Cuisinart grill brush recall: 3.6 million wire-bristle units after Aug. 27 expansion

Labor Day weekend is five calendar days from this writing. The tool a lot of people will grab first is a metal wire grill brush. On Thursday the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission expanded the Cuisinart grill brush recall by nearly two million units, and the practical instruction is blunt: if the head is a bed of steel wires and the handle says Cuisinart, take it off the hook.

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What expanded on Aug. 27

Conair LLC of Stamford, Conn., started this file on July 2 as CPSC recall 26-601 — about 1,719,995 Cuisinart metal wire-bristle brushes. The live notice is still the July URL: Conair / Cuisinart grill brushes (CPSC). On Aug. 27 the same action added about 1,905,805 more, for a combined 3,625,800. That math is in Thursday’s consumer-desk writeups: NBC New York, NTD’s CPSC-photo recap, Good Housekeeping’s model list, and WSB-TV Atlanta.

Hazard language did not change. Small metal bristles can break off, stick to the grate or the food, and get swallowed. CPSC’s line: serious internal injuries that can need surgery. Retail window in the notices: June 2009 through March 2026, about $8 to $20, made in China. July’s sold-at list was Burlington, T.J. Maxx, Ross, Amazon.com, and Cuisinart.com. Thursday’s coverage added Walmart. If you bought one at a big box, a discount aisle, or a 10-piece tool set, you are in the search, not out of it.

Why a loose bristle is an ER problem

These wires are thin, stiff, and the same color as a grill grate. You do not taste them. CDC’s 2012 MMWR case series from Providence is still the public-health explainer: backyard cooks, commercial wire brushes, injuries from a puncture in the neck to a perforated gut that went to the OR. Chief complaint in several cases was severe pain on swallowing after a cookout. A later surgical write-up, esophageal perforation by a grill-brush bristle (PMC), is the imaging warning: plain films miss these shards often; CT is the study that actually finds them.

Conair’s count on this brand: at least 54 reports and reviews of bristles coming off, including three consumers who swallowed a wire and needed it taken out of the throat or digestive tract. That is the company’s known file, not a national census. If you already ate off a grate this brush touched and you have new sharp pain on swallowing, chest pain, or abdominal pain that does not match ordinary heartburn, that is an emergency-department visit, not a product-forum thread. Tell the triage nurse it may be a grill-brush bristle. They will not guess that from “I had a burger.”

July models still in the file

Model numbers sit on the packaging more often than on the tool. “Cuisinart” is stamped on the handle. July’s CPSC table:

Model	What it looks like	Distribution (CPSC)
CCB-100	Triple bristle grill cleaning brush	Jan. 2013–Mar. 2026
CCB-4125	4-in-1 stainless wire-bristle brush	Oct. 2022–Mar. 2026
CCB-5014	16.5″ BBQ brush and scraper, stainless	June 2009–Mar. 2026
CCB-6450	Triple bristle, stainless bristles	Jan. 2025–Mar. 2026
CCB-8012	2-in-1 bristle/coil	Jan. 2025–Mar. 2026
CCB-4114	Pizza-stone cleaning brush	2024
CCB-W2	18.5″ pakka-wood handle	Mar. 2024–July 2025
CSBS-777	Steam-clean grill brush	Mar. 2014–July 2025

Handles in the notice are black plastic, stainless, or wood. A pizza-stone head is in this list on purpose. Do not assume “I don’t own a grill brush” if the stone brush lives in the same drawer.

The 13 models added this week

Thursday’s expanded-model block, as compiled from CPSC-based coverage (Good Housekeeping, WSB, NTD, McClatchy):

Model	Name as reported
CGWM-024	Dual Grip Grill Brush
CGWM-059	18-inch bamboo cleaning grill brush
FCB-501	Grill Dozer steam cleaning tool
CGS-W18	18-piece wooden-handle grill set
CCB-134	Comfort grill cleaning brush
CGWM-061	21-inch tri-wire grill brush
CB-395	Cross Action grill cleaning brush
CCB-3001	Triple Threat grill brush
CGWM-077	Steam cleaner grill brush
CGWM-058	3-piece multi-use grill cleaning system
CCB-012 / CCB-021	Tri-wire 12-inch grill cleaning brush
CGWM-060	16-inch wire detailing grill brush
FBH-51	Cleaning-brush replacement head

If the stamp on the handle does not match either table, keep reading. The expansion is not only a SKU dump.

Sets, pizza-stone heads, and the pre-2020 catch

Some recalled brushes shipped inside kits, not as a $12 single. CPSC named four sets in July: Premium Grill 10-piece (CGS-2010), 13-piece wooden-handle tool set (CGS-W13), 14-piece deluxe stainless set (CGS-5014), and 20-piece deluxe grill set (CGS-5020). The Aug. 27 list adds the 18-piece wooden-handle set (CGS-W18). Pull the brush out of the roll-up pouch. The tongs can stay.

