Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A Little BBQ Hygiene

Personally I have never subscribed to the "Cleanliness-is-next-to-Godliness" mantra but the occasional bout of BBQ hygiene is good for your BBQ.

Cleaning your BBQ a couple of times a year will extend the life of parts such as gas burners and grill racks while minimising visits from the local health authorities!

You'll need a strong wire brush, aluminum foil, steel-wool, sponges, washing-up detergent, baking soda, cooking oil and a six-pack! I am not so keen on chemical cleaners (either for cleaning or drinking) as it's hard to get rid of the residual taste.

First up, use the wire brush to scrub the surfaces and remove any food, marinade, spices or corrosion that have built up on the grill or hotplate.

If this doesn't remove all the grime, you may need to wash the grill racks to remove the final vestiges of last year's festivities.

Just brush off as much debris as possible before soaking the grill in a tub of hot soapy water before cleaning briskly with a stainless steel scourer. This is method is easy with stainless steel racks like those on a Weber but is also fine for cast iron racks as long as you dry and oil them after the shampoo!

On lightly soiled BBQs you may be able to get away with a light scrub using baking soda and aluminum foil. Warm the BBQ to make make grease removal easier, then allow it to cool, sprinkle with baking soda and then scrub with the rolled up aluminium foil.

Once the grill racks and hot plate are clean, you need to coat them with a fine mist of cooking oil (olive oil is best) from a spray can. This coating on the barbecue grill will keep the racks lubricated and prevent rusting in between uses.

If you use volcanic rock to spread the heat on your BBQ, this is a good time to change them as they will have accumulated a build up of grease and fat that will cause smoking.

Now, if all this seems like too much work, here are some other suggestions:

Disposable grill liners: These newly patented disposable grill covers are made of heavy duty aluminium foil.

Grillo sheet: A Grillo sheet, is a perforated stainless steel sheet to put over your grill for cooking delicate foods like fish. It has the added advantage of keeping your grill clean.

Aluminium foil: Take a tip from Life Hacker and clean your grill with aluninium foil

Onion: Another tip, use onion on your grill.

Out-source: Call someone like these guys to come and do it for you


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