Watch: How to clean your barbecue
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A dirty barbecue not only looks unsightly, but it can harbour nasty bacteria. Dirt can also cause a barbecue to rust and make cooking on it more difficult.
However, cleaning your barbecue doesn't have to be a slog. Watch our video above on how to quickly clean your grill using just two cheap everyday products.
Or keep reading for a detailed breakdown of the steps and the best barbecue features to look for to keep your grill spotless with minimal effort.
Are you in the market for a new barbecue? Take a look at our gas and charcoal BBQ reviews
How to clean a barbecue in five easy steps
There are lots of barbecue cleaning hacks online, but this is the cheapest and easiest way. Watch the video above or follow these five steps to get your grill sparkling clean.
- Leave the barbecue with the heat and lid on for 15 minutes after cooking. This will bake the oil deposits into a layer, which will be easier to remove than liquid grease.
- Once it's cooled down, use a wire brush to scrape off any buildup. If you don't have one, scrunched-up aluminium foil is a handy alternative.
- Spray the grill with vinegar or citric acid, to help break down the grease.
- Leave it to work for a couple of minutes, then scrub with the wire brush or aluminium foil. If you've got them to hand, lemon halves also work in the same way – just rub them along the grills and then scrub.
- Wipe the grills with a lint-free cloth and apply a coating of vegetable oil to stop them from rusting between uses.
Tip: Always check the manufacturer's instructions first in case there are any cleaning no-nos that could invalidate your guarantee.
Do I need to clean my barbecue after every use?
You should clean your grills after every use, then give the entire barbecue a deeper clean every three months.
Not only will it minimise the risk of food poisoning from bacteria such as campylobacter, salmonella, listeria and some types of E. coli, it will also help keep your barbecue and its parts rust-free and in good working order.
In fact, it's all too common for barbecues to rust away to the point of being unusable, and one of the quickest and simplest ways to avoid rust is to clean yours properly.
What's the difference between cleaning a gas and a charcoal barbecue?
Gas barbecues are less fiddly to clean than charcoal, mainly because there's no ash or coal to dispose of.
However, if you're using a gas model, don't forget to clean the burners using a wire brush or aluminium foil. You should also use a metal pin or barbecue skewer to unblock individual gas outlets so that they're free of grease buildup and can run as efficiently as possible.
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Barbecue features that make cleaning easier
There's no such thing as a self-cleaning barbecue (yet), but there are some handy features and accessories that can make tidying up after cooking that little bit easier.
- Number or size of the grill plates Several smaller removable plates on large barbecues, or a smaller diameter plate on compact models, are more manageable than one big heavy grill when deep cleaning. Some might be so small that you can just chuck them in the sink with your pots and pans.
- Grill plate material You should avoid cleaning chrome-coated grills with a wire brush because it can damage the surface. Stick with cast-iron and stainless steel grills if you want to be able to give them a quick scrub after every use.
- Adjustable grill height Being able to raise or lower the grill plate to adjust the heat level of a charcoal barbecue should help prevent food burning and sticking to the grills, as well as making washing down much simpler.
- Fat drip trays Collect fat drips to help reduce flare-ups and make cleaning your gas barbecue a lot less messy.
- Ash collector This is a removable shelf or tray that collects ash so you can simply pull out the tray after using and throw away the leftovers.
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