These tips are un-grill-ievable.
Barbara “Babs” Costello, who refers to herself as “everyone’s grandmother” on TikTok, has taken to the platform to share her three “do’s and don’ts” for grilling.
The video, which was posted last month, has already reached over 20 million views — and it might be especially helpful ahead of the upcoming July Fourth holiday.
For her first tip, the grandmother of eight advised not to go into the summer season with a dirty grill.
“Don’t go into grilling season with a dirty grill,” Costello advised. “And don’t use a wire brush, the bristles can shed and get into your food.”
Instead, she offered another solution — rubbing an onion on the grill to clean it.
“Just heat your grill, then take your onion and scrub away,” she demonstrated. “Instead of eating loose metal bristles, an onion will add a little flavor to your food.”
The second tip, she said, was to make sure that food doesn’t stick to your grill.
“It could really ruin your meal,” she claimed.
In a genius solution, Costello used a potato that was sliced in half to avoid the problem.
“Right before grilling, just spread those hot grates with a cut end of a potato,” she said. “The starch in the potato creates a non-stick surface. Who would’ve thought the potato saves the meal?”
Lastly, for her third and final suggestion, Costello urged viewers to check their propane tanks before turning on the grill, suggesting a helpful hack to check its levels in turn.
“Do check your propane level the accurate way,” the grandmother said, demonstrating the next step with a measuring cup full of water. “Use hot water and pour it over the side of your tank.”
“Take your hand, and just feel the side of the tank,” she claimed. “If it’s hot, keep going. When it gets cool, that’s where your propane level is.”
The Post reached out to Costello for comment.
It looks like Costello could be on to something here — last year, Southern Living seconded Costello’s onion cleaning hack, explaining that the natural acidity and juices from the vegetable can ” loosen dirt, stuck-on food, and grease, and have your grill looking nearly new in minutes.”
The potato hack to make sure nothing sticks to the grill has also been backed up by Chef Tony Matassa, who is a grill expert at BBQ Guys, Well + Good reported in May.
He told the outlet that doing this will “coat your grids with a microscopic layer of starch,” as Costello recommended.
And, when it comes to propane, Bob Vila seemingly concurred with her trick.
In the comments section of Costello’s post, many were excited to try out the new methods on their grills this summer.
“THE GAS HACK IS SO USEFUL,” one user typed.
Another agreed, claiming, “This woman has taught me more than school EVER did.”
“My husband always uses an onion 🧅 it definitely cleans and adds a lot of flavor and smells amazing!” someone else wrote.
