Mice urine, droppings, and fur on your griddle plate are disgusting and can pose a severe health hazard. Keeping mice off your Blackstone is of utmost importance, yet it can be challenging.
Here are several ways, natural and artificial, to keep mice out of your Blackstone griddle for good. I will also tell you why mice like your grill and how to disinfect a mice-infested griddle.
How to Keep Mice Out of Blackstone Griddle
The best way to deter mice from coming close to your griddle is by eliminating all traces of food; from the grill top and the surrounding environment. Also, declutter the storage area and keep it clean to avoid giving mice a safe abode.
What Attracts Mice to a Blackstone Griddle?
The initial step to keeping mice off your Blackstone is understanding what attracts them. This way, you can take appropriate measures to deter or eradicate them.
The primary reason mice get attracted to a griddle is the smell of food. It could be the rich smell of a seasoned grill top or some lingering food odors left out during cleaning.
Mice love carbs! If you often use butter, cheese, and bacon on your Blackstone, ensure that you clean it thoroughly before storage. Any drippings are likely to attract mice to your grill.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, you can make a perfect mice trap using a small piece of bacon. Therefore, if you leave bacon oil or tiny pieces of bacon on the griddle top, mice are likely to come looking for it.
Another factor that draws mice to a griddle is the need for shelter. Besides food, mice go looking for somewhere to make a home. The cover you put over your griddle can encourage or put off mice.
If you use fabric to cover your grill during storage, you are probably providing a warm, cozy home for a mouse.
Also, if you leave pieces of cloth or paper around the griddle, a mouse can use them to build their shelter there. This way, it will be super-comfortable around your grill.
Your storage location is also crucial in attracting or deterring mice. We all love storing our grills in the garage. However, storage areas like garages and basements are prone to mice infestation. They love dark, cluttered spaces.
Essential Tips to Keep Mice Off Your Blackstone Griddle
I can’t stand a mouse running around my griddle. Therefore, I researched the best and most effective techniques to deter mice from coming near my Blackstone.
From my research, I found out that there are three essential tips to keep mice out of your grill.
- Clean your griddle (to remove the food source)
- Create a physical barrier
- Use repellants
Clean Your Griddle
Food is the main attraction of mice to a griddle. Getting rid of it by cleaning your grill plate is a significant step to ensuring a rodent-free Blackstone.
Cleaning your griddle after use is straightforward. However, ensure that you make it intense if you store your griddle for a long time. Any slight smell of food is likely to draw mice to your grill.
Cleaning the griddle plate alone is not enough. Ensure that you also clean the grill’s exterior and the surrounding environment. This way, you will eliminate food lingering around the grill, backyard, and storage area, thus keeping rodents at bay.
Remember to dispose of used grease and clean the grease tray thoroughly before storage.
Create a Physical Barrier
Cleaning alone is not 100% effective in keeping mice off your griddle. The aroma of a seasoned cooking surface does not go away entirely after cleaning. Therefore, mice will still find a way to your grill.
Creating a physical barrier in addition to cleaning will go a long way in keeping mice out of your Blackstone. It is hard for them to access a covered grill top.
The physical barrier could be a DIY or ready-made griddle cover or lid.
Griddle covers differ in materials and form. I would discourage covers with fabric linings because they tend to attract mice by their warm, homely nature. A mouse can easily tear the fabric and hide inside the lining.
When purchasing a griddle cover, choose a heavy-duty, sturdy material to minimize the risk of rodent destruction. Alternatively, you can make a DIY cover at home using wood and metal. Ensure that the cover snugly fits your griddle and has no spaces to let mice in.
Block any major holes on your grill’s exterior with wood or bricks. If possible, surround your grill with chicken wire or any mesh.
Note: Mice often follow along a baseboard, fence, or wall. Moving your griddle a few inches away from these railings and surfaces will decrease the possibility of accessing your grill.
Use Repellents
Another effective way to keep mice away is by using repellents. You can use traps, ultrasonic pest control, rodent control scents, or poison.
a) Traps
There are different types of traps; those that capture and kill and others that capture without killing.
The most common mouse trap is the glue one. It captures the mouse by grabbing it hard, causing it to gnaw till it dies. This process happens in a matter of minutes.
When the mouse sticks to the trap, you can also choose to unglue it and kill it. Either way, avoid feeding your pet with the dead mouse. The trap glue is not safe for consumption.
We also have a live mouse trap, which is preferable to the glue trap. This trap has no poison. It catches the mouse and keeps it alive. In this case, you can feed your cat the mouse or set it free.
If you use a live trap, be on the lookout for any catch. If the mouse overstays in the trap, it can starve and die.
b) Rodent Control Scents
Particular scents deter mice by making the air unbearable while others suffocate them. Here are some popular mice repelling scents:
- Mothballs
- Peppermint
- Cloves
- Camphor
- Ammonia
- Commercial mice repellents
- Cat fur
Soak Cotton Balls with Peppermint Oil
Mice hate the smell of peppermint! Soak a few cotton balls in peppermint oil and place them on strategic areas on your griddle.
You can place one or two soaked cotton balls on the edges of your griddle plate and near each leg. However, you will need to replace the balls every few days to maintain a strong peppermint aroma capable of deterring mice.
Mothballs
To keep mice at bay, you can place a few mothballs on the grease management area, around and under your Blackstone. Be careful not to put mothballs close to the cooking surface or food preparation areas.
c) Poison
If traps and scents are not working for you, try rodent poison. It is a sure way to get rid of mice.
Although this method is highly-effective, be ready to hunt for dead mice around your house.
Caution: Poison is not the best option, especially with pets and children in the home.
d) Ultrasonic Pest Control
This new technology involves repelling mice using ultrasonic sounds and electromagnetic waves.
These waves and sounds are beyond the human range of hearing but irritating to the ears of mice. This way, the mice will want to leave the area immediately.
How to Disinfect Your Griddle After Mice Infestation
If mice get access to your griddle, all is not lost. Sanitizing your Blackstone griddle after a mice infestation is more meticulous than routine cleaning.
You will need to use vinegar and soapy water to sterilize the grill. Here is a step-by-step process:
- Disassemble your griddle. If you have any challenges with this step, consult the manufacturer’s manual.
- Use a scraper or a brush to remove the food particles, mice droppings, and hair.
- Sprinkle water on your griddle parts using a hose.
- Use soapy water or a degreaser to clean the grill and remove oily residues.
- Rinse the surfaces well with clean water
- Use vinegar to disinfect the surface
- Dry the griddle parts using a clean cloth or paper towels
- Let the griddle air dry
- Reassemble your griddle
- Fire up the burners and keep them going for at least 30 minutes. This way, the remaining bacteria will die.
- Re-season your griddle
Frequently Asked questions
How do I keep mice off my Blackstone?
You can keep mice off your Blackstone by removing the food sources and creating a physical barrier. You can also use repellents to deter mice from nearing your grill.
How do you disinfect a grill after a mouse?
Disassemble your griddle and clean it thoroughly with soapy water and a vinegar solution. Then turn the flame up for about 30 minutes to kill all the bacteria.
What keeps mice away permanently?
Ensure that your griddle is clean before storage, cover it, and then place some repellents around it. Combining these measures is a sure way to keep mice away permanently.
Does vinegar disinfect mouse droppings?
Vinegar is an effective disinfectant that kills disease-causing bacteria resulting from mouse droppings.
Wrapping Up
Keeping mice out of your outdoor griddle begins by knowing what attracts them first. Then, deal with the attraction causes to deter the mice.
The leading strategy to keep off mice is cleaning your griddle after every use before storage. Other proven methods include the use of repellents and creating barriers.