Prep Your Grill Grates
Once you’ve done a deep clean, it’s time to prep your grill. Nelson recommends oiling the grates of the grill to counteract any rust that may have built up.
“If you’re an experienced griller, put some cooking oil on a towel after your grill is hot and rub the grates to wipe it down, he says, If you’re more of a beginner, take the grates off your grill before you light it, and rub the oil on them cold. Then put them back on, heat up your grill and use a grill brush to clean them off.
Grillers can also do a pre-burn with the oil grates for about 10 minutes before cleaning, to burn off any excess, Serritella says.
Clean All Parts Once Each Year
At the beginning and end of each grilling season, or at least once a year if you grill year-round, give your charcoal grill a thorough cleaning with hot soapy water and a stiff nylon brush or fiber scrub pad.
For complete cleaning, perform this work systematically, beginning with the surfaces up under the hood and moving down to the side walls and bottom of the cooking chamber. Make sure to thoroughly clean the drip pan.
Conclude by wiping down the outside of the grill from top to bottom, using warm water. Wipe dry to prevent rust.
How Do I Clean The Sides Of My Grill
Use a sponge to scrub the side of your grill with dish soap and water. If the stains wont come off, mix a paste with three parts baking soda and one part water. Coat the paste on the side of your grill and wait about 15 minutes. Then, wipe the grill clean. With stubborn stains, apply vinegar to the baking soda paste before letting it sit. It will help break down the tough grease and baked-on food.
Recommended Reading: How Long Do I Cook Chicken Thighs On The Grill
How To Clean Stainless Steel Cooking Grates
Stainless steel grates are the least susceptible to rust, but that doesnt mean theyre immune to corrosion. Follow these steps to clean stainless steel cooking grates:
Stainless steel grill grates dont need to be seasoned like cast iron grill gratessimply clean and grill! That said, a light coating of oil on the grate or the food itself can help prevent the food from sticking to the grates.
Use Tin Foil To Wipe Clean
While you can use a specialist BBQ cleaning pumice stone, you can do just as good a job with the leftover tin foil youve been cooking with. If youve been using tin foil on your BBQ, screw it into a ball and just scrub away, says Lynsey Crombie. That will start to lift off the food. a good budget alternative to buying a cleaning tool.
Recommended Reading: How Long Do U Grill Chicken Thighs
Banish Debris With Beer
‘In the unlikely event that you do have some left-over beers after your barbecue then pour half a bottle over the warm grill and scrub using a bristle brush or some old newspaper,’ says Creasey.
‘Wire brushes have received some bad press lately over the wire bristles falling into the barbecue and ending up in your food so make sure you chose your cleaning tools carefully.’
How To Season Cooking Grates On A Gas Grill Before Using Them For The First Time
Whether youre firing up a brand new grill or breaking in replacement cooking grates, follow these steps to season your cast iron cooking grates on a gas grill before using them for the first time:
Read Also: How Long Grill Chicken Breast Boneless
How To Clean Matador Bbq
Matador as well sticks to the universal cleaning method as a recommendation for Matador BBQ maintenance removing any left material after cooking by scraping it with BBQ scraper burn off at high heat for 5 minutes to get rid of the excess grease cleaning with soapy water hot or warm, for the grill and plates.
Matadors tips on cleaning:
- For cast iron hot plates and grills, spray a light coating of canola oil to leave on until your next barbecue. This will prevent rusting
- Before using your barbecue for the first time you need to season it to remove any coating that may have been applied for shipping. see the steps of the recommended seasoning method here.
Do you need a helping hand?
Hire a professional cleaning team!
How To Clean Weber Bbq
As Weber has a broad portfolio of both gas and charcoal grills, the cleaning and maintenance tips provided by the manufacturer vary depending on the specifics of the type and model.
You can find your owners manual with all general operation and safety instructions as well as additional grilling and maintenance tips on the official Weber website.
Weber Charcoal BBQ
To have a better grilling experience and improve the look of your charcoal Weber BBQ, Weber advises you to follow a few basic maintenance instructions:
- Remove accumulated ashes and old charcoal from the bottom of the kettle and the ash catcher before use.
- Brush the carbonised grease from the inside of the lid with a stainless steel bristle grill brush.
