Source: Ray White
Having friends over for a BBQ or just cooking grilled weeknight food is an Australian ritual. It’s a show of Australian culinary excellence and the best way to cook for a crowd.
It’s often debated whether webers, hotplates or even ground barbecues are the best method. However, something else that’s also talked about is the best way to clean a BBQ.
Barbecue cleaning is a task that no one really wants to do, however it’s vital to take care of your BBQ for the next round of grilling mastery.
There are a few things to do to make this process less painful, so read on to prepare yourself, and your grill, for the next get-together!
Here’s the Ultimate Guide to BBQ Cleaning
1. Strike While The Hotplate is Hot
Yes, yes, it’s the last thing you feel like doing just when the food is done and ready to tuck into. Good news is that you should take the time to sit down and enjoy the food, but afterwards an initial clean off while the hotplate is still warm will save you hard work later on.
Just excuse yourself quickly and give the BBQ a quick brush (you can buy special BBQ bruses) to remove larger bits of residual BBQ. Your future self will thank you for it.
2. Use The Dishwasher
Wait, what?! Yes, that’s right, if you have a dishwasher and your grill plates aren’t too large you can chuck them in the dishwasher. Just make sure they’ve cooled off completely and set it to the most intense mode (e.g. pot scrubbing) and let it do the hard work for you.
3. The Deep Clean
Source: Better House Keeper
If you come back to your BBQ with dread, knowing the caked on debris awaiting you, worry not.
Take some detergent and warm water and a BBQ scrubbing brush. Liberally using elbow grease, remove and clean plates. Do likewise with the interior of your BBQ unit.
Rinse with clean water then rub dry. To prepare the BBQ for next time, lightly spray with vegetable oil.
Now the most important bit – the cleaning inferno. Reposition grill plates and any extra bits you’ve removed during the cleaning, turn all the grills to high and get rid of any residual grime or germs with heat. You don’t need to do this for too long, just wait until the plates start to smoke, then switch off. Clean as a whistle.
It’s a little more time consuming, but at least you’ll know for next time.
It’s amazing, heat kills germs, incinerates debris, which means the household BBQ is one of the greatest inventions ever – a self-cleaning cooking appliance. Genius.
4. Tin Foil
This one is unverified, but the Internet says it’s true – ball some aluminum foil up, scrub as you would with a scourer. Why, not too sure, but it’s bound to be cheaper than buying a dedicated scourer!
Alternatively you could team it with some vinegar. Just add two cups of vinegar and water in a spray bottle, shake to mix. Spray on the grills and leave for 10 minutes. Refill the bottle with vinegar only and spray onto tin foil that is folded up and it should remove all the grime.
Source: Home Jelly
5. Onion
Source: Reality Pod
Onions are very versatile, case in point – the BBQ. Using an onion cut in half (cut side down) just heat the BBQ on high to burn off any crud then turn off and rub the onion. This will loosen anything baked on the grills.
6. Beer
It’s a popular BBQ cleaning method and we guess we know why… But incase you’re unsure whether to beer up before or after cooking the food, it’s before. Simply heat up the BBQ and then pour half of the bottle on the grills and scrub.
7. Lemon and Salt
Is there anything you can’t clean with lemon? It’s the wonder fruit. To clean the BBQ heat up the grills to high, put the cut side of the lemon on a plate of salt and use like a scrub to clean.
8. Buy A New BBQ
As a very last resort sometimes the BBQ gets to a point of no return and you have to buy a new BBQ. However, this is an expensive route, so a much better option for the very lazy is hiring somebody local to clean your BBQ; less hassle, and you’re helping your local economy!