouges. Do yours have a lot of flaking rust?

[Kevin Rogers]

I’ve had my GrillWizz about a year now and my grates are the original ones from a 2007 Weber, so they’ve got their share of wear. I actually think the spinning action is easier on them than dragging a wire brush back and forth. The bristles flex instead of digging in, if that makes sense. That said, mine did leave one shiny patch on a spot where the porcelain was already chipped, but that was going to flake off eventually anyway. The bigger thing I noticed is it doesn’t get into the corners as well as a handheld brush, so I still keep one around for the edges. Not a dealbreaker for me but worth knowing. Curious if anyone else has noticed the corner thing or if it’s just how I’m holding it.

[Tina M]

I don’t think the steel head is the real issue here, honestly I’d be more worried about the rust flakes on old grates than scratches. Mine are pretty worn and the GrillWizz didn’t make them any worse than they already were. The scratches were there long before I got it.

[Paul847]

Mine scratched a little on the first pass but it was mostly surface stuff. My wire brush did way more damage over the years. The stainless head isn’t the problem, old rusted grates just mark easy.

[MikeRobbins]

The brush head isn’t what chews up grates. It’s the pressure you put behind it. I used a stainless brush for years on my old charbroil and the scratches came from me leaning into it trying to get baked on junk off, not the bristles themselves. The GrillWizz spins on its own so you don’t have to push nearly as hard, which is the part that matters. Mine’s got a couple seasons on it and I’ve run it across grates that were already scratched to hell from before. Didn’t make anything noticeably worse. The one thing I’d say is the head is small enough that you’ll be going over the same spot a few times if your grates are really crusty, and that repeated contact is where you might see some dulling. But it’s not gouging metal like a stiff wire brush does when you’re really bearing down.

[Jenny__M]

The stainless head hasn’t been the problem for me, it’s really how hard you press down. I go lighter on my old grates and it just takes a couple extra passes, no big scratches yet.

[HarrY]

Mine scratched the coating on old grates.

[Ben Kerr]

Mine actually polished the grates a bit after a few uses. The scratches I had were from the old wire brush, and the GrillWizz didn’t add anything new. It’s been about two months on a set of grates from 2015.

[Owen21]

Depends what your grates are made of. On bare cast iron the stainless head is fine, it just knocks off the crust. If they’re porcelain coated and already chipped, that brush will catch the edges and make it worse. Mine are raw steel so I don’t care either way.

[Carla82]

I don’t buy that the stainless head is the problem. My old grates got chewed up way before I ever touched one of these, and the GrillWizz didn’t add anything noticeable on top of that. If your grates are already rough, you’ve got bigger stuff to deal with than the brush.

[Jenna Writes]

Mine didn’t scratch them at all, and my grates are pretty rough. It kind of shined them up if anything. The old brush did way more damage.

[Linda Morris]

I switched to the GrillWizz mainly because I got tired of the arm workout with my old brush, and the scratches on my grates were already there from years of scraping. Mine are just basic cast iron, nothing fancy, and I’ve been using the Wizz on them for about two months now, usually on the medium setting. I honestly can’t tell that it’s added any new scratches. If anything, the grates look a little smoother in the spots where I use it regularly, probably because it’s lifting off the baked-on stuff instead of grinding it in. I don’t press down hard though, the motor does the work so I just guide it along. I figure if your grates are already scratched up from a wire brush, a little more isn’t going to change much anyway. But that’s just been my experience with mine.

[d4niel]

Metal on metal will always leave some kind of mark eventually. That is just how it works. If your grates are already scratched up, a few more marks do not really change anything. The thing I care about is whether the tool actually gets the junk off without me having to scrub for ten minutes.

I have a cheap grill and I am not out there trying to keep the grates looking new. They are for cooking, not for show. The stainless head on something like this is going to bite into the surface a little if you press hard. That is just physics. If you go light and let the motor do the work, it is probably no worse than any other brush.

Personally I would rather have clean grates with some scratches than dirty grates that look pretty. Function over looks every time.

[Stan]

Mine left a couple of faint marks on the edges of my old grates, nothing dramatic but it wasn’t the totally scratch-free deal some folks make it out to be. Could just be how worn mine already were though. Doesn’t bug me enough to stop using it.

[Jenny Flowers]

Mine definitely scratched, so I stopped using it on those.

[Mike Harry]

Good to know, I’ll just keep an eye on mine.

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