How to Clean Your Grill: Charcoal Grill and Gas Grill

By Molly Lovelady

How to Clean Your Grill: Charcoal Grill and Gas Grill

It’s your grill’s favorite time of year - the season for barbeques, cookouts, and pool parties. With all of the action it’s getting this time of year, it’s vital to keep it clean and in tip top condition so that your steaks and any other goodies you grill turn out perfectly. 

Cleaning it is important because if you don’t clean your grill enough, old food will stick to it and to things you cook on it, and it could produce smoke that will negatively impact the taste of your food. 

You need to periodically deep clean your grill, as well as quickly clean it every time you use it. Don’t be intimidated! A quick clean with every use only takes 5-10 minutes, and a seasonal deep clean takes about 30 minutes - 1 hour, depending on the type of grill you have.

While you should always check the manufacturer’s instructions before tackling the cleaning of your grill, here’s some simple steps for how to clean your grill, whether it’s gas or charcoal. 

What You Need:

  1. Curly steel scour pad and 12-inch tongs to make a DIY grill brush OR a wadded ball of aluminum foil (Note: many use grill brushes, but there have been a few incidents where some have questioned their safety and have had the wires end up in their food, so we recommend these contraptions instead)
  2. Scour sponge 
  3. Scraper tool 
  4. Vegetable oil
  5. Paper towels and/or silicone basting brush (for coating with oil)
  6. Dish soap or a mild degreaser
  7. Dish gloves (protect those hands!)

Charcoal Grill - Every Use:

  1. Scrape and scour the cooking grates with a curly steel scour pad or wadded up aluminum foil before adding food to the grill, when the coals are at their hottest. Any leftover tids bits from your last cookout will get off the grates more easily with the heat. 
  2. Take tongs and wipe the remaining soot and debris from the grates with a clean, wet rag. Lightly coat the cooking grates with vegetable oil afterwards - either with tongs and a paper towel, or a silicone basting brush. 
  3. After cooking, be sure to always dump the ashes each time, preferably when everything has cooled off. If you don’t want to wait for it to cool off because you don’t want to forget, you can dump it in a small, lidded metal trash can, and then later empty it into the garbage when everything has completely cooled. (Note: Never ever use water to extinguish the hot coals! Water mixed with ash creates lye - and this can cause chemical burns/corrode metal.)

Charcoal Grill - Seasonal Deep Cleaning:

  1. At the beginning of grilling season and at the end of it, your grill needs a little extra attention. First thing’s first, brush or vacuum out as much ash from the grill as you can. 
  2. Then, rinse your grill and its lid, on the inside and out, with a hose - the goal is to get as much of that residual ash off as possible! 
  3. Grab gloves, hot water, a plastic scour pad, and dish soap or a degreaser.
  4. If you’re just using soapy water, start scrubbing, and make sure you tackle the entire firebox and grates! Don’t forget to rinse it thoroughly and dry it. 
  5.  If you use a degreaser instead of soapy water, make sure to double check that it’s safe for food surfaces. If it is safe, spray the degreaser on and then let it sit for about 20 minutes. Afterwards, scrub everything with your scour pad and don’t forget to rinse it thoroughly with hot water. It never hurts to give it an extra rinse, especially when using degreaser, to make sure you got it all off. 

Gas Grill - Every Use:

  1. First thing’s first - form a habit! Try to remember to consistently check the grease pan and collection tray under the firebox. You don’t want them to overflow because that’s just extra work for you when you have to scrub that grease off of the grill and patio. 
  2. Scrape and scour the cooking grates with a curly steel scour pad or wadded up aluminum foil before adding food to the grill, when the grill is hot. (Note: Before cleaning, disconnect the gas line.) Any leftover tids bits from your last cookout will get off the grates more easily with the heat. (Note: Cleaning hot grates can damage the porcelain coating on cast-iron grates, and rust can form. If you’re worried about scratching, run the grill for 10 minutes on high with the lid closed, let it cool, and then scrape and scour away.)
  3. Take tongs and wipe the remaining soot and debris from the grates with a clean, wet rag. Lightly coat the cooking grates with vegetable oil afterwards - either with tongs and a paper towel, or a silicone basting brush. 
  4. Be sure to check your burner hoods (the metal plates that sit above the burners) for grease buildup. If you spot any, give them a good cleaning with hot, soapy water and a scour pad. 
  5. Also, be sure to check the burner ports for clogs. You can do this by turning on the burners and if you see a port without a flame coming out, that means it’s clogged. To unclog it, turn the burners off, close the propane tank, and use the wire poker (it should have come with the grill) to clean them out. If you don’t have a wire poker, a metal wire will do the trick! 

Gas Grill - Seasonal Deep Cleaning:

  1. Show your grill some extra deep-cleaning love at the beginning and end of the grilling season. Start by removing the grates, burner hoods, and grease pan. (Note: Before cleaning, disconnect the gas line.)
  2. Scrub it all with hot, soapy water and a plastic scour pad (or a degreaser that’s safe for food surfaces). 
  3. Do the same to the lid and the inside of the firebox.
  4. Be sure to rinse it all before putting it back together (giving it an extra rinse wouldn’t hurt, especially if you used a degreaser). 

Conclusion:

Now that your grill is squeaky clean, here’s a few of our favorite recipes to try out on it this season!

 

Photo credit: Danny Gallegos