The reason most griddles end up sticky is that people clean them the way they clean a saucepan. A flat top is not a saucepan — the dark layer on it is the cooking surface, and detergent removes it.
Clean it while it is hot
Residue lifts off a warm surface and welds itself to a cold one. Scrape down while the griddle is still too hot to touch, then wipe with a cloth and a little oil. That is the whole routine on a normal night, and it takes ninety seconds.
Skip the wire brush
Wire brushes shed. A detached bristle on a flat top can end up in food, and the resulting injuries are well documented enough that a lot of cooks have abandoned them entirely.
The alternatives are better anyway:
- A griddle brick or pumice block abrades carbon away without shedding anything. It takes the build-up off while leaving the cure intact, and it is safe to use hot.
- A bevelled scraper handles the daily pass — scrape, push the debris into the trough, wipe.
- Steel wool with a handle for cast iron that has genuinely gone wrong, when you are prepared to re-season afterwards.
If you do keep a wire brush, inspect the head before every single use and bin it the moment bristles look loose or missing.
When to use a degreaser
Not weekly. A proper degreaser is for the deep clean at the end of a season, or when you have inherited a grill in a bad state. Choose a fume-free formulation if you are working anywhere near an enclosed space, and rinse thoroughly before cooking on it again.
On chrome-plated or polished grills, do not use a cleaning brick at all — it will strip the finish. Bricks are for bare steel and cast iron.
Re-seasoning
If the surface has gone patchy or sticky, strip it back, heat the griddle until it just starts to smoke, wipe on the thinnest possible layer of a high smoke-point oil, and let it burn off. Repeat three or four times. Thin coats are the whole secret — a thick one goes sticky and never cures properly.