Is your barbecue grill looking a little worse for the wear? Funny thing, but when guests see you throw a slab of meat on a grill that is blackened with crud and ash, they can tend to lose their appetites. Not only is a barbecue that’s covered with caked-on grease and food residue unsanitary, but its burners can cease to work efficiently.

If this is the condition of your barbecue grill, there is no time like now for a clean up. Following are easy-to-follow directions for this quick task.

Though the barbecue we show here is a typical stainless-steel gas barbecue, the techniques are relatively universal for all barbecues. If you have the manufacturer’s instructions for your particular model, be sure to follow them.

You’ll need a couple of newspapers, latex gloves, a bucket of soapy water, a water hose, oven cleaner, a barbecue scraper/brush, a sponge with an abrasive back, and a scouring pad.

1) If yours is a gas or propane barbecue, turn off the fuel at the source.

2) Open the barbecue cover and lift out the grills and burner covers (if your barbecue has them).  Using a scraper/brush, scrape and brush ash and residue from the grills.

3) Scrub the burner covers in a bucket of water, rinse, and set aside to dry.

4) Spread out the grills on a few layers of newspaper on a surface where you can hose them off later such as a driveway. Following the directions on the can, spray oven cleaner onto the grills, coating both sides. Allow the caustic cleaner to “work” per the label directions. Wear latex gloves and don’t get the oven cleaner or its residue on your skin or in your eyes. Avoid breathing the fumes.

5) Again, wearing latex gloves, use the scraper/brush to scrape and brush the baked-on residue from the grills. Once you have removed most of it, use a scouring pad to remove any stubborn matter. Rinse the grills with clear water as you work and, when you’re finished scrubbing, rinse the grills thoroughly.

6) Slide out or remove the ash tray, if your barbecue has one, and scrape its contents into a garbage can. Scrub it with a scraper/brush, clean it with soapy water, and rinse.

7) If the burners are not operating properly, you will need to remove and clean them. For more about this, see How to Clean Barbecue Burners. If the barbecue electronic ignition starter doesn’t work, see How to Repair a Barbecue Starter.

8) Replace all components. Use a sponge and soapy water to wash all surfaces of the barbecue. For stubborn stains or residue, use the abrasive side of an abrasive sponge (not steel wool or SOS) to gently scrub. Be very careful not to scratch the finish. Then rinse and buff dry with a clean rag.
--DV