How To Clean Bbq Grills
Cooking with a dirty grill is not healthy at all. Accumulated grease and food remains are some of the reasons for flare-ups. Aside from that, dirty grilling surfaces likewise impart bad flavors to your and may not create lovely sear marks.
This how to clean BBQ grills will help you deal with those disgusting dirt that you found after uncovering it. These tips are easy to follow and are very effective in removing annoying dirt. It will surely bring back the look of your BBQ grill.
In this post, we will give you tips on how to clean BBQ grill grates using 4 common and basic items ammonia, vinegar, onion, and baking soda.
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How To Clean A Dirty Bbq Grill
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Getting the best-tasting barbecue starts with knowing how to clean a dirty BBQ grill. Solid, even grill marks and a quality sear depend on having a clean grill. Your health may, too.
Why We Dont Like Brushes For Cleaning Grates
Everybody thinks that wire brushes work best, but in reality, they can be dangerous if not used properly. You need to use a scraper to knock down the dried-up stuff that a wire brush cant do easily. Like brushing your teeth huh? Not really, since little wire hairs can snap off and stick to the greasy spots you cant get to. You wont see it there until it gets in your food. Sending your BBQ guests to the hospital is never part of the plan.
Only use a wire brush after youve scraped off all the grease and given the grill a good inspection. Dip your wire brush into water before doing any scrubbing after the grill is free from oil and junk. If the grill is still hot, the water will vaporize and causes steam to remove anything left-over. This will also prevent little wires from sticking to the grill surface too as theyll drop down into the grill bed.
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How To Clean Your Grill
A clean grill is always bestnot only does it make it easier to cook on, but it will last longer, too. Before cleaning your grill with Dawn® Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray, spray a small, inconspicuous area to ensure there is no damage to the surface. Then, follow these simple steps to clean your indoor, gas, or charcoal grill, so you get those perfect grill marks, every time:
1. Bring on the Heat
If you have a gas grill, turn it on and fire up those burners with the hood closed. Let it heat for at least 15 minutes to help burn off any residual grease or food. If you have a charcoal grill, make sure to throw out any leftover briquettes and just scrape away the grime. Then, takeoff any removable parts like grease trays, knobs, and racks.
2. Soak Away
Turn off your gas grill, make sure its completely cooled down, and remove the propane tank. Remove your grill grates and spray them from front to back with Dawn® Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray making sure to keep the nozzle about 3-6 inches away from the surface. Coat the entire surface and allow the suds to work for about 5-10 minutes. Dawn® helps to break down the stuck-on food, grease, and grime so you dont have towaste your time scrubbing and can focus on family fun time instead.
3. Scrub and Rinse
4. Clean the Outside
5. Burn It
And thats how easy it is to clean your grill with Dawn®! Now, lets switch gears and make sure your grilling tools are ready for the heat.
How To Clean A Gas Grill With Minimal Effort
You bought your new gas grill a while ago and its getting pretty gross. Theres baked-on food everywhere and grease burnt on the grill. Its not coming off anytime soon, and youve tried everything.
Even worse, every time you cook, the baked-on food catches fire in the bottom of the grill pan. Not to mention that it smells of old food.
Luckily, you can clean a gas grill with minimal effort with the right strategy. Heres how.
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Wipe The Grates And Racks
Wipe the grates and racks with a damp rag to remove loosened bits, and make sure there are no loose brush bristles left on the grate .
If you have a cast-iron grate, clean it completely, then brush on some vegetable oil with a paper towel to keep your grate in proper shape. Bare cast iron needs to be inspected regularly, because it is more likely to rust.
How To Clean And Maintain A Bbq
Proper cleaning and maintenance is the secret ingredient to great grilling. A clean BBQ grill will provide higher temperatures and better heat distribution, and you won’t have as much trouble with food sticking to the grates either. All in all, good maintenance means better performance.
Some simple steps at the beginning, end, and throughout the season will keep your grill in top shape.
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How To Clean A Cast Iron Bbq Grill
This article was co-authored by Fabricio Ferraz. Fabricio Ferraz is the Co-Owner and Operator of Hire a Cleaning. Hire a Cleaning is a family owned and operated business that has been serving San Francisco, California homes for over 10 years. This article has been viewed 25,798 times.
A cast iron barbecue grill is a great investment. You can use it for barbecues on summer afternoons. If you need to clean your grill, start by cleaning the grates completely. Then, clean the lid and bowl. To maintain your grill, clean it after every use.
How To Clean A Bbq Body From The Outside
Cleaning the outside is the easiest part of the BBQ clean. No matter the material the exterior is made of, you can use this universal method: just wipe the BBQ down with a moist cloth and then buff it with a dry one. Treat with warm water and liquid dish detergent in case of stuck particles or persistent dirt on the surface. Scrub with a sponge if needed.
Warning:
How to clean stainless steel exterior surface?
The exterior surface uses a soft, moist cloth to wipe outdry cloth to buff for cleaning stainless steel. And oil or specialised liquid to polish.
No steel-wool pads or brushes are recommended because they can scratch or permanently damage the surface.
In addition, oil and polishers protect from weather conditions.
The quality of the stainless steel used for different parts of the BBQ exterior may vary, with that, the manufacturers advice for regular maintenance. For best results when handling discolouration, rust or stains, follow the manufacturers instructions strictly.
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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.
A Better Way To Clean Your Bbq Grill
Its barbecue season, which means youre likely firing up the grill to whip up some of your summer favorites. But after a whole winter season sitting stagnant, it likely needs a good clean. So you get out your bristle brush and begin scraping.
