Cleaning and Maintaining Your Barbecue Grill The Right Way

For some, grilling is an all year ‘round affair, while for others, there’s no better time to have a barbecue party than spring. As for the people of Kansas City, October is the perfect season for smokin’ foods. Whatever the case may be, cleaning your grill should be a routine thing regardless if you’re a barbecue season purist or an enthusiastic charcoal chef. You wouldn’t want your grilled cheeseburger to taste like last year’s kebab (or was it fish?) now, would you? Not to mention, nothing is better with char-cooked bacteria.

Too gross? We know! That’s why this blog post is telling you to make it a point to clean your griller every after use. After all, they ain’t going to clean themselves, and grill covers are just there to cloak your trusty cooker up until the next sizzling sesh!

Photo courtesy: Universal

To keep your grill up and ready for the next skewer session, here’s a guide on how to clean and maintain your grill the right way.

Rule of thumb

The first thing to remember when deciding to clean the grill is to let it cool and allow the ember to subside for a while, but don’t let it die down completely. As for gas-operated and electric grills, preheat the barbecue machine by setting it to “CLEAN” mode or set it to a lower heat setting. It is better to clean barbecue grills when it is still warm as charred food residue and nasty grimes tends to stick on the grates and surface once cooled.

“Grill is still dirty, man!”
Photo courtesy: horrorcultfilms.co.uk

Next step is make sure to the gas tank is closed. For electric-powered grill, unplug the cooking device before you begin with the bbq-brushing-burden. Meanwhile, for charcoal cookers, you may place the used charcoal and ember in a large plastic bag to dispose it properly. Finally, prep up your cleaning paraphernalia including a stiff brush, sponge, clean cloth, soap, and warm/hot water.

Make it “Grate”

Photo courtesy: Alvimann via morguefile.com

Once you’re ready, start by detaching the grates from the cooking equipment. And so goes for the burners, plates, drip pan and flame tamers if necessary. Start by dousing the grate with hot water and soap to soften the accumulated grimes and food residues then scrub it using a steel-bristled brush. For stainless steel parts, use a stiff bristled brush instead or a sponge with a rough side for removing hardened oil stain and carbon accumulation. Furthermore, make sure to brush the underside, inside, wall surface corners and jets of the grill.

If possible, you may also detach the cast iron grill for electric grillers to scrape off sticky oil and food residue from the surface. Likewise with the tube burner for scrubbing carbon build up. Next step is to rub the brushed grimes with a clean cloth or a paper towel. Do this until the black stuff that’s coming off from the griller is totally wiped out. Reinstall the components of the barbeque grill then apply a generous amount of canola or vegetable oil onto the grill frame. This is to help evade rust accumulation especially for cast iron grills and charcoal grates. For treated grates, you may skip the oiling application, and dry it up instead.

Neat Inside and Out

For the outside, it is okay to use a clean cloth soaked in mild soap and warm water. If necessary, cleaning solutions and stainless polishers can be used as well to remove stubborn charcoal stains and stuck grease. After which, give it a finish by dry wiping the panels and surface of the grill.

Safety First… And Last

Formosa Covers BBQ Barbecue Grill Cover

Right before you store your barbecue grill, make sure to check the gas hose and the gauge. Do this by applying a stroke of soapy water onto the hose, if a certain area of the hose forms a bubble, then it’s an indication of leak in your hose. Replace this immediately as it can cause accidental fire and other hazardous accidents. In relation, it is also advisable to unfasten the hose from the gas tank if you think you won’t be using the griller for a long period of time.

And finally, drape it with a barbecue cover to protect and shield your grill against harmful elements such as rain, snow, excessive humidity and the likes. If you don’t have one, this is the right time to check out Formosa Covers array of barbecue grill covers!