Why You Should Rub A Potato On Your Grill Grates

Regardless of the topic, social media (and the internet at large) is home to countless intriguing-but-questionable articles and sources on the matter. When you dial into food specifically, it gets possibly even more extreme. Scrolling short-form food videos is a bit like spending an afternoon with your slightly off-kilter uncle who has an endless list of self-developed grilling "hacks" of dubious quality. As silly as they seem, though, there are some that work — and this potato trick may be one of them.

As far as TikTok potato hacks go, this one is on the unusual side, seeing as you won't be eating the potato, but it may still be a useful one to have in your repertoire. According to folks across social media and elsewhere online, rubbing a hot grill with a raw potato confers the grate with nonstick qualities equivalent to a spritz of cooking spray. Simply split a raw potato in half and skewer one piece on the end of a grill fork with the cut side facing outward. Then, bring the grill up to temperature and rub the grate down nicely with the forked tater.

Scientifically, the idea is that as the potato is rubbed, the juices leave a fine layer of starch behind on the grate, ensuring that whatever foods follow won't stick to the metal. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence out there that this trick works, though anything on social media should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, food sticking to the grill can be disastrous, and since this trick is pretty cheap and easy to test for yourself, it may just be a TikTok food hack worth trying.

For true connoisseurs of short-form food videos, the description of this potato trick surely called to mind another vegetable-based grilling hack that has made the rounds: using an onion to clean the grill. At first glance, it looks almost the same — both are sliced vegetables on the end of a fork being used to scour a hot grill — but the reason to rub your grill with onion is actually completely different. In the case of the allium in question, it is mostly a matter of using steam and friction to scrape the grate clean — no fancy starches involved. Is this a case for an onion and potato one-two punch? Maybe, but we'll leave that to the influencers.

While these hacks are both photogenic and fun, the truth is that the best way to keep food from sticking to the grill is simply to keep the grate clean. Fortunately, though, aside from all of the standard tips and tricks for cleaning the grill, there are also plenty of slightly silly, eye-catching tips as well. For example, dish soap and baking soda work wonders on a dirty grill, but neither the products or the techniques are particularly surprising or interesting.

For some real pizazz, try cleaning the grill with aluminum foil, or, better yet, leave the grate in the yard overnight before cleaning. All three techniques will work to clean up your grill, but the last one is much better suited to the same sort of fan of the absurd that prefers to rub down their grates with a potato instead of greasing the grill with cooking oil.