One would think cooking on the grill might be pretty safe. But you could be wrong. You could have things happen like this:
or this:
or this:
This was definitely NOT the way to light a grill!
Most of these accidents were just from people being stupid, to be quite honest. Think about where you are grilling and don't put flammable liquids on a flame!
All kidding aside, there is one problem that you need to be aware of and it definitely can happen to any of us. I've seen it mentioned recently on the news, and remember seeing it last year as well. People are having to go to the emergency room because they have ingested a piece of metal bristle from the brush that they use to clean their grill.
What happens is that as you clean your grill right before you put the meat on, a metal bristle can fall off and become stuck to the grill. You put your steak or hamburgers on the grill right on top of the piece of wire, and it becomes embedded in the meat, ending up inside you when you eat.
Here is a recent story, but if you search on the internet, you can actually numerous examples of this happening. And a Rhode Island hospital has started a study about this problem:
So what's the solution? Here are a couple of ideas:
- Don't use a brush with metal wire (seems obvious, doesn't it?). There are utensils made of other substances other than metal
, and even grill cleaning stones
- If you must use a brush with wire bristles, make sure that you wipe the grill with a damp paper towel to remove any bristles that might still be there. Or if that will be too hot, clean the grill with the brush right after you get done cooking. Then, before you cook next time, wipe the grill with a damp paper towel to remove any of the bristles.
You shouldn't be completely alarmed, but you should be careful. A trip to the ER, could make the last steak you grilled the most expensive steak you ever grill.
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Seriously?? I weep for the future of America if this is an example of the intelligence of youth. Pouring petroleum products on charcoal? Tragic. I’m amazed at the lack of adult supervision and I notice the camera operators laughing with glee while filming. Perhaps a tour of the local burn center would sober these wayward youths attitude towards the danger of fire.
Sad that something as rewarding as outdoor cooking is , among other gainful activities, tainted by the dumbing down of America.
Author
Tim, good points. It seems pretty insane, what they are doing. And yet, I was trying to make the point that even though 99.9% of us would do stupid things like that, there is something that we ignore that can actually kill us–those metal bristles from the wire brushes that we use to clean our grills. We also need to be careful, even with something that would seem as benign as a grill cleaning brush.
Scott,
Thanks for the reply. You are absolutely correct. After reading your article I discarded my wire brush for a cleaning stone and small straw bristle broom.
I didn’t mean to sound judgemental in my comment. If I did, please pardon me. I was once first on scene to a horrific incident in which 3 twenty something year old college grads were dreadfully burned by someone being stupid with a campfire and white gas… Their lives were forever changed. I still think about them every once in a while.
I love your site . Very informative. Doing a seafoos paella on the SLIK VIK Griddle this weekend..
Thanks for such a great site…. With Regards/ Tim
Author
Tim, no problem. I didn’t want it to make it seem like I was encouraging those things. You would think that grilling would be reasonably safe and generally it is. But I supposed like anything, if you do stupid things, it makes it really unsafe. And then there are the things that we haven’t thought of, like the wire brushes and the problem, though slight, that they could cause.
Thanks for your comments!