How To Clean Your Barbeque

It’s that time of year again. Barbeque owners break out the briquettes, the starter, and the steaks, looking forward to a delicious meal. But the first step to a properly barbequed piece of meat or grilled vegetables is to clean the grill and that is a chore everyone hates to tackle. Cleaning a barbeque grill is not that difficult, especially if you take the time to prepare with the proper tools.

Gather the cleaning equipment

Cleaning a barbeque can be a daunting task but it will improve the quality and taste of your barbequed foods

1. There are several ways to clean a barbeque grill.
2. You can use a wire grill brush and that will take care of the heaviest burned on char but it does little to remove grease, fats, and the remaining stubborn stains and burned marks.
3. A pumice stone works well to remove the stains and burn marks but it also will not remove the grease and fats very efficiently.
4. A wire brush chucked up in a small electric drill motor works great to remove the char, stains, and burn marks, but it, too, leaves a remnant of grease and fats.

Cleaning the grill

1. Choose which cleaning method you would like to use.
2. Move your grill to an area that will not be impacted by debris like char, ash, grit, food waste, and grease.
3. Scrape the heaviest grime from the grill surface, being careful to scrape in between the grate pieces and in the corners.
4. Use a pumice stone, wire brush, or wire wheel in a drill motor next to remove the stains and burn marks from the stainless steel or cast iron grate and grill surfaces.
5. Next, wash the removable grilles and cast iron grates in a tub of hot water and a good degreaser or even a liquid dish detergent. You can use the pumice stone in the water to scrub and polish the stainless steel surfaces. Pumice excels at this chore when used with water. Unfortunately, pumice also wears away rapidly so it may take more than one pumice stone to complete the cleaning.
6. You can also use a tough stainless steel or copper scouring pad while washing the equipment in hot water and detergent.
7. Do not forget to clean the barbeque basin, the lid, and the ash pan that collects the charcoal ash. If you use a gas grill, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning the barbeque.
8. Once you have cleaned all of your grill surfaces, wipe them dry and reinstall them in the barbeque.

Tips

It is best not to use chemicals to clean the grill or barbeque parts unless you are careful to rinse them thoroughly.

Do not submerge gas grill parts in water unless the manufacturer specifically says to.

After cleaning cast iron grills or grates, cover them with a light coating of cooking oil to keep them from rusting.

Do not use any wire brushes or scrapers on stainless steel covers, lids, or other stainless steel barbeque surfaces besides the grill. They will almost certainly damage the surface finish.