- The inside of the lid can be wiped with a paper towel after cooking while the grill is still warm .
- Do not use sharp objects or abrasive cleaners to clean the surfaces of your grill.
- Wipe down the outside of your grill with warm soapy water. Follow up with a rinse and thorough drying.
Weber Gas BBQ
What Weber points out for gas grill cleaning:
Cleaning the outside of the grill
Use a warm, soapy water solution to clean outside surfaces then rinse with water.
Important:
Cleaning the inside of the grill
Grates
Burner Tube
Also Check: How To Clean Ceramic Grill Grates
How To Season Cast Iron Grill Grates For Your Gas Grill
Properly seasoned cast iron cooking grates typically last a long time were talking decades if they are well taken care of. However, not many people know how to care for grill grates, especially cast iron grill grates. In this post, well explain the right way to care for your cast iron cooking grates to keep them in top-notch non-stick condition for years.
Cooking grates can be made from stainless steel, cast iron, or porcelain-enameled steel. Cast iron grates absorb and transfer heat more evenly and can last years longer than stainless steel or porcelain-coated steel grates, but they require more hands-on care. Not caring for your grill grates properly can lead to serious rust build-up and shorten the life of your cooking grids.
Most cast iron grill grates manufactured today are covered with a matte porcelain coating which offers a degree of protection against corrosion, but this coating is not foolproof, and a little TLC will go a long way to prolonging their life. Cast iron has pores that can absorb moisture, so without proper seasoning, water and moisture can easily penetrate your cooking grates and cause rust and other deterioration.
Whether youre cooking on a gas or charcoal grill, properly seasoning your cooking grates before their first useand periodically after every subsequent usewill protect them from rust and create a non-stick cooking surface that will make it easier to grill and achieve a good sear with perfect grill marks.
How To Maintain A Gas Grill
- Before grilling, let the grill preheat for 15 minutes to burn off the baked-on food and grease.
Its best practice before every use to burn off all the excess food on your grill. This also makes it easier to clean. Most of the baked-on food will be ash so you wont have to worry about scrubbing the grates vigorously.
- Invest in a grill cover.
For the cold winter seasons, you probably wont be using your gas grill too often. Invest in a grill cover to protect it from the elements and keep it in good condition for the next summer.
- Brush your grill grates off before grilling.
A grill brush is a must. Brush off your grill thoroughly before every use before putting meat on the grill.
Looking for a durable grill brush? Check out the .
- Use a stainless steel polish to protect the gas grill from rust.
When you clean your grill, you might as well apply a polish as well. It keeps your grill shiny and beautiful for years to come. Many grill cleaners double as a cleaner and polish, like this one from Weiman, available on Amazon.
- Empty your drip tray every couple of weeks.
Most gas grills have a drip pan or drip tray that catches grease and oil that drips off your grill grates. If you neglect this, youll have to deal with a nasty grease-coated tray that will be difficult to clean.While youre cleaning your gas grill, remove this tray, dump the excess grease into the trash, and soak it in some warm water and dish soap.
Read Also: What Model Weber Grill Do I Have
Cleaning Your Heat Shields Orceramic Briquettes
Depending on the model, your grill may use heat shields or ceramic briquettes. A heatshield or heat deflector is a piece of metal that sits over the burner todistribute heat. Ceramic briquettes look like little tiles, or stylized piecesof charcoal, all the same size and shape.
Its also possible that your grill has lavarocks little clumps of volcanic rock that look like charcoal. Lava rocks arehard to clean. Their porous surface absorbs grease, and theyll fall apart ifyou try to scrub them. If you have lava rocks, we recommend replacing them withceramic briquettes.
Ceramic briquettes are easy to clean with awire brush. Remove them, and scrub until any debris falls off. If you have a heatshield, spray it with a degreaser, then clean it with a wire brush or brillopad and wipe it clean with a cloth. Do not use water or degreaser on briquettes as they will crumble.
Both heat shields and ceramic briquettes willwear out eventually, so you should inspect them carefully as you clean. If yourbriquettes are starting to crumble when you clean them, its probably time toreplace them. However, cracks or nicks on a few briquettes shouldnt be aproblem. As long as theyre mostly intact, they should work fine.
