Whether you use your BBQ every day or just once or twice a month, keeping it clean is essential. That's because grilling creates carbon deposits, which end up coating every surface of your BBQ. These unattractive deposits can cause your BBQ to malfunction and even harbour bacteria if neglected for too long.
This is why it's important to know not only how to clean a BBQ grill, but more specifically, how to clean BBQ accessories such as plates, grates, drip trays, and every other part of the BBQ.
Wondering how to clean a weber BBQ specifically? Thankfully, there aren't too many differences between cleaning a weber gas or charcoal grill. Simply go over these 8 easy steps to BBQ cleaning and you'll have the knowledge and confidence you need to get started!
1. Get the Right Equipment
In order to effectively clean your BBQ, you’ll need to find or purchase some cleaning equipment and BBQ accessories, including:
Gloves
Buckets for cleaning
Dish soap
Garbage bag/can for disposal
Several cloths (ideally microfibre)
All-purpose cleaning sprays
BBQ wipes
Fat-sorb or a similar product
Aluminium foil
Grill brush
Scraping tool
Sponge
Cooking oil
Paper towel
2. Turn On (Then Turn Off) Your BBQ
The best way to clean a BBQ is to start with a hot BBQ. By turning your BBQ on and letting it hot up before you start cleaning, you're allowing the food residue to loosen up. This will save you time and keep your grill brush from wearing out. Just be sure to let the BBQ cool a while before you begin the cleaning process.
If you want to make things even easier for yourself, place a stainless steel bowl of water in your BBQ, turn the burner on low, and close the hood. The water in the bowl will turn into steam, which will further loosen up the residue inside. This will make the BBQ's interior much easier to wipe down.
After heating, turn off your BBQ and give it a few minutes to cool off before cleaning the interior or exterior. This is an important step to avoid any accidental burns.
3. Brush Your Grates
Now that the residue inside is loosened from the steam and/or heat, you can begin cleaning the interior parts. There's no strict order regarding which parts should be cleaned in what order, but we recommend starting with the grates.
To clean your grates properly, remove from them from the BBQ and scrap them with a solid grill brush, ideally one with stainless steel or brass bristles. When you're finished with the grill brush, wipe the grates with a damp cloth to remove any excess residue.
If you think your grates might be in need of something a little more thorough, you can place them in large buckets filled with hot and soapy water. You can go back to cleaning them later once they've had some time to soak.
4. Clean and Oil Your Hotplates
Wondering how to clean your BBQ plate next? The first thing you need to know about cleaning your hotplates is that you don't actually want them to look brand new. The fat and grease left on your hotplates from what you've been cooking protect them from getting rusty.
That being said, it's okay to scrape away the excess oil and food residue, so long as you don't wipe away all of the oil. If you've already cleaned off all the oil by accident, don't panic. You can always re-season your hotplates with cooking oil after you're done cleaning.
As with your grates, refrain from putting your hotplate back in place until you've finished cleaning the interior.
5. Check and Line Your Drip Tray
Remove your current drip tray from under your BBQ and clean it with a metal scraper. Once you've scraped all you can off the tray, use wipes to remove any remaining grease and fat. You can also soak your drip tray in the same buckets as your grates, if you chose to do so, coming back to it later once it's easier to clean.
Now that you have a clean drip tray, line your tray with aluminium foil and add in some fat-absorbing minerals (like Fat-sorb) to protect your BBQ from dangerous flare-ups and unpleasant odours. Be sure to set a reminder to reline your tray after every 10 uses or so.
6. Wipe Down the Interior
Now that the individual parts of your BBQ are clean, you can wipe the side panels, under the hood, and the rest of the interior with no obstructions. Hot soapy water should be enough, but you can also use BBQ wipes to help you with any problem areas.
This process is made much easier if you already used steam and/or heat to loosen the food residue inside, so be sure not to neglect step 2! Once the interior is clean and dry, you can pop the grates and hotplates back into place.
7. Clean the Exterior
You can clean the exterior of your BBQ using a cloth and hot and soapy water. The water doesn't need to be too soapy so just one or two squirts of dishwashing soap will be enough.
After wiping down the exterior with the soapy water, wipe again using a different cloth. This time, however, the cloth should be wet with soapless water to remove the soap residue.
You can then dry and polish the exterior of your BBQ using a dry cloth.
8. Keep Your BBQ Clean
There are actually a few things you can do to keep your BBQ clean in between these thorough cleaning sessions. This includes using a BBQ cover, keeping your BBQ in a shaded area away from the elements, changing the drip tray regularly, and only cleaning them by hand. You should also never use oven cleaner or anything not meant to be used for a BBQ.
Contact the BBQ Experts!
With these 8 steps, you'll have no problem keeping your BBQ clean. This will ensure that your BBQ lasts you for years to come. For more information on all things BBQ – contact the Outdoor Chef today!