Cleaning the Grill

Cleaning the Grill 

It's that time of year when grilling becomes the main cooking equipment in the household. However, before you grill any food, you must do some maintenance and cleaning.   Here in Washington, DC we've had a bitter cold winter with way too much snow than we care to consider. Therefore, grilling was out of the question, even though usually we grill all year round to help save money. Propane is a lot cheaper and burns at a higher temperature than normal gas does, so we like to grill a lot. Unfortunately, due to the weather this winter, we didn't grill as much and look what I found when I opened the grill this week - a birds nest. Also found that another critter was living in the grill this winter, but can't figure out if it was a chipmunk or something else. Either way, it's time to do a bit of cleaning maintenance.

First things first, get rid of the birds nest. Secondly, remove all grilling parts, the grill itself, the burner plates below, grease catcher and liquid catcher and lay all items on the patio flat.  Grab your hose and hose everything down thoroughly. In a separate bucket fill half way with hot boiling water and dish soap. Grab a large sponge and dip it into the soapy water and try to scrub away surface dirt, hose off.  While you have the hose in hand, hose out the entire inside of the grill housing. Try to get all the crap that has built up through the winter and caked on the metal. Then use my trick of the trade, a can of inexpensive oven cleaner - spray it over everything, inside the grill, on all grill parts and let stand 15-20 minutes. Hose everything down and you should have a nice clean grill. Put all parts back together and sponge down the top grill that you will put food on with the soapy water, hose it off completely, and you're ready to cook. Happy grilling.