Except the grime isnt budging. If no amount of elbow grease seems to get to the bottom of the stuck-on grime and oil, Jeff Rossen, NBC News National Investigative Correspondent and host of Rossen Reports, has some tricks up his sleeves to help you get through the grime and back to cooking up some tasty summer fare.
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Dirty Grills Pose Health Concerns
Its true that preheating a grill probably kills any bacteria, but thats not the only health concern.
When the grills heat hits greasy buildup on dirty grill grates, it can produce a chemical tied to colorectal cancer. That process also leads to grill flare-ups which can overcook if not ruin your food.
Grill Grate Cleaning Method: Vinegar + Baking Soda
- Total time: 12+ hours
- Rating: 2
The method: Remove cooled grates from the grill. Put them in a garbage bag and add 2 cups of vinegar and 1 cup of baking soda. Close up the bag and let the solution soak for 8 hours or overnight. Then, rinse the grates and scrub off any remaining food bits, using a ball of foil or a scrubby sponge.
The results: This is one of the methods that Arm & Hammer recommends and its fairly effective! The soak helped the bits wipe off and was fairly tough on grease. Im docking this method a bit, though, because its not really the most effective in terms of instant gratification. You have to have the foresight to do this the day before you want to grill, and it still does require a bit of time and effort on your part when the soaking part is over.
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Cleaning Lightly After Every Use
How To Clean A Gas Bbq
To clean your gas BBQ, you need to disconnect the gas first to ensure your safety. Detach all removable parts and clean them individually. Wash the body of the BBQ, leave it to dry and reassemble the grill back.
Here is the detailed process of how to clean a gas BBQ:
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Clean The Heat Deflectors
Many gas grills have thin steel plates, angled in the shape of a “V,” that separate the burners from the cooking chamber. These heat deflectors serve to distribute heat evenly around the cooking chamber and prevent the gas flames from burning the foods directly overhead. Grease and food residue often drips down onto these deflectors.
Clean the deflectors after every three of four uses of the grill by removing them from the cooking chamber and scrubbing them with warm soapy water and a nylon brush or scrubbing pad. Dry them completely before putting them back in the grill.
Apply Pressure Washer Safe Degreaser
Unfortunately, most of the delicious meats we gorge on all summer long have some fat. And if you’ve ever washed dishes, you know how impossible it can be to remove grease without soap.So get a quality degreaser to make short work of the caked-on grease inside your grill. Most pressure washer safe degreasers are concentrated, so dilute it per the instructions on the degreaser container. Pour the degreaser into your detergent tank, equip your spray wand with a detergent nozzle, switch the detergent tank to “On,” and apply the degreaser evenly over your grilling surfaces, under the lid of your grill, and anywhere else that’s caked with grease.
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Use Vinegar To Clean A Bbq Grate
Make a vinegar solution with equal parts white vinegar and water, spray onto your grill, and let sit for half an hour. Then, empty the bottle and refill with a small quantity of neat vinegar. Spray again, let it sit for another half an hour, and then wipe your grate clean.
For more tips on using this great ingredient, check out these ways to use vinegar to clean your home.
Tackle Cleaning The Bbq Base
As soon as your barbecue is cool, tip away leftover ash into a bucket it will collect moisture and be harder to clean later if you leave it. Use damp kitchen roll to pick up the final bits, alternatively an outdoor vacuum is an easy way to collecting any remaining bits. Then give the base a good wash using warm water and washing-up liquid.
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What Is The Easiest Way To Clean A Gas Grill
The easiest way to clean a gas grill is to remove and soak the grill grates and burner covers. Then, vacuum the inside to remove any loose dirt, charcoal, and food. Spray the outside of your grill with a kitchen degreaser and wipe it with an old rag. Soak tough stains with hot water and soap. Then, let it sit for 30 minutes or more before rinsing, drying, and reassembling it.
You dont want to spend much time scrubbing your grill grates. Its highly likely that you wont ever be able to get the tough grease off if you havent cleaned your grill in a long time. Or, it will take way too much time to be worth it.
Soaking your grill grates is quick and easy. Not only that, but its easily repeatable. So, if you have hard-to-remove stains, no need to worry. Just swap out the water and soap and soak the grates again.
You might also consider using half vinegar and half water to soak your grill grates and burner covers. The acidic nature of vinegar helps cut through the grease with ease.
Always use diluted vinegar for safety reasons or dilute concentrated vinegar with water. Concentrated vinegar is corrosive and can be dangerous to your health. You dont want it to come into contact with your face or eyes.
How To Clean A Bbq: 10 Five Minute Tricks
Here’s how to clean a BBQ, from homemade solutions to dedicated cleaning products
Searching for how to clean a BBQ probably wasn’t what you wanted to be doing right before the weekend, but then you saw the state of the barbecue, just out of the shed…
Throwing away ashes from your BBQ base is the easy bit it’s getting the grill clean that can be a challenge.
These are the best ways to get it sparkling clean and not spend hours scrubbing.
Don’t have a BBQ yet? Check out our buyer’s guide to the best barbecues. Then head to our garden ideas page for more inspiration.
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Cast Iron Grill Grates
If you ask me, these grates can be perfect for getting non-stick grilling if you are very careful. Heres why this happens and why so many people think cast iron is some magical metal. The surface has a very nice quality of holding cooking oil. Its iron, so the little imperfections in the metal will allow the oil to remain on the surface evenly. But when you add heat, this changes everything. That oil can burn-off and then you get fat and food sticking to the grate.
Youll have to clean these more often when the heat is getting too hot. Even though they hold up great for higher heat, they will need scrubbing and oiling after every use. They can be a headache over the other alternatives. If you want to keep it simple, dont invest in cast iron grates unless you are prepared to do more prepping to keep these grates well oiled and properly cleaned.