NBC New York’s Thursday read of the updated notice is the sentence that should change behavior: along with the named models, additional Cuisinart wire-bristle brushes were sold individually and in sets before 2020, and all Cuisinart wire bristle grill brushes are included. WSB put the same “all Cuisinart wire bristle” line on air. Treat a missing model number as “call Conair,” not “I’m fine.” If it is Cuisinart, it is metal wire, and it has ever scrubbed a grate, start the refund process.

How to claim the refund

CPSC remedy: stop using the brush immediately. Contact Conair for a full refund or a Cuisinart.com credit equal to the cash refund plus 20%. You will be told to discard the recalled brush — this is not a mail-back of a rusty head.

1. Open the portal: https://www.recallrtr.com/grillbrushes (HTTP 200 as of this draft). Or call 888-520-1304, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET, Monday–Friday.
2. Have the model if you can find it. If you cannot, describe the handle and the head. The pre-2020 / “all wire bristle” language is why a missing SKU should not end the call.
3. Pick cash or store credit. Credit is the refund plus 20% of that cash amount, usable at Cuisinart.com — only useful if you still want something from that shop.
4. Follow the discard steps in the confirmation. Do not leave the brush in a garage-sale box. Federal law bars selling a product under a CPSC recall.

Same lookup habit as other consumer pulls we have walked: match an identifier, then use the official remedy, not a random text. See the VIN path in our Toyota Camry/Tacoma recall note and the lot-on-the-box method in the Outshine fruit bars recall. Grill brushes hide the SKU on a faded hang-tag more often than a freezer box does.

CPSC consumer line if the company stalls: 800-638-2772. Incident reports: SaferProducts.gov.

After you toss it: inspect the grate

Throwing the brush away does not vacuum the last ten cooks. CDC’s 2012 advice still holds: look at the cooking surface before the food goes down. Do that in daylight or with a flashlight. A bristle looks like a short piece of steel wool lying in a groove.

1. Cold grate. Do not hunt wires on a live fire.
2. Paper towel or a damp cloth across every bar, including the back and the warming rack.
3. A magnet on a stick will pick up loose ferrous bits in the firebox. It will not find a wire already stuck in last night’s burger.
4. If you find wires, you found a reason to skip that grate until it is clean — and a reason to finish the refund form.

If someone already ate and then reports a sudden, localized stabbing pain when they swallow, do not wait for a stool “just in case.” Bristles migrate. The PMC case is a reminder that a negative neck x-ray is not clearance.

Weber and Nexgrill — the rest of the 17 million

This is a category year, not a one-brand week. NTD’s Aug. 27 wrap, matching CPSC’s own 2026 math, puts metal wire-bristle grill brushes recalled this year above 17 million across three names.

Brand	CPSC date	Units (about)	Known swallows needing care	Where to go
Weber	Feb. 26, 2026 · recall 26-282	3.2 million	4 of 38 detaching reports	CPSC Weber notice; replace via weberbrushrecall.expertinquiry.com or 877-597-9588. Models 6277, 6278, 6463, 6464, 6493, 6494. Sold Lowe’s, Home Depot, Ace, Target, Amazon, Weber.com, 2011–2026, about $10–$17. Remedy is a nylon replacement, not cash.
Nexgrill	Mar. 26, 2026 · recall 26-339	10.2 million	5 of 68 detaching reports	CPSC Nexgrill notice; refund via nexgrill.mktpoint.com/recall or 800-942-1498. Models 530-0024, 530-0024G, 530-0034, 530-0039, 530-0041, 530-0042. Home Depot / homedepot.com, 2015–2026, about $5–$15. Photo-plus-code registration, then discard.
Cuisinart (Conair)	July 2, expanded Aug. 27 · 26-601	3,625,800	3 of 54 detaching reports	Portal and phone above. Cash or +20% site credit.

Acting Chairman Peter A. Feldman’s March 26 statement on the Nexgrill action is the enforcement backdrop: China-made wire brushes, a known hazard, and a warning that slow firms face more than a polite recall. Weber’s February notice is the first big 2026 pull. Cuisinart’s August add-on is the one that hits this weekend’s drawer.

What to scrub with instead

CPSC’s consumer line across these files is to stop using metal wire-bristle brushes and switch to a non-wire method. Practical options that do not shed steel:

• A wooden grill scraper sized to your grate
• A nylon or polymer bristle brush rated for grill heat — read the temp limit; cheap nylon melts
• A stainless coil or expanded-metal scrubber with no loose pins
• Heat plus a ball of aluminum foil on a cool-enough grate, then a wipe

Do not buy a “replacement” wire head for a recalled handle. FBH-51 is on this week’s list for a reason. Do not keep the old Cuisinart brush “just for the scraper edge.” The hazard is the head you still drag across the bars.

The Cuisinart grill brush recall is a Labor Day checklist item, not a product-review debate. Name on the handle, wires on the head, portal or phone, discard, then a two-minute grate inspection before the next patty. Weber and Nexgrill owners have their own URLs in the table. If the pain after a cookout is sharp and new, skip the model lookup and go in.

Informational only — not medical or legal advice. Confirm model matches and remedy steps on the live CPSC notice and Conair portal before you discard a tool or file a claim. Seek emergency care for suspected bristle ingestion.