During the early part of the year, a journey colse to the garden leaves us seeing at the remains of last years outdoor cooking activities. Often, our grills are left face 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 face 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 attentiveness to cleaning our cooking hardware in order to get things off to a antiseptic start.
Bbq cleaning methods
Barbecue Grill Tool
Wire brushing
A stiff wire brush is a huge help in cleaning your grill. Naturally give your rack a standard 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 deal with to help make scrubbing easier and is also an excellent heat convector like volcanic rock, ceramic tiles etc. The main distinction 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 predicted heat, up to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. Grill stones are ideal for use on most shapes and sizes of grill as the stones fabricate allows it to work with approximately any grill format.
Burning off
This is one of the most common 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 colse to quarter of an hour, allow the grill to cool down for colse to 5 minutes and then use an old trowel, or flat piece of metal and gradually scrape both sides of the grill to remove the sticky hard residue. Please be aware that ceramic grills can get damaged very beyond doubt if too much force is applied with sharp objects, so be meticulous with your selection 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 meticulous that this recipe is not prohibited by the grill constructor in order that you don't accidentally void your warranty.
Please ensure your own security if you use this recipe by wearing a suitable 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, beyond doubt 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 several 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 productive indeed; therefore if you are fed up with scrubbing to remove the Bbq residue, an investment in a steam cleaner can be very beneficial and time saving.
When you having accomplished 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 generate 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 Naturally 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 remove 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 recipe mentioned above.
This helps to inhibit rust while the months when your barbecue is not in quarterly use.
The foil "tray"
Now that you have the basics of cleaning the grill covered, you should now turn your attentiveness to cleaning the internals of the barbecue.
After several uses, there is a fair number of gunk left at the bottom that hasn't benefited particularly from being left face in the elements. Over time, this build-up can come to be unhygienic as well as an added 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 normal household cleaners. There are plentifulness of exact Bbq cleaners available, though these can cost two or three times as much as quarterly household cleaners. Feel free to give them a try, though from experience, quarterly cleaners perform the task adequately.
Simply spray on a decent number of the fluid and allow it to soak in properly for colse to 10 minutes, then gradually 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 Ant. Eject the fat and excess juices that drain from the grill while cooking, and make your life Much easier in the long run.
After several uses, Naturally remove the whole tray and discard it. Give the inside of the grill a quick brush and wipe, and insert another of your home-made foil trays to keep your Bbq clean for the next few uses.
If you don't mind spending a slight extra money, you can use a catering foil tray and arrange of it after every few uses... Just use common 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 beyond doubt good clean, spray the grill with your quarterly 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 added cleaning power.
Another well-used grill cleaning recipe is to Naturally rub the grill in the sand. This will remove 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 come to be hard to use while the colder months, causing plastic knobs to crack and in the worst cases, break. remove the plastic knobs and spray the area with a light oil to loosen them. You can also try using a small number of machine 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 furnish a strong blue flame then it may be because a gas jet has come to be 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 straight through them. They can be Naturally 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 come to be 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 anything from getting inside.
Reconnect the gas furnish and check the connections by coating them with a 1:1 mix of dishwasher liquid and water. Any failings in the gas furnish will be beyond doubt 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 gradually sanding with some high grit paper and then use a suitable furniture oil or a specially formulated barbecue trolley oil. This will not only soak straight 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 always come to be 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 face periodically with fresh water and dry it off level away for the best results.
Barbecue Cleaning Made simple