Heat shields, on the other hand, are often thefirst thing to wear out on a grill. If your heat shields are rusty or warped,they cant disperse heat evenly, and may not protect the burner from drippingheat. That means its probably time to replace them.
Th Step: Remove Grease From Lid
Every time you grill food inside the BBQ, small splashes of grease and food residue are left on the grill’s lid. So, it is important that you also clean the lid properly and makes it look immaculate.
For that, all you need to do is pour a few drops of strong dishwashing liquid and scrub with a sponge. Then wipe off with a clean wet cloth. Professionals, who offer the best end of lease cleaning in Gold Coast, also pay attention to the cleaning of the lid.
You May Like: Remove Grill Grease From Concrete
What To Do With Charcoal
All SE grilling recipes »
The end-of-the-day, just-ate-a-ton-of-meat laziness is kicking in, and with it, the total desire to ignore a problem at hand: the remains of spent fuel.
I implore you, overcome your meat coma and clean out that ash. See, a pile of ash left in the grill can collect moisture, and ash plus moisture can equal a cement-like substance that can become your biggest challenge to cleaning your grillif you can manage to clean it out at all.
To make quick work of this, I keep a big bucket by the grill where I can dump ash at days end. Not only am I more likely to complete this annoying chore if it’s that much easier, but I can also safely move still warm coals out of the grill to finish extinguishing. I store that bucket somewhere where it won’t get wet, then trash the collection of ash when it’s full and I’m positive there’s no coals still burning.
Ash disposal becomes even easier if you opt for lump charcoal, since it creates relatively little ash when compared to briquettes.
Cleaning Your Gas Grill
Experts seem to agree that your grill only needs to be deep cleaned 1-2 times per year, but Id say that with regular year-round grilling it should be done every few months. Veggies fall through the grates, chunky marinades splatter, and grease from your burgers and steaks build up rather quickly. You can often use the eye test and tell when it needs to happen. Youll see how dirty my own grill was with about 9 months between cleanings it should have been done quite a bit sooner. If nothing else, do it before before and after the high holy summer grilling season.
All you need is a good grill brush, a bucket of soapy water, another empty bucket for your debris, and an old sponge that you dont plan on using again.
Read Also: Traeger Says Clean Grill
How To Clean A Charcoal Grill
If you prefer the classic, smoky taste of a charcoal grill, youre in luck. With fewer parts and a simpler design, charcoal grills are substantially easier to clean than gas grills. You can perform general maintenance after every cook, and a deep clean should be done once or twice a year.
Step 1: Prep for cleaning
Once your grill is cool to the touch, remove the grates and empty any leftover charcoal or ash into a metal container.
Step 2: Wipe the interior
Check the inside of the lid for grease and smoke deposits, which might look like flakes of paint. Brush these away with a stainless steel brush. Then, wash the lid and the cook bowl with mild dish soap, water and a steel wool pad. To prevent future buildup on the lid, wipe it down after every grilling session with soap and water while the grill is warm .
Step 3: Clean the grates
The easiest time to clean your charcoal grill grates is actually before you start cooking. Preheat the grill by opening all the vents and keeping the grill at a high temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then, use a stainless steel bristle brush to remove any debris left on the grates.
If your grates are in particularly bad shape, try this deep cleaning vinegar trick: Soak the grates overnight in a mixture of two cups vinegar and one cup of baking soda. Then scrub any leftover food and debris with a sponge, rinse with water and pat dry.
Step 4: Reassemble
Once the lid, bowl and grates are sparkling clean, reassemble the grill.
Scrape And Brush Burner Tubes And Lower Cookbox
- Use a stainless steel wire brush to remove all debris from the burner tubes. Be sure to brush the tubes from side to side only, because front-to-back brushing could clog their holes and prevent the proper gas flow next time you light the grill.
- With the burner tubes clean, use a shop vacuum or hand broom to remove any loose debris from the bottom of the cook box. Use a putty knife to scrape all remaining debris into your grill’s grease tray.
- Use a headlamp or flashlight to make sure you’re not missing anything. If your grill has accessories in the lower cookbox, such as flavorizer bars, scrape and brush those clean, too.
You May Like: Grilling Pork Tenderloin Temperature
