During the early part of the year, a journey nearby the garden leaves us finding at the remains of last years outdoor cooking activities. Often, our grills are left surface in the elements, uncovered, and in many cases have seen far great days.
It is this time of year that we start to think about cooking our favourite barbecue food surface while the warmer months with our friends and family, but before we are ready to start throwing charcoal and fire-lighters onto the barbecue, it is time to turn our attention to cleaning our cooking hardware in order to get things off to a sanitary start.
Bbq cleaning methods
Bbq Grill Utensils
Wire brushing
A stiff wire brush is a huge help in cleaning your grill. Plainly give your rack a proper scrubbing before and after each use. If you have used oil to coat your rack, getting the grill clean should be easy with a brush alone. Brass-bristle brushes are especially good for cleaning porcelain-coated grills since they won't damage the porcelain.
Grill Stones
Grill stones are specially designed to help get grease and stuck-on food off of your grill. They look similar to a large pumice stone with a handle to help make scrubbing easier and is also an excellent heat convector like volcanic rock, ceramic tiles etc. The main discrepancy with a grill stone is that it has no holes, and because of this feature, it greatly reduces the opening of flare-ups and poor cooking. Grill stones are capable of withstanding thinkable, heat, up to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Grill stones are ideal for use on most shapes and sizes of grill as the stones originate allows it to work with roughly any grill format.
Burning off
This is one of the most base methods of cleaning Bbq grills/grates. All you have to do is leave your barbecue on after cooking once all your food has been removed. Once you have done this for nearby quarter of an hour, allow the grill to cool down for nearby 5 minutes and then use an old trowel, or flat piece of metal and moderately scrape both sides of the grill to take off the sticky hard residue. Please be aware that ceramic grills can get damaged very for real if too much force is applied with sharp objects, so be just with your option of tools.
If you have an old metal kitchen utensil, such as an egg-flipper, these are ideal tools to make the job safer and easier.
However, you should be just that this method is not prohibited by the grill maker in order that you don't accidentally void your warranty.
Please ensure your own security if you use this method by wearing a favorable pair of cooking mitts, or specialised heat resistant gloves.
Soaking
If all else fails, letting your grill racks soak in warm water will help loosen stubborn dirt and food remnants. This can be good for getting the edges of your racks, which are often difficult to scrub properly, for real clean.
Oiling the grill
A good way to sell out the pain of cleaning a barbecue is to prevent the worst of the residue from sticking to the grill in the first place. To do this, coat your rack with a layer of oil before you start to cook. This will help you to keep your food from burning and sticking to the grill and will also make cleaning the grill afterwards much easier. Remember to only spray oil onto a cold grill. Spraying onto a fire or hot grill will cause the oil to flare up and could cause serious injury.
Steam cleaning
If you use your barbecue on any occasions throughout the year why not invest in a steam cleaner? This will speed up the time taken to clean your barbecue after use and can be very efficient indeed; therefore if you are fed up with scrubbing to take off the Bbq residue, an venture in a steam cleaner can be very useful and time saving.
When you having concluded cooking your food, soak an old newspaper in water and place it on top of your warmed grill with the lid firmly shut. After about three quarters of an hour, open the lid and wipe off the residue. Don't let the newspaper sit on the grill rack for too long, as it will dry out and originate even more work for you.
Preventative measures to keep your Bbq clean
Using a cover on your barbecue
The number one way to help keep your barbecue clean is to Plainly purchase, or make, a cover to place on your unit while it is not in use. In order to give your barbecue some security from the elements it's a good idea to cover it with a plastic sheet, or preferably a manufacturers cover that is specifically designed to do the job properly as they commonly have a tighter fit and are more effective.
During the winter months you may also take off the grill and store it in a dry place away from the damp and the elements. This will decrease the speed at which the rust forms, and you will benefit the most by doing this in conjunction with the oiling method mentioned above.
This helps to inhibit rust while the months when your barbecue is not in regular use.
The foil "tray"
Now that you have the basics of cleaning the grill covered, you should now turn your attention to cleaning the internals of the barbecue.
After any uses, there is a fair number of gunk left at the bottom that hasn't benefited particularly from being left surface in the elements. Over time, this build-up can become unhygienic as well as an supplementary chore for you to deal with.
