If the annual frustrations of my husband are any indication, sticky grills can be a bit of a problem, especially when cooking lots of different foods for a large group. Have the same problem and don’t want to resort to messy, artificial sprays? JohnsonInc999 is here with an easy, natural solution.

It involves something pretty unexpected, but something you most likely have hanging around your kitchen right now: a potato.

You’re probably thinking, a potato? Seriously? How on earth are you going to use a potato to make your grill non-stick? We don’t blame you, it sounds pretty strange, but just go with us on this one.

Start by taking a potato (maybe one that looks like it’s just teetering on the edge of going bad, so you don’t waste a perfectly good spud) and cutting it in half. Try to slice it right in the middle so you get the fattest part of the potato; this will allow you to cover the most surface area you can.

Next, stick the uncut end of the potato with a fork. Doesn’t have to be a fancy fork, just something that will really stick into the potato and keep your hand safely away from the hot surface of your grill.

Make sure that your grill is completely heated up, so the grates are very hot. Then the magic moment – rub the cut end of the potato along the grill surface.

Still strange, but it works. Here’s why.

The heat extracts the starch from the potato and coats the grates with said starch. This starch is what makes your grill non-stick, and allows you to make dishes with exceptionally less messiness! It’s especially helpful, as he mentioned, with fish, which easily gets stuck to the grill surface.

Although he doesn’t mention it in the video, we would imagine that you would have to do this before every grilling session, or at least maybe every other time you fire up the grill.

What a seriously genius tip, especially considering you probably already have potatoes on hand. Do you have any of your own grilling tips and tricks to share?