 Cleaning your barbecue
If last night’s dishes are still waiting to be washed and your car is barely recognisable through the mud, there’s a fair chance your barbecue is in a bit of a state too.
It needn’t be that way though – because, unlike cleaning your car, sorting out your gas barbecue doesn’t take long at all. Even when it's been in hibernation for a good few months.
True, a charcoal grill may need lots of care and attention, but gas grills are pleasingly low maintenance. With no hot, dirty ashes to clean, simply setting the grill to a high temperature for 10 minutes will burn up any encrusted food that’s stuck. Some newer barbecues will even do this for you - at the push of a dedicated “clean-up” button.
A close scrape
The natural lava rock in the barbecue can be reheated, so all that’s left to do is scrape away the charred remains with a wire brush - the Weber three-sided grill brush is very effective. If you don’t have a wire brush, a compressed ball of aluminium foil will do the job - but be wary of putting your hands too close to the hot grill. A long-handled brush, such is the Weber one mentioned above, which keeps your hands at a safe distance, is recommended as a longer term solution.
To finish, wipe the grill bars with a little vegetable oil, and then your barbecue is ready for action. If there’s no vegetable oil lying around, you could rub the bars with a fatty rasher of bacon, beef or chicken fat (unless you are cooking vegetarian fare of course). Whatever you use, hold it with tongs in order to keep your hands away from the heat. Never spray oil onto a hot grill - you'll almost certainly spark a flare-up.
Before and after
Professionals argue that to keep your gas barbecue performing to its maximum, it’s best to clean it twice – once after you’ve preheated the grill and once after the cooking process is complete. Of course, depending on how well you cleaned up after your barbecue’s previous outing, there may well be nothing to remove after pre-heating.
Even so, oil the grate. As well as helping to give those impressive searing marks to your steaks, it will crucially prevent food sticking - making the final clean-up that much easier. Look after your grill, and your grill will look after you!
Useful links
Calor BBQ Shop - Buy essential barbecue maintenance products online
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