Keeping your gas barbecue grills in prime working order as the season hots up

With the start of the long awaited Great British summer, it’s finally time to dust down our traditional and gas barbecue grills and get cooking outside. But as the barbecue season hots up and impromptu or planned barbie dates are looming, its essential to remember to ensure that, whether you have a traditional or a gas barbecue grill, all of your outdoor cooking equipment is in prime working order and ready to go.

So why do you need to keep your barbecue clean?

Much as the hygiene within your kitchen is essential, so is the case with your traditional or gas barbecue grills and your outdoor cooking utensils. At Big K, we recommend that our customers keep their gas barbecue grills clean and grease free at all times, and that a thorough clean and service is performed once a year.

Not only is this important from a hygiene point of view, there are other implications if gas barbecue grills are not well maintained - from the health and safety issues of burners getting blocked by built up grease and food residue, through to the cost implications of needing to replace rusted grills. Not to mention that the all important taste of the food that you are cooking may be tainted by rust and other nasties.

What is the best way to clean gas barbecue grills?

Whether you prefer to use traditional or gas barbecue grills, cleaning after every time you have used your barbecue is a good idea. And although time consuming and maybe a bit of a pain after an enjoyable event, this regular wipe down will help to make the annual service easier and take much less time.

On many gas barbecue grills you will find a ‘clean’ setting. While you could be mislead into feeling that this clean is enough, at Big K we recommend that the clean setting is used solely at the start of your barbecue event, just to make sure that your gas barbecue grills are free of any dust and debris that may have settled since their last use. The clean setting is also good to preheat your gas barbecue grills.

For your regular clean, following use wait until your gas barbecue grill has completely cooled down. Then lift out the cooking grates and give them a clean, as well as the barrier above the burners.  The barrier may be made up of lava rocks, metal plates or briquettes which should be free of grease and burnt on food. The sides of your gas barbecue grills, as well as the lid, should also have a good wipe down. At Big K we have a range of cleaning implements available for our customers to buy, and would recommend the following tools for your gas barbecue grills cleaning kit:

- a stiff brush
- a pan
- a spatula
- a sponge
- scrapers
- hot soapy water
- paper towels

What about the annual clean?

The annual clean of your gas barbecue grills needs to be much more involved, although following our regime of cleaning after every use will mean that it need not be as time consuming as you’d think. This annual clean will probably take you around an hour and will include disconnecting the gas and inspecting every element of your barbecue.

As always, it is essential that you wait until your gas barbecue grills are totally cool before beginning the cleaning process. First attend to the outside of the grill. Using a spray on kitchen grill cleaner will also help to reduce the time this clean needs to take. Spray the outside of the grill and, once the cleaner has softened the grease and grime, it can simply be wiped away with a damp cloth, paper towels or kitchen roll. This process may need to be repeated if you have not kept to a regular cleaning routine.

After this it is time to turn your attention to the inside of your gas barbecue grill.  Remove the grates and use your stiff brush to clear away the burnt black debris. Your grates can probably be thoroughly cleaned in your dishwasher once the majority of the dirt has been brushed away.

The inside of the lids and the sides of your barbecue will also need brushing down and your brush will also be useful for the burners.

The sear plates will need to be scraped, as will the drip pan, which will be full of burnt residue.

Once this has been completed, the gas supply needs to be removed, and the valves opened for no less than three minutes to ensure that all gas has cleared from the pipes.

Then the burner and burner cover can be cleaned, either with warm soapy water or with cleaning fluid, followed by a scraping to ensure that the burner holes are clear and clean.

Then simply use paper towels or kitchen roll to dry all elements of your gas barbecue grills and put them all back together again.

As you clean each element it is important also to inspect, and replace anything that is worn or damaged.  In the case of the burners, if, when your gas barbecue grills are on, the flame is red or orange, rather than blue, your burners may need replacing.

Introducing the range of gas barbecue grills from Big K

Here at Big K we have been selling barbecue and outdoor living equipment for over 40 years.  We have an enviable range of barbecues, fuel and accessories, including our popular gas barbecue grills.

Find out more about the range of both traditional and gas barbecue grills from Big K here.