Summer is almost here and that means the return of BBQ season! My husband is definitely the one that runs the BBQ around here but apparently he neglected to notice that it was in need of a little cleaning….
It was really disgusting!!!
I have honestly never cleaned the BBQ before as Dave always attended to this task. Our definition of “clean” however, is obviously a little different so I decided that I would give it a go. Here is the low down on how to clean a BBQ. {This post may contain affiliate links.}
How to Clean a BBQ
Give your BBQ a deep, thorough clean at the start of each season and then clean it in between each use. We like to clean ours just before we grill, after the grates have been pre-heated for about 10-15 minutes. This way, most of the food gets burned off and anything remaining is easy to scrape away. We love these wooden BBQ scrapers for cleaning ours. If you do use a wire BBQ brush, be sure to check it regularly to make sure it’s in good repair and not shedding any of the wires.
Materials
- stiff-bristle wire brush or wooden BBQ scraper
- toothbrush
- scour pad {non scratch}
- old rags
- dish soap
- multi-purpose disinfecting cleaner
- baking soda
- microfiber cloth
- spray bottle of water
Instructions to Clean the BBQ
- If you are not cleaning your BBQ directly after use, heat up the BBQ , close the lid, and leave it for a few minutes until warm. This will help to loosen some of the build up. Using the wire brush, scrape away as much of the build up as possible. Wait for the BBQ to completely cool before proceeding.
- Before you get started with a deep cleaning, be sure to turn off the gas supply at the source or disconnect the propane tank. You should also check your BBQ manual to see if there are any specific cleaning instructions for your particular model.
- Place a drop cloth or old towels down on the ground, remove the grates, flame guards, and burners and place them on the towels. Fill up your sink with dish soap using the hottest water possible. Soak your grates and flame guards {1 or 2 at a time} for 5-10 minutes. Scrub the grates using the metal brush and a scour pad. Make sure you are using a non-scratch pad for the flame burners.
- To clean all of the grease build up on the inside of the BBQ lid, make a paste with water, baking soda, and a little of the dish soap {the consistency should be similar to that of a thick toothpaste}. Rub it on the inside of the grill lid and allow it to dry. Once dry, spray with water and wipe clean.
- While the paste is drying, empty out all of the ashes from the inside of the BBQ. I used a toothbrush to get into all of the little spaces to brush out the loose ashes. We have a pull out tray in the back of our unit which dumped nicely into a garbage bag.
- Fill a bowl with warm soapy water and wipe down all surfaces on the inside of the BBQ with a sponge. Spray the outside of the grill with a multi-purpose cleaner and wipe with a microfiber cloth.
- Before putting everything back together, make sure to inspect your burners for any blocked holes or dead bugs that have found a nice home over the winter months. You can purchase a venturi tube brush to help clean out the inside of your burners from any debris or simply use a pipe cleaner. Refer to your owner’s manual for details on this as it is definitely not my area of expertise!
- I used a microfiber cloth to clean the knobs and polish up the outside of the BBQ and it was good to go!
Compared to my BBQ, yours will probably be a breeze to clean!
Wow – great job. I need to tackle ours too.
I need to get some of this product and start cleaning STAT! Our grill is so gross its embarrassing!
This is so good to know! Thanks for sharing it at Monday Funday!
Wow! That is pretty impressive. Our BBQ is a Weber-style charcoal grill that is a hand-me-down that my parent’s received as a wedding gift (i.e. it’s older than I am) so it could definitely use some “sprucing up.” I am definitely intrigued by this cleaning product. Thanks for sharing!
Believe it or not my grill is probably a little worse than yours! It needs to be cleaned immediately. Thanks for the tips!
WOW! HUGE difference! Think I need to put this on Hubby’s List!
Lori @JasmineBrook
Wow! Our grill looks disgusting! I really need to get these products and gets to work!
This post made me laugh. In S. California, BBQ season is all year round and cleaning is done all year round.
I would love to be able to use the BBQ all year round! Too cold and rainy up here to pull it out in the winter! 🙂
What a shame we don’t all have weather like in S. California then we too could have BBQ ‘s all year round 🙂 In fact where I live we sometimes don’t even manage it at all in ‘summer’ 🙁
Yes, I would love to have some S. Cal weather {minus the water shortage!}. Enjoy it while you can!
I have the same BBQ as you! 🙂 Love it! After you clean it , you should re-season your grills. You can find how to do that on the Coleman website (http://www.colemanbbqs.com/en/self_help/cooking_grates.php). I am pinning this for future refernce though…thanks for the info.
Thanks for the info! 🙂
Let’s face it, there is no an easy way to clean a barbecue but this here looks much more easier that my method. Thank you so much for sharing your ides here! Regards! Canonbury Carpet Cleaners Ltd.
I need to do this….thanks for the tips!
I would love for you to stop by my blog and join our Something to Talk About link party!
Have a great week!
Karen
i’m impressed! think i’ll put Proxy on my list and under my husband’s nose. our grill needs to look shiny again. has anyone heard of Genesis, another all-purpose cleaner that does well on a myriad of cleaning jobs? I’m still looking for it. thanks, mary lee
I haven’t heard of that one – hard to keep up with them all! 😉
Awesome job cleaning that monster! Thanks for sharing at Thursday Favorite Things!
Great tips! My grill looks a lot like your before pictures… gotta do something about that!
I’ll have to show my husband :). He’s in charge of the grill, but I have a feeling our grill looks like yours used to look. Thank you for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I am finally getting around to pinning your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
My husband is in charge of the grill too – except when it comes to cleaning it unfortunately! 😉
Wow it practically looks new! Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty!
Wow!! Awesome tip and it does add great flavor. This is brilliant! Much better than standing forever and scrubbing it in the sink. I love that so much.
Girl, my fiance is the SAME way. I was actually just looking at our grill and dwelling on the fact that I have no idea how to actually clean it. (I need to do the oven REALLY bad too. Can’t blame the fiance for that one.) This is so helpful. Pinning and tweeting!
I have to admit to being a bit lax on my BBQ cleaning, but this is nothing short of a miracle! I’ll be keeping this in mind, at least for my end of year clean up…
Thanks for linking up with us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Almost like new, amazing. Pinned
Cleaning is essential! Just yesterday someone I know had a bbq fire and it did damage to the deck, exterior and steps not to mention the emotional factor. It could have been a terrible tragedy if the fire had gotten out of control as it was joined units.
Oh no! Glad it wasn’t worse!