I love BBQ season. The grill is like my summer crock pot. I love it. It doesn’t heat up the house, and it’s super simple to throw some marinated chicken and veggies onto the grill and have a meal in under 30 minutes.
I don’t know about you, but after a winter of sitting idle, my grill always needs a little cleaning. If you have never really cleaned your grill before, here’s a couple of super simple steps to clean and maintain it and make sure your food doesn’t stick when you barbecue.
You’ll need:
- Cooking Oil
- A Small Bowl
- Paper Towels {only 1 or 2}
- Grill Brush
- Long Tongs
First, heat the grill. It’s way easier to clean this way, because it loosens all of those stuck on particles. I usually let it warm up for 10-15 minutes before I start.
Once your grill is nice and hot, grab your grill brush and start scraping the burnt food from the grill. {You can use wadded up aluminum foil if you don’t have a grill brush–but it doesn’t work quite as well.} It’s best to scrape your grill each time you use it to avoid having to really put some elbow grease into it.
Now, put your cooking oil in your small bowl. Dip a folded up paper towel into the bowl, using your tongs. Allow the paper towel to become completely saturated with the oil. Then, {still using the tongs} rub the oiled paper towel all over the grate, giving it a really nice shine and nonstick coating. Finally, allow the oil to sit under the heat for another 10 minutes or so before you add any food to the grill.
That’s it. Easy, right?
Happy Barbecue Season,
Mavis
Ramona says
I use my grill year round. It is so quick and easy to throw some meat one . One thing I always do is get a wet paper towel and wipe the grill off after using the wire brush. I read where several people had one of the wire bristles come off and stayed on the grill. It got stuck to the meat and then the people ate the meat and got the wire bristle in their mouth. I think one of them was in Seattle area a few years ago. Never thought about that till I read it.
Nick says
We have recently started a contracting company that also provides BBQ services. Thank you for providing the exact materials and method to cleaning a BBQ grill. I especially appreciated the fact that you include the heating process as a step. Thank you for the great info!