Charcoal grills suffer the most from this, and the best way to deal with it without spending a great deal of money is to first clean the inside of the barbecue properly by removing the hard and dry residue first using an old dustpan a brush (something all of us should have in the carport somewhere), and then removing the stuck-on dirt from the edges of the grill using general household cleaners. There are abundance of exact Bbq cleaners available, though these can cost two or three times as much as regular household cleaners. Feel free to give them a try, though from experience, regular cleaners perform the task adequately.
Simply spray on a decent number of the fluid and allow it to soak in properly for nearby 10 minutes, then moderately scrape off the worst of the build-up with a plastic scraper. Once you have got this far you are ready to lay in the kitchen foil.
Use a decent ability kitchen foil, the thicker the better, and triple layer it and turn in the edges so it looks like a tray. Place this into the bottom of your grill, and then add about a quarter-inch deep layer of sand into it. This will help to digest the fat and excess juices that drain from the grill while cooking, and make your life Much easier in the long run.
After any uses, Plainly take off the whole tray and discard it. Give the inside of the grill a quick brush and wipe, and insert an additional one of your home-made foil trays to keep your Bbq clean for the next few uses.
If you don't mind spending a diminutive extra money, you can use a catering foil tray and arrange of it after every few uses... Just use base sense and get rid of it when it appears well past its best.
Another tip you can try, is to pour leftover coffee on the grill. Clean off with a dry cloth. For a for real good clean, spray the grill with your regular oven cleaner and leave it in a plastic garbage bag overnight. Hose it down the next day, and you should have a gleaming grill that is ready to use.
You can also add vinegar or dish washing lotion to the water for supplementary cleaning power.
Another well-used grill cleaning method is to Plainly rub the grill in the sand. This will take off most of the grease, etc. Once you have done this, hose down the grill. Depending on how caked the grill is, you may have to repeat this process 2 or 3 or times, but it is worth the effort.
Gas taps often become hard to use while the colder months, causing plastic knobs to crack and in the worst cases, break. take off the plastic knobs and spray the area with a light oil to loosen them. You can also try using a small number of engine oil to each tap and then cover them with a light grease to prevent the oil from escaping.
If one or more of your burners doesn't yield a strong blue flame then it may be because a gas jet has become clogged.
If you lift the burner out of the barbecue you will see small brass nozzles called venturis. These are like a small raised nut with a tiny hole through them. They can be Plainly removed with a small spanner. If you can't clear the blockage, buy new nozzles ones from a specialist supplier.
Insects tend to nest inside venturis when they are not in use, and the openings can become blocked. Use a venturi brush to clean the openings of the venturis. If you won't be using your grill for a long time, consider using some venturi covers to prevent anyone from getting inside.
Reconnect the gas contribute and check the connections by coating them with a 1:1 mix of dishwasher liquid and water. Any failings in the gas contribute will be for real detected at this point and you will know that you will need to do something about repairing it. You can start off by tightening the connections or replacing the seals, and if this doesn't work, then you should replace the faulty unit as per the manufacturers instructions or return it to your local aid centre.
Barbecues with wooden trolleys can be kept in fine fettle by re-oiling them once a year. All you have to do is give the trolley a moderately sanding with some high grit paper and then use a favorable furniture oil or a specially formulated barbecue trolley oil. This will not only soak through oil stains on the top of your trolley but help prevent new stains from forming.
Volcanic rocks need care too, if you use them. Ensure that you clean or renew them every year as they all the time become clogged with fat and oil. Remember to discard the old sand from the drip tray, clean the tray and give it a spray of cooking oil before lining it with aluminium foil. Place new washed sand on top of the foil to help keep it clean.
If your volcanic rocks are showing signs of cracking, you can replace them you may consider replacing them with pottery briquettes. These disc-shaped "rocks" are less porous than volcanic rocks and they are considerably easier to keep clean.
If you live near the sea or in an area where the salt-air density is high, please note that will need to take extra time and precautions to ensure that your grill is not unduly subjected to the elements which will invariably lead to failing components and rust.
Wash the outer surface periodically with fresh water and dry it off right away for the best results.
Barbecue Cleaning Made simple