You just bought your new gas grill a few months ago, and it's becoming filthy. There's baked-on food all over the place and grease burned onto the grill. It will take some time to come off, and you've tried everything you can think of. Moreover, every time you cook, the built-up burnt food in the grill makes your food taste terrible. You don't want to spend hours cleaning the grill, but you also don't want to use harsh chemicals that will be bad for your health. Here's how to clean a gas grill without harsh chemicals.
1. Turn off the gas.
When cleaning a gas grill, or any other appliance that uses gas, be sure to turn it off for your safety. After you have ensured the gas to the burners is off with the knobs on the front of your grill, move to the back of your grill and make sure you have also turned off the gas from the propane source.
This is a vital step to ensure your safety while cleaning a gas grill. If you do not feel confident in performing this step please seek the aid of a professional before going forward with the remaining steps.
2. Remove the grill grates.
You may want to wear gloves while cleaning your gas grill. Although this guide is intended for cleaning without harsh chemicals that would normally require you to wear gloves, there may be some tough spots of grease and grime that you will want to avoid coming into contact with as it would be difficult to remove from your hands and under your nails later.
3. Remove the metal pieces covering the burners.
There are a few more metal pieces underneath the grates. These plates cover your gas burners and tend to collect grease and filth that falls through the top grate. So, don't forget to clean these as well. If there is a drip pan, remove that also. Set them aside for now as well.
4. Vacuum the charred food and grime inside your grill.
Remove the grates and metal components, and you'll likely see a lot of loose dirt, charcoal, and food within your grill. You may use your shop vacuum cleaner (Shop-Vac) to remove all of this easily. Use an extension cord if you must. The vacuum cleaner technique will save you a lot of time.
Grab a putty knife and scrape off the remaining chunks of char and grime. Then use your Shop-Vac again to clean up the rest of the debris that you just uncovered.
If you don't have a Shop-Vac vacuum cleaner, use a few rags to clean up the loose dirt and charred food. The grill may be rather grimy, so don't use towels that you care about.
5. Soak in hot water and dish soap.
You're probably hoping you don't have to scrub the grill grates and metal pieces vigorously at this point. Fortunately, you don't. Fill your sink with hot water and dish soap, then let the grates soak. Some grill grates will be too big to fit in your sink. If that's the case, place your grill grates in a small plastic container filled with hot soapy water for 30 minutes. Expect to have to fill the sink with water and soap several times after depending on how dirty these pieces are.
7. Finish up.
Drain the sink and rinse everything off. After you've cleaned the soap and grime off the grill grates, use a damp cloth to wipe them clean. Make sure you have a few old towels on hand since they'll get filthy fast.
If you're still having trouble removing stains, try soaking the grates one last time. However, you may also try scrubbing them with your wire grill brush. It is now likely that 30 minutes of soaking softened the grease enough that it can be removed using the brush with ease.
For extra dirty grills use baking soda and vinegar.
If you've ignored cleaning your grill for years, you're not going to want to spend hours scrubbing away at it with no results. Instead, try making a strong paste out of baking soda and water. It will break down grease and baked-on debris with ease. If you're going to clean the entire surface of your grill, you'll probably need quite a bit of paste. Here's how to do it:
1. Mix up your paste.
Grab a big mixing bowl and your measuring cup. You are going to mix three parts baking soda and one part water. This will all depend on how big your job is, so you will have to make your best estimation. I would suggest starting with a small batch and mixing up more as needed.
Use a fork or spoon to mix the water into the baking soda. Make sure that the consistency of your paste stays thick, almost like glue.
2. Apply your baking soda paste.
You are going to want to put this stuff on thoroughly. Cover the grate, metal pieces, and drip pan, that you removed earlier, completely. It is probably easiest to use your hands for this. Like I said earlier, wearing gloves is a great idea.
3. Activate the solution.
Baking soda paste alone is great for cleaning, but you have a really tough job to tackle. Now it is time to activate your baking soda paste. Fill a spray bottle with distilled white vinegar and spray it all over your dirty grill grate, metal pieces, and drip pan. You will begin to see the backing soda paste fizz up. This is where the real cleaning power is ignited.
Now let the solution sit for about thirty minutes, so it can soak into your grill and lift all the stuck-on grease.
4. Rinse and wipe.
After you rinse off the baking soda and vinegar solution, be sure to use clean rags that you do not care about. There still could be a lot of greases left over that could stain your towels, so do not use your favorite bath or face cloths.
Repeat these steps as needed until your whole grill is clean. If one round of baking soda paste and vinegar isn't sufficient, repeat the process until your gas grill is spotless.
If you think your grill is too much work, you may start with a little section. If you don't have much time, do one part of the grill at a time instead. You can also clean the entire grill in one go. This is the safest way to clean your grill without harsh chemicals, which will help keep your family and friends safe and happy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to clean my gas grill after each use?
You don't have to clean your gas grill after every usage. Clean your gas grill once a week if you use it every day, or twice a month if you only use it a few times each week. If you spend the whole day barbecuing for a large gathering, clean your gas grill after you're done grilling.
What happens if you don’t clean your grill?
Grease, baked-on food, and charcoal will accumulate if you don't clean your grill. Your meals will begin to taste like the interior of your grill, which is unpleasant. If you don't clean your grill properly, it could also catch fire due to the amount of baked-on food in there. It will also start to smell old or rotten food if you don't maintain it regularly. A man's grill master status is at stake when his grill is in this state.
As a final point.
We tested several methods of grill cleaning on our grill. Our grill is approximately two years old and has always been kept inside when not in use. We always clean the grates before and after cooking, and we had done one semi-deep clean sometime back before this thorough deep cleaning. Several of the removable parts showed signs of rust before, during, and after cleaning. Cooking on a grill with loose rust on the grates is not safe!
If you clean the parts regularly and keep your grill out of the elements, it will last longer. When replacing the parts, there is far less work to do. A scraping and scrub down of the interior, then add your new replacement grates and other parts, and voila! Your grill will be practically brand new again.
So, we have concluded that you are likely far better off buying new parts for your grill than you are paying for someone to clean it for you. As such, this is not a service that we will be providing at Luxurious Cleaning Services. However, it was a unique learning experience, and we hope you appreciate our tips and honest assessments.