

Grills aren't designed to be thrown away after one season. "Also, visually inspect your grates after brushing to ensure no bristles have been left behind."

Still, every time you use it, "check to make sure the bristles are still firmly attached to the brush by pulling on a couple," he advises. You don't want any bristles sneaking their way into your food. It's worth it to buy a good quality grill brush. "A durable galvanized steel grill brush mixed with a bit of heat is all you need to clean the inside of any grill," says Mueller. Steer clear of chemical cleansers-they can make your food taste bad. "It creates effective insulation that will only improve your grill's performance." What You Need to Clean Your Grill "It's okay to let ash build up over the season," he says. If you're using a pellet grill, Mueller suggests leaving the ashes at the bottom of the grill. For gas grills, remove the grills and remove wipe down the flavorizer bars," he says, referring to the metal tents that cover the gas outlets. "For charcoal grills, remove the ash and clear the bottom vents. "Before each grilling session, use a brush to scrape down the grates," says Yasuda. Wipe down the outside of the grill with a clean microfiber cloth.Īfter you've done this deep clean, regular maintenance is a cinch.Wipe it clean with a damp microfiber cloth. Use a scouring pad to clean the inside of the lid or grill cover.Clean the cooking area with mild dish soap (such as Dawn) or a degreaser.Put on gloves and scrub the grill grates with a grill brush.The foil traps the heat so the caked-on gunk gets brittle and easier to scrape or simply burns up into ash you can sweep out. Put a double-ply layer of aluminum foil over the entire cooking area.
Cleaning rec tec grill how to#
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Cleaning rec tec grill pro#
Pro tip: The best time to clean your grill is while it's cooling down so removing any stubborn bits is less of a workout.

Then fire up your grill, grab your metal scraper, and get started. Before you start, read the instruction manual-every grill is different. We all tend to ignore appliance maintenance and basic service until something stops working or an accident happens. If all this talk about grill cleaning is making you cringe, don't worry. This doesn’t mean an intensive deep clean but scraping the grill, removing ash from charcoal grills, and cleaning the grease traps (if your grill is equipped with one)," says Yasuda. "Similar to the oven and stovetop in your kitchen, a grill should be cleaned after each use. There are also maintenance tasks you need to check off every time you cook. This ensures your grill is working at an optimal level and makes it much easier to keep clean between uses. You should deep clean your grill at least once a year, more often if you use your grill frequently. A grill that is properly maintained can last for 10 years or longer, while a dirty one's days are numbered. Needless to say, all of this impacts how long your grill lasts. Do you really want to eat anything cooked on that? The mix of cooked-on food, grease, and who knows what all else creates a perfect breeding ground for bacteria and germs to grow. If you live in an area with bigger scavengers, like raccoons or bears, a dirty grill can tempt them too. "A dirty grill invites insects (like wasps) and rodents," says Yasuda. If your grill catches on fire, leave the cover closed, turn it off if you can do so safely, and let it cool down.Īnd of course grill grease can attract unwelcome guests. A big flare-up doesn't just burn any food inside to a crisp-it can also burn you and potentially even your home. As impressive as it might look, a plume of smoke you can see from two blocks away is really the signal of a grill that needs cleaning, stat. "The buildup of old grease can also catch fire, which is bad for obvious reasons," says Dave Yasuda, vice president of marketing at the beef purveyor Snake River Farms.
