You got to admit that you don’t clean your BBQ grill very often, the way you clean your stove tops. Usually, after cooking anything on your stove, you wipe up the spills but seldom you do this with your grill.
To keep your grill in a good working condition, cleaning and maintenance of the grill is very important. You can either clean it yourself or get it cleaned from a professional grill cleaning service.
Cleaning the grates
When the grates aren’t clean, the food starts to stick on it which makes it hard to cook. For cleaning the grates, you can use a brush that is made up of stiff wires. A little piece of advice here, do not start to clean it before you cook, just do the cleaning once you finish cooking and the grates have cooled down but are still a bit warm. A little warmth helps in cleaning since the food particles wouldn’t have hardened this soon.
Note that it is necessary to oil the grates if they are made up of caste iron since it can easily get corroded without proper oiling.
Charcoal Grills
One good thing about having a charcoal grill is, it can be cleaned easily after every cooking. If you have one of these, you must also keep a wire brush handy. Before you dump the ashes out, just remember to sweep out the food particles first.
Every grill requires proper cleaning. If you clean it after every use, it doesn’t mean you don’t have to properly clean it. You will have to take a bucket of soapy water once in a year and clean the grill properly. If the color of the grill has peeled off or for any reason, the metal is visible, just get a can of grill paint and touch it up.
Gas Grills
Many gas grills have this setting on the knobs called the “clean” button. And the bad part is, people think that turning this on is all they need to do to get their grill cleaned. Yes, the clean option helps by burning up the good particles but it doesn’t clean it. You should use this before you start to cook. This will not only burn off the stuff but also will preheat the grill. You should regularly lift out the grate and clean the barrier, which is above the burner.
Stainless steel grills
If your grill is made up of stainless steel, you will need to take some extra care. The marinades that we use are mostly acidic which makes it easy for any metal to corrode and if you give enough time, it can even corrode stainless steel.
Stainless steel grills are costlier, it is hence more important that you take more care of it. Unlike other grills, you cannot use steel brushes or steel wool to clean the grill since this material gets scratched easily. Do not use any abrasive cleaning tool. There are many chemical cleaners available for cleaning stainless steel grills, you can use them. If you don’t want to buy those, you can just clean them using normal kitchen appliance cleaner or dish washers.
Keep your grill covered
Always keep your grill covered as a grill is a favorite place for many insects. These insects can also sneak into the burner areas or the venturi pipes which can hinder the flow of fuel into the burner.
Whenever you start to clean the grill, make sure to disconnect the fuel cylinder. Wash the grates properly, let it dry and oil it before placing it back on the grill. Cleaning the grill can be a tiring experience but is needed at least once in a year. If you don’t want to go through all this pain, you can just call a professional for the grill cleaning service.
