Barbeque grills make food that tastes amazing but can be an absolute hassle to clean properly. Unfortunately, some remnants of the delicious food that you just made are still stuck to the grill and they are not going to come off easily. Since you are cooking directly on the surface, you are not going to want to use any harsh chemicals, because that is where your next batch of burgers is going to be going.
Trying to clean your own BBQ grill without doing any research beforehand is likely to yield a lot of unnecessary frustration and take much longer than is really needed. The good news for you is that we have outlined exactly what you need to know when it comes to cleaning your BBQ grill and it does not have to be too hard.
If you go to your local hardware store or search the Internet, you will probably find tons of interesting looking tools that promise to revolutionize the ways of grill cleaning. Unfortunately, all of the new-fangled devices that have turned out to be somewhat less successful than they claim to be. The truth is, to clean a grill, you only need a couple of simple tools: wire brushes, a bucket, and dish soap (or commercially sold grill cleaning product).
There are multiple types of brushes out there, and you do not need to go crazy with them; usually, just a small one and a large one will work to save some time but still allow you to get into the tighter spaces. The bucket will be used to mix plenty of dish soap and water. You can either get a bucket big enough to take off your grilling surface and submerge (much easier this way) or you can try sponging off as much caked-on grease as you can (do not do this unless you enjoy wasting time).
Dish soap is preferable over the marketed grill cleaners for a few reasons. The first is that dish soap is relatively safe. It’s easy to work with and you know when it’s been fully taken off the grill. That’s something that is perhaps not as obvious with cleaners.
However, the commercial grill cleaner products do have a strong advantage. They definitely require less work to get more grime off of your grilling surface. Depending on how badly your grease is caked on, a grill cleaner may be required to actually be even effective at all. If you go this route, try thoroughly rinsing the racks before you are finished, just to be safe. Better safe than sorry!
Regardless of the cleaners or tools that you use, there are ways that you can make your job easier. First, make sure that as much is burned off as possible. This means that after you take your food off of the grill, it is a good idea to let your grill go for a few more minutes. This can save you so much extra time in the cleanup process that you would not believe. You should also make sure the wire brushes you get have long handles because the extra leverage will make your life so much easier when it comes to scraping.
Additionally, there are ways of grilling without making a mess on your grill rack. Grill mats are sold specifically for this reason and come with a few other benefits. Just make sure that if you go this route that you get grill mats that are dishwasher safe- that way you do not have to do any extra work. Finally, when grilling, just be careful to avoid any excessive messes so that you have less that you have to actually clean up.
