How to Prepare Your Grill for the Outdoor Season

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As the cold winter melts away, it’s time to spend our days on porches, patios, or in the backyard. A key part of those warm-weather activities is showing off your outdoor culinary skills to friends and family. During the cold months, your grill has likely been sitting idle, so it’s time to give it a thorough cleaning before it fires up several times a week. Some of us keep the grill going year-round, but spring is a great time to do a deep clean before cooking. official The outdoor cooking season begins. Here are some tips and tricks that will hopefully make things easier.

Disassemble, scrub, reassemble

A good rule of thumb when it comes to cleaning anything you haven’t used in a while is to take it apart as much as you’re comfortable with and give it a thorough cleaning. For grills, this means removing grates and burner bars or covers; basically anything you can get out that isn’t the heating element. This gives you a chance to inspect the burners on your gas grill or pellet model fire pot for unsightly wear. If those components are worn or too rusty, most companies offer replacements that you can easily swap out with a few basic tools.

Once you’ve got all the pieces out, start by scraping any excess debris from all sides of the interior, using a cleaner if necessary. For a gas grill, this probably means pushing everything through the grease trap. On a pellet grill, you’ll want to scrape up the grease duct and out into the collection can, but you’ll also need to vacuum the interior with a shop vac, just as you would after every few hours of use. And while you’re at it, go ahead and empty the hopper of all the old pellets that have been sitting around since labor day. Fuel that’s been sitting on the grill for months won’t give you the best results when it comes time to cook, so you might as well start over.

Fortunately, pellet grill companies have made easy cleanup a key part of their designs. Weber’s SmokeFire has a set of metal bars inside that can be quickly removed to open the bottom of the chamber. This is also a design feature of the company’s gas grills. Simply vacuum or push debris out of the grease chute. The drip tray where all the trash ends up is also easily accessible from the front of the grill, and you can remove the foil liner and replace it with a new one in seconds.

Traeger’s Latest Pellet Grills they were also redesigned to improve cleanliness. Most notably, the grease and ash end up in the same “barrel” that is easy to separate from the front of the grill. The company also lets you quickly remove all of the interior components, though they’re larger than what you find on the SmokeFire. Lastly, Traeger moved the pellet chute to the front of the new Timberline and Ironwood, making it much more convenient to switch varieties of wood or empty an old supply.

You will want to get as much food debris off your grill as possible for a number of reasons. First, those things are old and a lot of buildup over time can hinder cooking performance and can affect flavor. The last thing you want is old food or grease burning right under an expensive ribeye. Second, in the case of pellet grills, not properly removing grease and dust can be dangerous. Grease fires are easy to start at searing temperatures and if there is enough granule dust in the bottom of the grill it can ignite or explode. That’s why companies tell you to vacuum it after every few hours of use.

Billy Steele/Engadget

To really clean surfaces, you’ll want to get an all-natural grill cleaner. There are tons of options here, and it might take some time to find one you like. I normally use Traeger’s formula as it is readily available where i buy granules and i have found that it works well cutting through caked on dirt. You want an all-natural grill cleaner instead of a regular household product, since it’s safe to use on surfaces that will touch your food. They are also safe to use on the exterior of your grill without damaging chrome, stainless steel, or any other material.

Spray the inside and let things work for a few minutes. Wipe everything down and recheck any heavily soiled spots as needed. The same goes for the racks, bars, and any other parts you may have removed. I like to put them in a yard waste trash bag (they’re bigger than kitchen bags) so anything I scrape up or clean up doesn’t spill on my deck. You can use towels from the store if you want to recycle or paper towels if you don’t, but keep in mind that whatever you choose will be covered in nasty black gunk, so you don’t want to throw them in the washer when you’re done. A pre-wash in a bucket or sink is needed to make sure you don’t transfer your grill grime onto your business casual clothes.

In terms of tools, you don’t need much. I have tried it grill robot which claims to do the work for you, but I’ve found that sticking to the basics is more efficient. And honestly, when you get the hang of it, it doesn’t take that long. It’s a good idea to have a wire brush specifically for the grates you don’t use to clean anything else. After all, this will be touching the very surfaces you put your food on. I recommend another smaller wire brush: the ones that look like big toothbrushes – to clean the burners of a gas grill. If you notice that the flame is not shooting through one of the holes, you can use this to clear the way. Lastly, plastic is the way to go. for a scraper, anything else and you risk scratching your grill surfaces. Sure, any damage done would be to the interior, but it’s still not a great feeling to ruin your old investment.

Check for updates before cooking for the first time

If you have a smart grill from Traeger, Weber, or another company, you’ll want to plug it in and check for software updates well before your first grilling session. Chances are, it hasn’t cooked much since last fall, which means companies have had months to push updates to their devices. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than spending an hour trimming and seasoning a brisket only to head outside to fire up the grill and immediately the upgrade process kicks in. This could significantly extend the entire cooking time depending on the extent of the firmware additions and the strength of your WiFi.

Fortunately, checking for updates is quick and easy. All you need to do is fire up your grill and open the company’s app on your phone. If there’s a download ready for your model, the mobile software will let you know, and it’s usually quite prominent. If there is no popup alert displayed right away, you can check the settings menu to make sure. Sometimes for smaller upgrades, a company may not hit you over the head to upgrade. Booting a new slate of firmware is always a safe bet, though, and will ensure your grill is running at its best when it’s time to cook.

For a great time every time, clean after each use.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not following my own advice here, but it’s good to have goals. I’ll also be the first to tell you any time I smoke a Boston Butt or some other super fatty cut of meat that I wish I had at least done a quick cleanse right after the meal. Grease buildup is not only highly flammable, but much more difficult to clean once it cools and solidifies. The same goes for stuck-on sauce or cheese left on the racks after chicken or burgers. It’s best to attack these things while the grill is still hot, but has cooled from cooking.

You don’t necessarily have to open the vacuum every time you use your pellet grill or empty the grease container. But you’ll want to make sure things are away from the main cooking area for safety and so any burning doesn’t affect the flavor of your food. A few cups of hot water can clean any dripping grease, while the wire brush I mentioned is better for grates. It also doesn’t hurt to do a light cleaning with an all-natural cleaner so you’re all set to go when you want to get back to cooking.