Gas grills are amazing machines. In the past, you would have had to lug out a bag of charcoal, use lighter fluid, and find a lighter before you could begin. Now with gas grills, delicious food is minutes away without any of that hassle. They still get dirty, though! Not to worry, cleaning your gas grill can be easy, and even fun!
What are some easy tricks to clean your gas grill? The easiest way to clean your gas grill is to soak it in a specialized grill cleaning solution, then scrub it off with a wire brush before rinsing and washing with soap and water to clean it for cooking.
You may be wondering, what are some of the other tips to clean my grill? You may have tried some of the other tips and tricks on the internet without much success. Read on to find out some more surprisingly easy tricks to clean up a gas grill. It’s easier than you think!
5 Surprisingly Easy Tricks to Clean Your Gas Grill
Has your grill been sitting un-used all winter? Maybe you just bought a grill and need to clean it up. Grills, just like any other types of equipment, need to be cleaned and maintained regularly in order to work properly.
No matter what your situation, you can count on these tips to help you get the cleanest grill on the block! What follows in the list down below is a compilation of 5 simple and surprisingly easy tricks to clean that dirty grill of yours.
5 Surprising Easy Tricks to Clean Your Gas Grill:
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- Use a grill brush
- Spray the grill with cleaner
- Burn the grates
- Dawn dish soap
- Wire pot scrubber
The first easy way to clean a gas grill is to use a grill brush. These are specialized brushes that are designed to scrub hard, baked-on grime off of a gas or charcoal grill. They usually include a wire side, a softer side, and a knife-like attachment to scrape those nasty bits off the grates.
Spraying your grill with a grill cleaning solution before scrubbing is a great way to make your life easier. If you don’t use grill cleaner, you’re probably just using water and water will not effectively or easily clean your grill.
You need to use either grill cleaner or dish soap and let it soak before you begin cleaning.
Burning the grates before beginning can make your life easier. To complete this step, all you need to do is turn your grill onto high and let it come up to its full temp.
Let it sit there for a few minutes, then turn it off, and grab your grill brush and start scrubbing. You’ll find it’s easier to get the soot off once the grates are hot. Let the grates cool before moving onto the next step.
Say you don’t want to buy any specialized cleaners. You may be able to get by with good old Dawn dish soap. This soap is amazing and has a variety of uses, but did you know you can use it on your grimy grill as well?
The easiest way to do this is by hand, so take your grates and put them into a bucket, grab some gloves, and start rubbing the soap on the grates. Let this soak for 15 minutes before hitting it with the grill brush. You’ll see the dirt wash right off when you run water over it!
Lastly, you can use a wire pot scrubber. These are softer than a wire brush or grill brush, but if you’re simply doing regular cleaning and not busting up years of grime, a wire pot scrubber should do the job.
The Best Materials To Use For Cleaning a Gas Grill
After reading all about tips for cleaning your gas grill, you are probably wondering about the best materials to use for cleaning your gas grill. To find out what materials to use, simply read the following tips that are organized for you in the list down below.
Best Materials To Use For Cleaning a Gas Grill:
- Vacuum
- Wire brush
- Degreaser
- Specialized grill sprays
Using a vacuum on a grill might sound funny, but it’s a tried and true method for cleaning your gas grill. When you cook, bits of food and grime fall down into the firebox and build up in the bottom.
This can cause your burners to malfunction or cause a fire. For this purpose, you’ll want a shop vac or a vacuum that you only use for this, since the things you such up can be greasy or dirty.
As we discussed in the previous section, a wire brush is an invaluable tool for cleaning your gas grill.
You’ll be using it often, so grab one the next time you go to get cleaning supplies! Grill brushes come in many styles ranging from basic wire brushes with short wooden handles to giant behemoths with all sorts of attachments sticking out at all angles.
The more expensive and complicated ones might seem tempting, but often it’s best to get a mid-range grill brush. Aim for one that has stiff as well as soft bristles and a scraper attachment.
Degreaser is the perfect addition to your grill cleaning kit. Degreaser can be found at the hardware store under hundreds of different brand names.
Any brand will do, though some will work better than others of course. Degreaser is simply a chemical that binds to and destroys grease to make your grill scrubbing job easier.
Specialized grill sprays are effective and handy. Instead of using a general degreaser to remove grease, you can use one of these specialized sprays meant just for the sort of grime and dirt you encounter when cleaning a grill.
These sprays may be able to tolerate more heat, or they may be harsher than standard degreaser, but either way, they get the job done.
Why Is It Important To Clean and Maintain a Gas Grill?
While we are on the topic of cleaning and maintaining a gas grill, the question of why this is important will unavoidably come up. As with any other piece of equipment, you will need to care for your gas grill in order to make sure that it is in proper working condition for a long time.
In this section, we will briefly go over the significance of keeping your gas grill clean and maintained. Take a look at the list down below to get some insight on this topic.
Why it is Important to Clean and Maintain a Gas Grill:
- To avoid buildup of germs and bacteria
- To stay away from broken parts or repairs
- To avoid any safety hazards
- To extend the lifetime of the grill
As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why it is important to clean and maintaining your gas grill. This is due to both hygienic as well as safety reasons.
All in all, when you keep your gas grill clean and maintained, you will be able to stay clear of any safety hazards as well as extend the overall lifetime of your grill.
How Often Should I Clean My Gas Grill?
There are varying schools of thought on how often to clean your grill. Depending on how you’re using it, you can clean it on several different time frames. To extend the life of your grill, you should clean it after every use, but the following tips will help you decide what’s best for you.
If you decide not to clean after every use, make sure you check it every time before cooking on it. There may be really nasty stuff on the grates. There could also be bugs or animals inside.
How Often Should I Clean My Gas Grill?
- Daily
- Monthly
- Yearly
- After every use
The first time frame would be daily. This just means if you used the grill earlier that day, you can wait until the end of the day to clean it if you decide to. This is a good way to keep the grill clean, but not as good as cleaning after every use.
Cleaning daily is often not necessary unless you use your grill daily. If you only use your grill every so often, you should probably clean it after every use or at least once a month. Obviously, if you didn’t use the grill that day and you cleaned it last time, you won’t be cleaning it daily.
Monthly is another option, but far less recommended than daily or after use. Cleaning your grill monthly will be easier than never cleaning your grill or doing it once a year, but you will need to work harder and use more chemicals and soap to get it clean since it has a month of buildup on it.
Yearly is not recommended at all, especially if you cook often. Waiting a year to clean your grill is a bad idea, due to grease and gunk buildup that can affect the taste of your grilled food, or at worse can start a fire.
If you only clean your grill yearly, I would recommend cleaning it before the one time you use it that year. Not everyone can grill all the time, and if you only use it once a year, there’s no problem with letting it sit and cleaning before that singular time.
Of course, if you rarely use your gas grill, you can avoid cleaning it for as long as you’d like and you will probably be okay. If you use the grill once during the summer, it really won’t hurt to not clean it, even though grease and gunk will harden over time.
And finally, cleaning it after every use. This is the best and most recommended method for cleaning your gas grill. Every time you use your grill, simply remove the grates after they cool and soak them in some soapy water.
While you do the dishes you made eating your delicious grilled food, your grill grates will be soaking to make your life easier during cleaning.
With this guide, you’re armed with the knowledge you need to successfully clean your gas grill, no matter the make or model.
Remember, to make your life easier, clean the grill grates after every single use. If you do not want to fully clean them, at the very least they should be scrubbed with a grill brush after you’ve done the cooking. Now go grill!
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