Cleaning Your Charcoal Grill
Just as with anything else you own, the more you take care of your charcoal grill, the better it will operate and the longer it will last. If you’re asking what could possibly need to be cleaned on your charcoal grill, the answer is, quite simply, a lot. By maintaining your charcoal grill you will notice your food is cooked more efficiently and that you’ll get a lot more mileage out of it versus not cleaning or maintaining it.
For example, in order to facilitate better air flow whilst cooking, it’s important to remove accumulated ashes and old charcoal from the bottom of the grill as well as the ash catcher before using it. You simply need to ensure the charcoal is completely extinguished and no longer hot before cleaning it. Don’t forget to wipe away any grease which may have dripped down near the vents while grilling. Not only does this have an impact on the effectiveness of the grill’s ability to cook, but it also removes old charcoal, grease and ash which may cause a tainted taste to your food in proceeding grilling.
While you’re grilling, you’re producing smoke vapors which consist of grease and smoke which will oxidize into carbon and will most likely get deposited on the interior of your grill’s lid. In order to remove this oxidation you simply need to brush these deposits off with a stainless-steel wire brush. Once you have removed the deposits from the interior of the grill lid, the next time you’ve completed grilling, while the grill is warm (not hot), with a wet paper-towel you can wipe clean the interior surface of your grill’s lid. Keeping oxidized carbon off your grill lid will also keep your food from potentially gaining an unappealing flavor as well as keep your grill clean and free from deterioration.
Keep your grill grates clean! If you use your charcoal grill for smoking foods, you undoubtedly will have a lot of buildup. Remove the cooking grate first, then remove the charcoal grate. Utilizing a coarse (stainless-steel) brush, clean the grill grates. If you cannot remove some of the buildup, place the charcoal and cooking grate back into the grill and heat up the grill to 500°F for ~ 15 minutes. This should help to remove some of the more sturdy buildup. Once the grill has cooled down, now brush the grill clean again with a stainless-steel wire brush. Once even cooler, now take a wet paper-towel and wipe the grill grates down.
Now that you’ve entirely cleaned the interior of your grill, you need to focus on the exterior of the grill. If your grill is in an area subject to a harsh environment. If you experience acid rain in your area, or live near saltwater, you’ll need to clean the exterior of your grill more often. Elemental exposure to corrosive elements like these can cause signs of oxidation on the exterior (rust). To clean these potentially corrosive elements off your grill’s surface, simply wipe down the exterior with warm, soapy water. Just as a precautionary measure, especially if your grill is subject to intense UV rays as well as corrosive elements, we recommend using a cover for your grill when it’s not in use.
If you would ever like to find out how to best clean your charcoal grill, please don’t hesitate to call us at 92000 7353 or +966.13.845.6798. We will be more than happy to assist you in keeping your charcoal grill in great shape. Backyard is the premiere outdoor living and grilling equipment supplier in Saudi Arabia and the entire Middle East. We strive to help our customers maintain all their outdoor living equipment. We look forward to hearing from you soon!