How to Keep Your Grill Clean

The summer months bring great dinners seared on a hot grill—or at least they do in our homes! The smoky flavors and the beautiful grill marks are not readily available in the winter, so if you are going to only grill three months out of the year, you’ve got to do it right. Taking care of your grill is essential to maintaining good flavors in your grilled food—you don’t want charred flecks of what you cooked last time meddling with tonight’s meal! Keeping things clean is pretty easy. Just follow these steps and you will be ready to grill!

Scrub the grate every time you use your grill.

Charred food can be stuck to the grates, so just brush it off with a stiff wire brush after you grill. This way, they will come off easily. If you don’t keep up with your cleaning, you will have to remove the grate and soak it in warm, soapy water to remove the charred bits.

If you have a charcoal grill…

Dump the ashes out and sweep away any food remains with the wire brush. Every few uses, use some water and soap to finish up the job. This will prevent odors and smoke that could find their way into your food. Before you use it, coat the inside of the grill and the grate with cooking spray or vegetable oil to deter future grime buildup.

If you have a gas grill…

Disconnect the gas and remove the metal grates to clean beneath them. Do not use harsh, chemical cleaners—just water and dish detergent. Check out the metal tubes beneath the burners to ensure that no insects have nested there—they might add a weird crunch to your barbeque… Replace or clean the lava rocks if they are dirty, and clean out the bottom of the grill. When everything is dry, wipe it down with vegetable oil.

If you keep up with the up keep, you will only get the best out of your grill. Who wants anything else?