Cleaning a barbeque grill is actually very easy, especially when only cleaning bbq grates themselves. In fact, there are only two things that are easier when it comes to grilling – burning the meat and not taking the time to clean the grill at all.
I like to think of myself as sort of a bbq purist. I love to grill. In fact, I’m one of those nuts that even has two grills – a fancy stainless steel gas grill with all of the options and also my never fail traditional charcoal grill.
I say “never fail” about the charcoal, because my dilemma with the gas grill is perpetual. Whenever cooking for guests, as soon as the grill is ready and I put the food on, I inevitably run out of gas, having to revert to charcoal or scramble to the corner store to pick up a new tank of propane. And of course, there’s my belief that a good steak should only be cooked over charcoal, but I digress…
I’m a firm believer that cooking with a clean grill does indeed improve the flavor of the food being cooked. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t scrub the drippings after every use because they actually help create the bbq flavor as they continue to cook. Besides emptying the grease pan on a regular basis, I really only clean under the grates a couple of times a year.
That said, cleaning and maintaining the bbq grates is imperative. After all, no one wants to eat last week’s chicken mixed into this week’s filet. Fortunately, cleaning the grates is super simple. All you need is a decent wire grill brush and plenty of heat.
Before cooking, I allow my grill to heat up to a very hot temperature for several minutes. At that point, any gunk on the grates will begin to turn to ash. I simply give the grates a good brushing and they’re clean as a whistle.
When I’ve finished grilling, I find it really convenient to just crank it all the way up for about ten minutes to burn off any leftovers. That alone does a decent job of keeping the grates in good shape, plus it eliminates most food smells and odors that seem to attract critters.