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There are a lot of silly things sold today, but the motorized grill brush tops the list. It makes you wonder if the person who signed the check to manufacture them has ever grilled. Is it really that hard to move your arm back and forth, and do you really want to hunt around for batteries when the brush dies rather than clean your grill?

To put this into perspective, we are talking about a Brookstone product. Between them and The Sharper Image, billions of dollars of useless crap has been sold to gadget-loving persons everywhere.  Every once in a while they’re ahead of the curve and actually sell something that catches on, but 9 times out of 10 it’s crap.

Powered by four C cell batteries, the grill brush operates like an electric toothbrush for your grill. You push a button and supposedly the rotary brushes quickly strip away cooked-on food — one wonders if the brush can produce enough torque to remove anything. So when the rotating brushes won’t work you can use the built-in scraper. You can remove the brush for cleaning or replacement when it’s worn.

The upside is that if you buy the motorized grill brush you’re only losing $20, plus shipping of course.  Replacement brushes are $5, so if you must buy this grill brush you might want to pick up a few because who knows how long this product will be around.

For other funny examples of extreme laziness, check out the collection at Holytaco.

Motorized Grill Brush [Brookstone]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

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16 Responses to Extreme Laziness: Grill Edition!

  1. shopmonger says:

    What about a wire wheel on a drill? are a angle grinder with a brass brush? How lazy can we get….. you really want it clean, throw it in the self cleaning oven and let it do the work………


  2. G says:

    I can see a use for this: really, really, REALLY dirty grills, like the ones in public parks. You know, the ones no one ever cleans after using.

    But then, I would not use the actual grills on those anyway. Not unless I not only cleaned it, but also thoroughly sanitized it somehow…

    and I much prefer the “angle grinder with the brass brush” option that shopmonger suggests anyway 🙂

  3. Fred B says:

    Necessity is the mother of invention; Laziness is the father.

  4. BigEdJr says:


    That is freaking awesome!

  5. Bob says:

    I think I saw this in a low budget Freddy Krueger movie. 🙂

  6. Michael says:

    I’ve use a steel wheel on an angle grinder to clean up a grill. Not so must to get the food off as to get the rust of the Chinese stainless steel.

    To get the food off, I drill out the jets to make the grill self cleaning.

    Note: I’ve got years working on jet based gas systems. If you want a hotter grill, take a jet out of your grill and take it to a grill shop and buy a larger one. But be careful, its a grill, not a smelter.

  7. johnnyp says:

    I have one , don’t use it that often . What I have noticed it does shed bristles , something you wouldn’t want to ingest. Coat your clean grates with cooking spray and wash after using.

  8. Toolhearty says:

    johnnyp Says:
    …Coat your clean grates with cooking spray and wash after using.

    Wash your grill? Heresy, I say. That black stuff is seasoning. 🙂

  9. Mike47 says:

    I use an armstrong (manual) stainless steel brush. Manual does a good job when he’s motivated. When the cast iron grates get really icky and rust cakes them up, I go at them with a pneumatic needle scaler. They come out like new.

  10. Audra Heaslip says:

    We have a large pumice stone that works okay, and a plastic bristled hand brush. Maybe the power-cleaner is for those who only clean the grill every 1,000 fires?

  11. Jerod says:

    This would get into the corners and out to the edge better without gouging the tub with the metal scraper on a grill brush.

  12. rob says:

    I like to pre-heat my dirty grill to sanitary temps then manual scrape. twice a year I shop vac the crud out of the whole thing including jets. then powerwash the whole darned thing. I season if grates start to rust.

  13. Mister Peepers says:

    I turn the grill up to the highest temp, wait, then lightly brush off the ash. It works wonders.

  14. Robert says:


    A friend has one. Useless junk.

    Makes a mess all over you, and sheds bristles.

  15. JB says:

    Two words pressure washer.

  16. Mrten says:

    One word: Lye (drain cleaner). Dissolve the granules in a shallow pan, put rack in, leave overnight, rinse with hot water, done. Lye saponifies the fats that make up a large part of the muck on the rack, and soap dissolves in water.

    I do this regularly with the (stainless steel) racks in my oven, they come out like new in no time, dunno about cast iron though I think it’s safe.

    Oh, don’t try it on aluminium/aluminum things, they’ll get hurt.

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