How to Clean a Grill

How to clean a grill, so your house cleaning clients can enjoy the outdoors as well as the indoors.

With summer just around the corner, families around the country are going to get the barbecue grill ready. Sitting around on the weekend with family and friends to enjoy grilled food is as good as it gets.

However, before putting any food on the grill, you need to know the right way to clean a grill so it not only looks nice but that the surface is healthy and safe for your outdoor cooking.

The first piece of information on cleaning a bbq grill starts by filling a large container or even the bathtub with hot soapy water. Then, remove the grill grates, placing them into the water. Allow the grill grates to soak for several hours, which works. What happens is that the hot soapy water will start to dissolve the grease so giving them a thorough cleaning becomes much easier.

If the grill runs off gas, the briquettes or lava rocks, as well as the flame shield will also need to be taken out. The next tip on how to clean a grill is for the inside. With the grates, rocks, and shield out, the ash and food residue will need to be removed. For this, you can either use a shop vacuum and actually suck the debris out or moisten an old rag or paper towels used to wipe the inside of the grill. When you work around the burner, be sure it is not accidentally moved out of position.

For our next how to clean a grill tip, you will need a stiff wire brush and a bucket containing a mixture of hot water and soap. For this, all you need is mild dish soap such as Dove or Palmolive. Dip the brush in the water and begin to work the inside of the grill, reaching into the corners and harder to reach areas so the entire inside surface is spotless. Chances are there will be more ash and food particles, which can simply be wiped out.

When done, go over the inside with plain water and put the shield in place. We also suggest you invest in new briquettes or lava rocks at this point and after adding them, put the clean grates back in place. Keep in mind that most of the dirty and food particles from the grill grates will be gone but if you find there are still some areas with caked on food, you can use an SOS pad, wire brush, or for really bad areas, a Dremel with a rotating wire brush attachment. Rinse the grates and reposition them inside the barbecue grill.

Just as the inside of the grill needs to be cleaned, you probably want to clean the outside as well. Therefore, this tip on how to clean a grill is for the exterior only. The products and methods used for the exterior will depend largely on the material. For instance, if the grill were stainless steel, you would clean differently than if the outside surface were plain or coated steel. Our tip on cleaning a grill on the outside regardless of material is good, old-fashioned soap and water, followed by rinsing and drying. You can even use a garden hose if there's room outside.

When cleaning the inside or outside of your grill, make sure you never use anything that is flammable. Some degreasers have flammable ingredients such as naphtha or hexane. These products are mostly used for degreasing car parts, and they are NOT a good choice for degreasing and cleaning a bbq grill.

Miscellaneous Tips on How to Clean a Grill

• For smaller grills, grates can be placed inside the oven and cleaned with the self-cleaning system
  
• Cooked on food hard to clean comes off easier if two onion halves are used for scrubbing
  
• Stainless steel or surfaces that scratch easily can also be cleaned using Soft Scrub or Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser
  
• Grates clean up easily using an old rag and sand
  
• A ball of aluminum foil is an effective and affordable tool for cleaning off grates
  
• To make cleaning a grill easier in the future, always spray the grates with a non-stick cooking spray, allow to sit for about 15 minutes, and then grill
  
• For barbecue grills designed with flavorizer bars or grates made of porcelain, a brass bristled brush works great but these pieces of the grill can also be run through the dishwashing cycle

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