Weber kettle

Product Review: Grill Rescue Grill Brush

/ Barbecue Bros / 8 Comments

June 2023 update: it appears that Grill Rescue has had issues fulfilling orders lately based on complaints on their BBB page. I would exercise caution when placing the order as of now.

Monk: If you’re like me you’ve come across horror stories of grill cleaning brushes with metallic bristles that come lose and result in a very painful ER visit. I’ve tried out a few different options from a wood spatula that conforms to the grill shape to ones more akin to a safer version of steel wool. Recently, the folks from Grill Rescue reached out to me to see if I wanted to give their grill brush a try in exchange for an honest review.

Grill Rescue is a grill accessories company that was started by a firefighter (hence the distinctive firetruck red coloring) and also has koozies, tumblers, and a set of rubs and spices. Their grill brush is touted by them as the “world’s safest grill brush” due to the fact that it has no bristles and is instead made of a fabric called aramid fiber, which is durable fabric apparently used in firefighter gear. It will run you $39.95 for the standard model or $44.95 for one that includes a scraper (see photo below).

In addition to the unique brush material, another big point of differentiation is the removable head which can be cleaned in a dishwasher and replaced when the time comes. I found that the head was harder to take off than what was shown by the video of a bikini-clad model on the website and I ended up having to use the end of a spatula to pry it off initially. Perhaps it will be easier on future removals.

For this year’s annual neighborhood Wing Fest (where my team took home the win for the second year running), I sprayed the brush head down with a hose and cleaned my trusty Weber. The water created a steaming effect that easily removed grime. In no time the grill was ready or our award-winning wings. Once we were done, rinse and repeat (literally) and the grill was good for storage until next time.

While my brush came with a rubber hook accessory that sticks on the end and allows you to hang it off your grill, it will set consumers back an additional $9.95 on top of the cost of the already-pricey brush. I feel that this should come standard or the brush should already have a way to hang it without the additional cost.

In terms of other additional costs, replacement cleaning heads run between $12.95 for standard or $16.85 which includes a scraper. The website claims each one will last up to a hundred uses. This is what mine looked like after one use and a washing. The aramid fiber was tough but I’m already starting to see signs of wear so I’ll be curious how it holds up after additional uses.

In the crowded grill accessories market where you can go to your local hardware store and get a grill brush for around $10, is the Grill Rescue Grill Brush worth its price tag of at least $40? Assuming it holds to its claim of 100 uses per brush head (a couple of years worth depending on how often you grill or smoke), the answer is “possibly.” It feels really solid in my hand, the safety aspect is not nothing, plus it works well in it’s actual main function of cleaning the grill. Ultimately your threshold for spending that kind of money will be an individual decision. If you do decide to get the Grill Rescue Grill Brush, you will get a well made grill accessory.

Product Review: Slow ‘N Sear® from SnS Grills

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Monk: SnS Grills is a grill and accessories company headquartered in Concord, NC. The story of the company and its founder David Parrish is covered in detail on their website but long story short Parrish got hooked in with the Amazing Ribs website and its community of amateur pitmasters and grillers before eventually deciding to tackle the riddle of how to turn a kettle grill into a legit smoker. The Slow ‘N Sear is the product of him using his physics degree for the good of barbecue and grilling.

And it’s won the company some acclaim, with Meathead Goldwyn of Amazing Ribs proclaiming it “the single best accessory for the Weber kettle ever” and Steven Raichlen calling it the “best new barbecue product of 2018.” Having re-ignited my love for my now-16-year old Weber kettle during the pandemic, I had to give it a try for myself.

Made of heavy duty steel (listed on the site as “18-gauge 430 stainless steel”), the Slow ‘N Sear is a charcoal basket that sits directly on the bottom grate of my Weber kettle grill. Where it differs from the Weber Char-Baskets is that it is made larger to fit more charcoal without needing to constantly refill but more importantly it has a built-in water reservoir to help evenly cook the meat.

I tried it out with a small chuck roast and the Slow ‘N Sear worked like a charm. The basket promoted airflow and burned the charcoal cleanly. While the website says the reservoir will get you 5+ hours of steam from the water reservoir, I refilled it once during the cook. I may have cooked the meat just a tad over but through no fault of the basket. And while this chuck roast was too small, had it been a steak or other piece of meat I could have flipped it directly above the charcoal for searing.

There are actually two models of this insert – this original and the Deluxe which has a removable water reservoir and a ventilated plate for $30 more.

SnS Grills has expanded into making a ton of other grill accessories along with their own line of kamado smokers and kettle grills and I will give serious consideration to the kamado next time I’m in the market for a smoker. However, if you are still rocking an old-school Weber kettle grill like me, the Slow ‘N Sear is an easy way to turn it into a legit offset smoker.