Barbecuing is an enjoyable event for many people around the country, but it can become messy if you don’t know how to clean a barbecue grill grate. It’s a very good idea to have a fire pit, even if it’s just a small one so that you can enjoy cooking outdoors.
But you also need to clean the grill as soon as you’re done cooking, not just a couple of hours later. It’s likely that you’ll end up with a mess on your hands and in your grill if you don’t take care of it. In fact, it can be dangerous.
Most barbecue grills have burners, as well as heat lamps connected to them. The burners allow the heat from the flame to sinfully singe food and turn it delicious, but they also attract all sorts of debris and grease from the bottom of the burners and from the cooking surface.
You need to take special care of them if you want to keep your grill functioning properly. The easiest way to clean them is by using warm soapy water. There are two kinds of grates you can use on your grill. You have rubbers and metallic racks, and each kind attracts its own kind of debris and greasy build-up.
Rubbers get all kinds of grease, salt, and other contaminants embedded in their surfaces, so it’s very important to keep them wiped down after every use. If you use racks, certain foods will stick to them, and greasy residue from those foods is transferred to the racks when they cool, creating a grime-coated finish.
Before you start wiping down your grill, make sure you have a clean and dry cloth or sponge. If you’re cleaning your grill in the summer when the sun is shining, you need to wipe down the racks and the burners before you put them out for the summer.
When you buy a new grill, ask the salesman to give you a cleaning cloth that’s specially made for grills. It’ll be more convenient than using a towel or paper towel. You can also use your kitchen sponge dipped in mild dishwashing detergent for this purpose. When you’re finished, make sure you rinse off the soap thoroughly.
Some types of racks have grooves cut into their surfaces, and those grooves attract a lot of dirt and grime. To keep the grate looking new after every use, spray it with vegetable oil once you’ve finished cleaning the grate. Using a cotton cloth, wipe down the grate until all of the oil is removed.
If there’s any left, wipe it down again with a clean cloth and coat it with thin metal scrap. After spraying the grate, wait a day and then reapply the oil and allow it to cure. Most charcoal grills have an area where you can put the charcoal for grilling. Chris cleans grills around Southwest Florida if you have been on the look-out for experienced pros.
However, most people don’t add any ash to their charcoal grill until after the season has been started. Experts say that the ash is necessary to protect the grill from “smoke rings”. This is a reddish-brown stain that occurs when the soot from the charcoal burns on the surface of the wood, and it prevents the food from properly cooking.
For this reason, the grill needs to be cleaned before the cooking season starts. For this purpose, you need to take the grill out of the warm soapy water and sprinkle some baking soda all over it. Let it sit overnight to absorb the baking soda.
You can then brush it down with a wire brush, which should come cleanly out of the grill. Place the brush on the grate and gently scrub it down, but be sure to avoid touching the metal parts of the deflectors or any hot surfaces that could cause some damage to the grill.
Another method of cleaning your grill involves using warm water and soap. Using the solution provided in your barbecue’s cleaning bottle, wash the cooking chamber using soap and water, then let it dry completely. You might want to apply a lubricant to prevent rusting when you next store it.
When you have finished cleaning it, you should allow it to dry completely before putting it away. If you are using the barbecue indoors, then you can leave it inside for a few hours before you dust it off. In case you don’t have an outdoor barbecue, then you can also use cleaning sprays provided by many home improvement stores.