How to clean a BBQ, and keep it clean

January 27th, 2012

Australians love barbecues and the weekend after Australia Day is a great mid-summer opportunity to clean up the pride and joy of the backyard. Though many an east coast barbie was rained out yesterday, southern and western Australia had a cracker chance to celebrate in true blue style, snags galore. Even the odd NSW beach saw tarps and barbies come out as the afternoon cleared.

Of course, a well loved barbie also means that it’s well used, and well dirty. So, get the elbow grease ready and let’s get cracking.

Firstly, you’ll want to disconnect the barbecue from the gas connection or electricity.

How to clean a BBQ

Make sure the the barbecue is off and cold. If there’s a lot of build up of grease and bits, try sprinkling salt or even kitty litter over the fat. Let the salt/litter soak up the muck and then scrape if off with an old metal fish slice. If you’ve got black coated plates you may want to be careful of how much salt you use (to avoid rust) and you’ll want to scrape it off entirely.

After a scrape, some people will spray the grill or plate with cooking oil and turn up the heat to burn any excess bits off. This can be repeated and once the barbie has cooled you can wipe it down.

Otherwise, there’s nothing to it but getting the hot, soapy water out and giving the grill or the hot plate a good scrub – if things are very grubby, soak the grill/plate in a sink or tub first. To scrub it down you can use a regular kitchen sponge or a wire brush.

Some people swear by vinegar, too. You can dilute a cup of vinegar in a bucket of hot water and then wash the surfaces down. Make sure that you rinse the barbecue off afterwards.

What about really stubborn rust?

Try soaking the rusty bits in a bag of vinegar with salt for 24 hours. Then give it a good scrub.

If it’s all gone up in smoke…?

If it’s too late to revive you’re old trusty barbie don’t stress! Appliances Online has a wide range of barbecues including poratble barbies large and small from leading outdoor cooking experts such as Beefeater, Dimplex, Sunbeam, and Electrolux. They’re on sale now, too – but not for long!

How to maintain a clean BBQ

Avoiding the above hassle is easy if you regularly maintain your barbecue – that means giving it a once over after each use.

Lots of Aussies pour a can of beer over the plate as the barbie is still warm, then use a metal fish slice to scrape off the excess fats and bits of food.

Others won’t sacrifice the beer and use vinegar instead – though this is stinky and steamy work, beware.

BBQ safety first

While you’re looking after the barbie it’s a good time to check your gas bottle. Elgas suggests gas bottles be inspected every 10 years. You can find the test date stamped into the neck ring of the bottle.

Check the connections and the gas hose as well for corrosion or leaks. You can give barbecue knobs and connections a wipe down as well with a hot damp cloth.

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.

One response to “How to clean a BBQ, and keep it clean”

web site says:

January 15, 2015 at 2:45 am

If you are not cleaning your BBQ directly after use, heat up the BBQ , close the lid, and leave it for a few minutes until warm. This will help to loosen some of the build up. Using the wire brush, scrape away as much of the build up as possible. Wait for the BBQ to completely cool before proceeding.