BBQ Equipment: The Grill Wizard Barbecue Brush

Yes folks, a barbecue brush. I know it's a mundane piece of equipment, but every good cook knows that you need clean grills to produce great food. Towards that end I bring to you The Grill Wizard Barbecue Brush.

This brush was sent to me back in the fall for review. The Grill Wizard Barbecue Brush does not use bristles like my current brush, the Brush Hawg by Charbroil, but instead uses a nested scrubber, which is very much like a scouring pad or a Brillo pad. After my review of the Brush Hawg, I received many emails warning me of the dangers of a bristle brush, so I really wanted to check this out.

The Grill Wizard Barbecue Brush sells for $11.98 and is available at Barr Brothers. It's 18" long, and made of a pretty thick and strong handle and is guaranteed for two years not to break. I gave this brush a good workout by cleaning the grill grates of my Weber Smokey Mountain that had been left sitting dirty in an abandoned smoke house for the last couple of months.

I have to say that this brush worked like a charm. It easily cleaned away the cold, baked on grease, sugars and food remnants from my last 24 hour cook. The thick handle didn't bend no matter how much pressure I put on it.

The cleaning pad however took a beating. It clogged fairly quickly and I had to replace it before I finished. I have to admit that this cleaning was not a normal cleaning. This grill was filthy and the grease and gunk were allowed to solidify on the grates.

The manufacturer claims that the scrubbers are dishwasher safe, which would allow a longer life but I don't have a dishwasher to test this theory. Simply rinsing the pads under running water failed to dislodge the grease and gunk.

Thankfully the pads replace easily and you can use the scrubbers available at your local supermarket. The scrubbers that the Barr Brothers sell and supply with the brush are much heavier and stronger than what I can buy locally. You can double up with the cheaper scrubbers, but that defeats the purpose of using cheaper replacements.

So has the Brush Hawg been sent to the junk pile replaced by the Grill Wizard? Sorry, no. I'll take my chances with the bristle brush. The Grill Wizard did a great job cleaning, but the pads clogged quickly. Rather than replacing the pads, I prefer being able to clean the bristles of the Brush Hawg.