National Barbecue Month – Tips for Cleaning Your Gas Grill
Since it is National BBQ month, we want to help you get your grill in prime condition for summer. It is very important to do preventative maintenance. Just as you get your car tuned up before you travel for summer vacation, you want to prep your gas grill for grilling season. Whether you’re grilling in Destin, Florida or somewhere else in the country, these tips will help keep you safe and make you look like a grilling superstar.
Here are 5 tips to keep your gas grill operating at peak performance:
1. Visual Inspection. Start with a visual check to see if all the parts look good. Double check hoses, grates and burners. Contact the dealer for any parts that may need to be replaced.
2. Cleaning. If the grill has been stored or not used much during the last few months, this would be a good time for a “spring cleaning”. Wash the exterior of your grill with soapy water and/or Stainless Steel cleaner, then polish with a high quality wax or Stainless Steel polisher. If the grates are really crusty, try cleaning with oven cleaner. Grates should be fully washed with clean water before applying oven cleaner, which is highly toxic so follow the directions very carefully. If the cleaner is ineffective, you can either purchase GrillGrates, interlocking panels that sit on top of any grill to form a new grill surface, or contact your local dealer to purchase replacement grates. Next clean the burners, and reinstall as shown in the owner’s manual. Most importantly, make sure that all the connections are tight when you replace. Confirm the seal is tight by taking soapy water and spraying around all the connections. If you see bubbles, redo the connection.
3. Test the flame. Turn on your grill and see how quickly it lights and how the flame looks. If it does not light right way replace the battery in your igniters. The flame color should be blue with a tint of yellow at the top. If not, you have some work to do! Once the burners have cooled off, remove them from the grill and examine them closely. If there is rust, the burner is no good and you should replace it. Is there anything nesting in the orifice area that is preventing gas traveling around the burner? If so, clean it out. As long as you have the burners out, you can drill all the holes to make sure they are not clogged. Follow your owner’s manual.
4. Air Shutters. Most grills have air shutters that you can adjust to get the correct flame color and height. By doing this you will get maximum heat from your grill. The shutter is usually at the point where the burner connects to the gas input. Depending on the color and height of the flame, you may have to open or close the shutter.
5. Clean Grease Tray. The grease tray is one of the leading causes of gas grill fires. Be sure to clean out the grease tray so there are no flash fires.
This will keep your grill working at peak performance. I can already hear the sizzle of the 2″ ribeye. I’ll take mine “medium rare,” please.